#50
The biggest thing I loved about this game that really separated it from the pack was the sheer scale of it. Spanning (as the box says) 500,000 years of human history. It goes through 14 epochs (15 with the expansion) starting in the prehistoric age and ending in the space age. The studio was founded by one of Ensemble Studios co-founders, and because of that, the gameplay does have close similarities to that of Age of Empires. But rather than being held down by AoE's specific era, it's awesome to jump from era to era. And strategy is further required since you essentially have to rebuild your army after each epoch so that you don't get too far behind technology to enemies.
Not only did the game include a map editor for custom maps/modes, but they even allowed you to create your own civilization! With an insane number of options to choose from. These player tools allowed me to have completely new experiences created by the community for years! Especially when considering just how many eras of human history you have to choose from to further customize.
And unlike AoE, you were able to have a HUGE army at your disposal. Population caps wasn't really something you had to worry about, so the screen would just be filled with units. There was even a morale system that affected unit stats. But there were also hero units that would be able to heal/boost morale or demoralize enemies and boost nearby units attack power. This game truly was ahead of its time and honestly, nothing has really replicated it since.
The campaigns were fun, but the story is probably the games weakest component. Still, going through Ancient Greece, Medieval England, World War I Germany, and modern Russia were still a huge amount of fun to play given the insanely large sandbox the developers put so much time and care into.
From being able to nuke your enemies in real time to having freaking SPACE BATTLES, there isn't another game like Empire Earth.
