By Jim Rossignol on May 13th, 2009 at 2:44 pm.
The other 1c game that turned up on our gam-o-scopes this week is this rather handsome-looking medieval turn-based strategy game, Empire: Time of Troubles. It comes with the most sedate and unhurried trailer I think I’ve ever seen (posted below) and seems to include a promising-looking 3D campaign map and a whole lot of menus, currently rendered mysterious (to me at least) by their encryption in cyrillic. The game apparently covers the period of 1350-1650AD in Poland, Lithuania and Russia, where dudes get chopped and stuff gets plague and is buried. You take charge one of the twenty six different factions involved in the region and attempt to lead them to victory. Expect micro-management, beards.
13/05/2009 at 14:56 Baris says:
Yeesh, in parts the trailer is so relaxed it’s easy to mistake it for a low framerate. The game does look like a good time though.
Too bad I was expecting a E:TW expansion and was massively disappointed when I actually read the post :/.
13/05/2009 at 15:06 suibhne says:
I can’t think of many civ management games that could make an awesome trailer out of the most mundane details of their minute-to-minute interface.
This is no exception.
13/05/2009 at 15:06 sinister agent says:
Looks lovely, but that music is all over the place, and why bother showing the start menu and loading?
Still, it could be nice to play a game with a slightly different historical focus to the usual ones.
13/05/2009 at 15:10 Astargoth says:
Looks fun looks really really fun
Is it just me or is Russia becoming a real power in PC gaming, especially in the games I wanna play demographic?
13/05/2009 at 15:22 Jyou says:
Seems a lot like the total war series except from the fighting…. Anyway not very original is my geuss
13/05/2009 at 15:36 Ian says:
Do we also have to micro-manage beards?
13/05/2009 at 15:50 Larington says:
I suppose I’d have to spend some time with it to be sure, but that interface looks rather overwhelming.
13/05/2009 at 16:09 panik says:
looks promising…i’ll definitely be growing a beard for it’s release
13/05/2009 at 16:20 autogunner says:
well its no men of war but i will reserve judgement till reviewtimes
13/05/2009 at 16:58 MrBejeebus says:
thought this was a pisstake of E:TW’s gameplay troubles lol
looks ok…
13/05/2009 at 17:04 cowthief skank says:
Looks good.
13/05/2009 at 17:51 Rich_P says:
Is it just me or is Russia becoming a real power in PC gaming, especially in the games I wanna play demographic?
Yeah, I’m glad someone out there still wants to make games like Men of War and King’s Bounty. Some of the names are awful, though. Men of War? uhhhh. MrBejeebus already pointed out the problem with this game’s name.
But beard micromanagement could revolutionize the 4X genre.
13/05/2009 at 18:07 Bhazor says:
Dull you say?
Well gentlemen I beg you to consider 2:04 in which a 2000′ tall zebra besieges a town.
13/05/2009 at 18:11 tekDragon says:
Actually looks more like a bleaker shade of Fantasy Wars to me. Glad someome still knows how to make interesting looking war games.
13/05/2009 at 18:48 cowthief skank says:
Seemed to me like a sort-of hybrid of Empire: Total War and Europa Universalis. In a good way. I especially liked the bit where the man turns into a boat.
13/05/2009 at 21:01 Spd from Russia says:
looks kinda like civ+HOMM mashup? trailer is boring and confusing
the devs are my neighbours btw
13/05/2009 at 21:26 Hulk Hogan says:
Is that a dude on a zebra? Does Russia have zebras?
13/05/2009 at 22:05 Oak says:
Russian zebras? Don’t be silly, that’s clearly the elite quagga cavalry of King Wladislaw II.
13/05/2009 at 22:12 Wisq says:
Flashbacks to Cryostasis. I saw that “1c Company” countdown and strangely retro red-on-yellow logo so very many times while playing that game … probably because the damn thing crashed every second level load.
(Not that it’s their fault; they’re just the publisher. Unless the crashes were caused by DRM they insisted upon … oooh.)
This definitely takes the award for “most dramatic music for just idly clicking through menus in a trailer”, though.
… a whole lot of menus, currently rendered mysterious (to me at least) by their encryption in cyrillic.
Actually, they’re probably double encrypted — once in Russian, once in cyrillic. They must really not want people understanding what they’re clicking on.
14/05/2009 at 00:05 Don says:
Empire: Time of Dialog Boxes
14/05/2009 at 01:43 MD says:
This looks rather nice. Something about it charms me, and it’s nice to see a trailer that gives an indication of how the game will play, rather than getting a man with a ridiculous voice to deliver some ridiculous narration while things explode and/or people get stabbed. The game itself will probably overwhelm me, given that I’m an idiot who is bad at thinking, but I am tempted all the same. I hope you will give it a play when it comes out and let us know wot you think, Jim!
14/05/2009 at 06:23 Smike says:
As much as I like the TW and EU series I would like to see another take on it….keeping my finger crossed that they didnt “borrow” too many elements from the other tbs games. I really like the art tho, it has a very russian feel to it…
14/05/2009 at 21:54 Pijama says:
Eastern European medieval warfare? Now that would make even our good Dragon Age trailer look quite sedate. :D