textfiles/games/REVIEWS/empire.rev

 EMPIRE

 EMPIRE is a strategy game of war and world conquest written by Walter Bright
and Mark Baldwin, published by Interstel, and distributed by Electronic Arts.
Part of the STAR FLEET simulation series, EMPIRE offers fair graphics, a
GEM-like command interface, world map generator and editor, demo mode, Standard
and Expert difficulty levels, save option, joystick and keyboard control, and no
copy protection. The Commodore 64/128 version is the basis of this review;
IBM-PC and Amiga version notes follow.

 Presumptuously subtitled "Wargame of the Century," EMPIRE (version 2.0) looks
good (more or less) on the C64. Despite the extensive commands, it plays easily
enough, too -- thanks mostly to pulldown menus, scroll bars, dialog boxes, and a
joystick-controlled pointer. The problem I encountered is that the opening turns
(nearly one hundred of them) are relentlessly uneventful: You'll explore, and
attack cities, and watch your fighters run out of fuel, but the enemy doesn't
appear until well into the game. Or, rather, what _seems_ like well into the
game: EMPIRE goes on and on, so perhaps they really appear sooner than I think.

 The combatants of EMPIRE are the United Galactic Alliance and the Krellan
Empire. The Krellans have gone wild and are invading Alliance space. They're
using a plan known as Operation Big Brother: Invade an Alliance planet that has
low or medium technology, set a Krellan emperor in place to rule it, introduce
high tech and use its own inhabitants and resources to conquer it, and then turn
the planet over the Krellan Empire.

 Equally troubled by a lack of people and resources, the UGA now sends you
(Captain William Brown) and your crew and advisors into an Alliance region
called Attachment 1. Your goal is to land on a planet, explore it, and unite and
fortify the cities. The UGA does not want to be detected by the Krellans, so
what you're actually doing is providing a planet with the means to defend itself
against invading Krellan forces. In effect, you're creating an Alliance Empire
to counter the as-yet-unrestrained growth of the Krellan Empire. Of course,
being the Good Guys, you'll unleash democracy on the planets, but not until the
Krellan threat has been rendered powerless.

 A documentation check lets you land on a planet, after which you'll select a
world map (specific or random) from the eight that are available (not including
any you might have designed with the map editor). Even after a world has been
loaded, all you'll be able to see is the one city from which you begin your
exploration. You'll then set the production demands for that city: armies,
fighters, destroyers, transports, subs, cruisers, carriers, or battleships. As
these are produced and you advance, the world will unfold on the map.

 The C64 graphics screen consists of a map window within which is a blank 48x80
grid of blocks. Although only a 20x37 grid is visible (due to screen
limitations), the horizontal and vertical scroll bars move the display to other
map coordinates. Above the map is the menu bar: File, Reports, Orders, Commands,
and Miscellaneous. File contains save/load, new game, and map editor options.
Also on the main screen are turn counter, unit ID, message line, and mode
indicator.

 There are ten different modes of play: Move, Survey, Group Survey, Direction,
Move To, Escort, Patrol To, Mark Flight Path, Production, and Computer. Move
mode will be used most often. Survey mode lets you change production demands and
orders; Group Survey lets you give the same commands to more than one combat
unit.

 On the map, the land is green, the sea is blue, and unexplored areas are black.
As combat units are produced by the cities, iconic symbols appear, including
those for transports (which can be empty or have armies on board), and aircraft
carriers (which can be empty or have fighters on board).

 Each game turn is two-phased: Production and Movement/Combat. Due to the
vastness of the world you'll be exploring, and the fact that an enemy unit won't
appear until you get right next to it, you might go through 100 turns before
anything other than exploration happens. You'll be conquering cities and
producing combat units, which is a good thing because your forces will have some
heft to them by the time the Krellans do appear. A turn is considered complete
when each combat unit has executed its orders or moved.

 From the Reports menu, you can check the Status (cities captured, their
production, units destroyed); Info on a unit or map block; Ship Report; Set
different Production demands for a city; and see a Production Map, which removes
combat units and displays only cities. Periodically, a dialog box pops up and
informs you of the units that have been produced.

 The Command menu lets you set the mode. The Orders menu lets you set
directional movements, patrols and escorts, load and unload ships, clear orders
that have been previously set, and skip a move.

 The Map Editor provides the tools needed to create a world map: Seas, land, and
cities can be put on the map manually, or grown, blotched, and sprinkled
automatically. The map can then be saved and used as a world in a game.

 EMPIRE is controlled with a joystick and the keyboard. The stick moves an arrow
around the screen, pulls down the menus (in conjunction with a held button), and
highlights and invokes choices. Pointing at a unit, holding the button down, and
dragging the pointer creates a movement line.

 The EMPIRE package comes with one double-sided disk that is not copy-protected.
Both sides (program and maps) can be backed up, and it is on the backup that
games and maps can be saved. There'll be a documentation check before you can
load a map; an alternative is to type in the word Demo (or leave the machine
unattended for a few minutes), after which you can watch a few turns of a game
already in progress. The 61-page instruction manual explains everything you need
to know and more, and there is also a C64 Command Reference card that lists all
the game and map editor keystrokes you can use instead of the joystick.

 For the most part, EMPIRE is okay. The only glitch occurs when loading a map:
If you want to load a specific map, there won't be a prompt to insert the map
disk, although there will be a prompt if you choose the random map option. Since
the maps have single-letter filenames (A through H), it's not really a problem.

 Graphically, the interface is far less primitive than the map, which is merely
colors and a bunch of iconic unit symbols. Gameplay, though, is smooth and easy,
and it would be even without the GEM-mie interface. There are plenty of commands
to master, but since the enemy won't appear immediately, you'll have plenty of
time to get used to them.

 As strategy games go, EMPIRE suffers because you never see the enemy until
you're nearly on top of them. Other than capturing cities and producing combat
units, there are neither missions nor objectives. The world is so large that
cities and units eventually become isolated. You can turn them off by putting
them into Sentry mode but this means that all production ceases; any cities in
Sentry mode will be useless to you, but perhaps not to the enemy.

 Although EMPIRE looks fine and plays easily, it lasts for a long time -- much
of it uneventful -- and there isn't really much to it.

 IBM-PC VERSION NOTES

 I've found EMPIRE in its Interstel form to be one of the two finest wargames
available for the IBM. For starters, the IBM game map is 60x100 tiles, not
outrageously large compared with other wargames -- it just looks like a lot
because you can't see it all at once. You can also scroll to any portion of the
map at any time; therefore, if enemy troops have suddenly "appeared" next to one
of your cities or armies, it's because you weren't being careful. It would be
rather like a general only paying attention to the troops he can see from out of
his tent.

 The manual was completely rewritten for the IBM-PC version, and all the
commands given are specific to the IBM. There is a quick reference card enclosed
to supplement the manual.

 EMPIRE is distributed on both diskette formats: a single 5-1/4" disk and a
single 3-1/2" disk. Neither version is protected, but a key word from the manual
must be entered in order to access the program. The game is easily transferred
to hard disk using the included installation program.

 The program requires an IBM PC, compatible, or Tandy 1000, 3000, or 4000, with
either a CGA or EGA (and will run on a monochrome monitor if need be). It
requires 512K of RAM. When you start the program, you can use any of several
command-line parameters to change the format of the game. Some are amenities for
slower machines, such as forcing the screen to blank out between map rewrites,
or forcing CGA mode to increase the speed if you're playing on an EGA system.
You can also use a mouse (to great advantage), or disable the mouse from the
command line (even if you have a mouse driver loaded).

 Another nicety is the option of changing icon sets. In CGA mode, there are four
icon options; basically, these change the colors of the land icons to various
combinations of the cyan-magenta-white-black palette. In EGA, there are two icon
sets; these merely toggle the colors for opposing players. The EGA graphics are
by far the best ever seen in a land-based wargame (there ar a couple of
outer-space wargames with similarly exceptional graphics).

 It's important to note that the disks have a "readme" file; this file contains
some of the information on icon sets as given above, manual errata, and general
information that can be very useful (such as the game designer's CompuServe
account number!). Be sure to print this file out and keep it with your manual.

 I give EMPIRE highest marks. All wargames are long, and EMPIRE is no exception
(which is why the best wargames always allow you to save your position!). Given
its flexibility, I recommend EMPIRE even for people who've never played a
wargame before. However, there may be differences between the IBM version and
others that make this edition more playable.

 AMIGA VERSION NOTES

 EMPIRE is a long game requiring great amounts of time. In my opinion, the
graphics and sound do not attain "Amiga quality."

 The graphics are composed of small squares or blocks, much like that of the
ULTIMA series. Even if a vehicle is over different types of terrain, an ominous
black outline surrounds it. The land masses are also very jagged and
unrealistic. A river or lake appears as a small blue block with wavy lines
inside. But the blocky look is not the only problem. The squares are _very_
small. At times, I was not able to distinguish a sub from an aircraft carrier!

 EMPIRE's sound on the Amiga is just fair. The digitized jet and tank sound
effects are well done, but after two hours of it, I began to get a slight
headache. However, the game's opening music is very nicely done. In fact, I
would even classify the music as outstanding.

 I _did_ enjoy playing EMPIRE. Graphics and sound alone do not make a game,
especially a strategy game. Yet, improvements in those areas would have made the
Amiga version better. EMPIRE has a lot going for it, but without higher quality
graphics and sound, the game cannot become a classic for the Amiga.

 EMPIRE is published by Interstel and distributed by Electronic Arts.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253