Reviews for Microsoft Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Strategy Game - Complete Product - Standard - 1 User - PC - English - MPN: U9900063

  • 4
  By member: MadBeagle01 - Mar 13, 2007

Sometimes more of the same can be enough. . .

Strengths: Solid graphics, unique new races & units, more of the same great game play from Rise of Nations

Weakness: Flat compared to the original, weak storyline, unimpressive audio, faulty A.I.

Rise of Nations developer Big Huge Games had a tough job on their hands when it came to developing a sequel. In this case they give us three new races and an original storyline along with some highly polished graphics. This all sounds good but the results are a bit of a mixed bag.

The three new races are a varied bunch with inspiration coming from an assortment of fantasy and science fiction cliches. These include the steampunk Venetian Vinci, the Arabian wizard Alin and Mayan-based aliens. While all three are unique and complement one another, they feel like they don't really fit together. Combine this with a story that doesn't make much sense, and you're left with a lot of confusion by the game's end.

If you loved the original Rise of Nations, you'll probably be happy with Rise of Legends. If you're on the fence, you might want to wait for a sale. Rise of Legends is a good game, but it doesn't give you anything you haven't seen before.

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  • 3
  By member: ssimp12626 - Nov 30, 2007

Rise of Nation: Rise of Legends

Strengths: graphics

Weakness: none

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends is the sequel to the original Rise of Nations. Rise of Legends is a real-time strategy game which uses fantasy locales instead of releastic locations of the original game. Rise of Legends has a good multiplayer component

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  • 3
  By member: drakula - Nov 29, 2007

Rise of Nation 3D

Strengths: Good graphics. Good gameplay for RTS game.

Weakness: Less nations than before. Slow developing power for the nation might not be for everyone.

Rise of Legends is Rise of Nations in 3D with new storyline. Rise of Legends, have good graphics, the unit details are fairly good and the building details are just as good. The gameplay itself, is fairly good, like the previous Rise of Nations game, the nations become stronger over time, not just acquire power suddenly and it applies to every nations in the game, not just the player's.

Rise of Legends, however, sports less nations than previous one. With only three nations, it feels like other famed 3D RTS games, which player(s) only have limited selections, where as the previous one with many nations, the player(s) have much bigger selections. Slow developing power for the nation might not be appealing to the gamers that want to play quick games with high firepowers and such.

Rise of Legends is a fun 3D RTS game. At first glance, it feels like as if the game is a blend of Warcraft and Starcraft, which would give it the magic versus technology part. But Rise of Legends retained some of the characteristics of its predecessor and the magic versus technology concept making it a different type of RTS game, a new original RTS game.

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  • 4
  By member: edhoo - Nov 3, 2007

Rise of Legens Review

Strengths: Fun Gameplay

Weakness: Not very challenging

Rise of Legends is a sequel so to say of the game Rise of Nations, now with more of a fictional approach to the game. The game has a very fun real time strategy gameplay implemented which your nation evolves over time into a more powerful state. Though the single player is kinda short and pretty easy, the online play is very fun, and the single player is also fun enough to play through again. I recommend this to any one that played Rise of Nations or is just a RTS fan in general.

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  • 4
  By member: iceq - Oct 8, 2007

Microsoft Rise of Legends

Strengths: Great graphics interface, entertaining RTS game at a great price.

Weakness: Limited multi-players, weak story line ..

Got this game at a great discount price, so this RTS game is worth every pennies. The graphics is great, something expected from Microsoft. Just like other reviews, the story line could have some improvements. I haven't tried the multi-players mode yet, but I think it's limited to 8 players only or so ...

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  • 3
  By member: cheapfrag - Aug 1, 2007

Rise of Legends (PC)

Strengths: graphics, attempt at unusual civilizations/units

Weakness: weak story

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends is a real time strategy (RTS) game from the makers of Rise of Nations. But where Rise of Nations was based upon traditional civilizations and units, Rise of Legends is based upon fantasy civilization and units. There are 3 different civilizations to play. The unique civilizations and unique units add some "newness". The graphics are good and the gameplay is pretty close to Rise of Nations and traditional RTS games.

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  • 4
  By member: palinorus - Jul 13, 2007

Good graphics

Strengths: Good graphics, plays smoothly

Weakness: Poor sound

If you like RTS, this game is great. Great graphics and like the story so far. However, this requires a bit more building than Command and Conquer. If you want the fast build them and attack them type of game, this might not be the game for you.

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  • 4
  By member: natehulse - Jul 12, 2007

Solid RTS

Strengths: Great graphics, fun RTS play

Weakness: storyline isn't wildly compelling... but then again, most RTS games are similar

Great graphics, lots of fun balancing units, and carries over well from the original. The first one was lots of fun, and this one adds new dimensions to the solid core of the original game.

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  • 3
  By member: Jadugar - Jul 11, 2007

Good Game

Strengths: Gameplay similar to that of "Rise of Nations" Very detailed and rich.

Weakness: Storyline seems boring although I haven't finished it yet

So far its been an entertaining game. Storyline is so-so. I did get this game for pretty cheap so definitely worth my money. Haven't really tried multiplayer yet so can't comment on that but I've heard that it is pretty good.

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  • 3
  By member: jchoi - Jul 8, 2007

Rise of Legends - The spiritual sequel to Rise of...

Strengths: Pretty innovative game, there are no other games with quite the same gameplay and unit balance that this one has.

Weakness: The tech tree progression is weak; the benefits after levelling are pretty useless. The storyline is flat and doesn't pull you into the game.

This game is an entertaining fantasy themed real-time strategy game. The three different factions are well-balanced and real-strategy is needed since different units balance each other, so you can't just keep building one super unit until you have enough to wipe out the enemy. With that said, the single player campaign is a disappointment since in several missions, you are simply told to wipe out the other enemy's base and there is no plot advancement. Overall, this game is a fun distraction but is definitely not something that you will find yourself spending a lot of time on.

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  • 4
  By member: SpinningLizard - Jun 7, 2007

Rise of Legends PC RTS Game

Strengths: Pretty entertaining, can get very busy when attacking multiple players etc. Great graphics if you have settings way up. Similar to Rise of Nations, so easy learning curve. Simple upgrading trees.

Weakness: Not much differences between factions (no real "wow" special abilities). Story is not as developed as the first or other similar RTS games.

Overall the game is pretty good if you like playing these type of build up your army and defend/attack. It is not as good as other series, but it still is entertaining. Graphics are great, but higher end cards make a difference:) This one is even more repetitive then most, but that is often what these type of games are. The AI games are somewhat boring since the computer is not very apt at making very strategic attacks, developing, etc, but are well at defending the home base. The battle sounds are not as what would be expected and are lacking. Overall it is worth playing, just for something new to see and keep you busy when you are bored:)

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  • 3
  By member: musicalcash - Apr 19, 2007

Yeah. It's what you would expect from a quick sequel

Strengths: The same great gameplay as "Rise of Nations" was. Rich detail and fantastic battles using the myth units.

Weakness: The same weakness that "Rise of Nations" had. The tech tree is just nada in both games. Furthermore, the plot was just lacking compared to the worldwarfare in the previous game.

The interaction between the friendly and enemy units is smooth (unlike Microsoft's age of Mythology) and really the whole unit tree is straight forward. I do like the three sides a player can play are altogether balanced; however, they are balanced because each is like the next. I mean, the developers use the same giant spider for each nation, but just change the material from glass to steel or whatever.

Honestly, this feels more like an expansion of the Rise of Nations game than something truly set apart. In that regard, it is worth 3.5 stars. I keep this game to play on the road, since it has that "I can come back to playing this game" or "What light game can I play?"

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  • 4
  By member: TheHobbit - Mar 18, 2007

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Strengths: Has the same gameplay as the original Rise of Nations.

Weakness: None

It you are a fan of RTS games then this is one game you've gotta have. The details in the units and buildings are amazing. I would say that this game will probably be in the same league as Warcraft.

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  • 3.8
  testseek.com - Mar 9, 2009

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Testseek.com has collected 17 expert reviews for Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends and the average expert rating is 76 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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  • 4.6
  GameZone - May 15, 2006

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

I loved the original Rise of Nations game because it had some really unique ideas and the game was really well implemented. This game took the best of both worlds by taking the in-depth strategy of turn-based strategy games and added the heart-pounding action of real-time strategy games; and the result was a blast to play. A few months ago I got to participate in a beta of the Rise of Nations:...

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