Earth 2150

Last updated
Earth 2150
Earth2150Box.jpg
Developer Reality Pump Studios
Publishers
Designer Mirosław Dymek
Platforms Microsoft Windows, OS X
ReleaseWindows
OS X
August 21, 2015 [3]
Genre Strategy
Modes Single-player, multiplayer

Earth 2150, also known as Earth 2150: Escape from the Blue Planet, is a real-time strategy game, originally published in 2000 by SSI and Polish developer Reality Pump and a sequel to Earth 2140 . 2150 was one of the first commercial full-3D games of its kind. A sequel, Earth 2160 , was published in August 2005. The game also has two stand-alone expansion packs: Earth 2150: The Moon Project , and Earth 2150: Lost Souls .

Contents

Gameplay

Campaign

Earth 2150 consists of a mostly linear series of missions with occasional choices over their order or branching after a win or loss, with mission goals such as such as gathering resources, destroying all enemy forces, or defending a fortified position. A conventional campaign structure for the genre, except the campaign isn't won by completing the missions, but at any point the player has expended 1,000,000 credits (half that for the Lunar Coalition) on building the means to evacuate from their doomed world. Complicating this credits, representing materials, are also required to construct units, buildings and weapons, and for research.

The hunger for resources is present from the first mission on. Missions have finite resources in the form of minable ore, and the player must decide whether to retain them for use in the mission, or commit them to a transport building that gradually ferries them to the spaceport for evacuation. Regardless of mission objectives all credits, minable and on hand, will be gradually delivered to the spaceport if the player destroys all enemy forces and ends the mission with the means in place.

The spaceport lies in the main base, a separate map that persists through the campaign, can be switched to and from at will, can be used to build structures and units and conduct research, and has a vast air transport that can bring sizable amounts of units and credits to and from the mission. The main base has its own credit tally and the player can shuffle credits to and from the spaceport, but any time the spaceport contains 10,000 it launches them into space, where they're considered spent on the evacuation and cannot be retrieved. Units brought to the main base are retained between missions, although they'll count toward a population limit where the construction of new military units is disabled past a specific total credit cost, increasing from mission to mission, of all those owned. The player may opt to save money by building units at the main base instead of erecting factories at the mission site only to abandon them at the mission's end, but this is risky: the delays in transporting them may see the enemy gather more resources, or even throw the player out entirely.

The game has a global time limit, although a very generous one. Separately, the terrain is scripted to change at the beginning of some missions: a frigid worldwide winter thaws and plants grow, only to die out as deserts overtake the Earth and bodies of water evaporate. Finally lava flows glow in a landscape of ash and entire oceans are gone from the globe that's the mission selection screen. As the temperature rises the effectiveness of heat-based weapons changes, navies are retired for lack of water to put them in, and the actions available for the Lunar Coalition's weather controller superweapon change. Occasionally the player receives news clips about the construction of the evacuation program or thanks, admonishments, or threats regarding meeting its quotas, but these are cosmetic.

The stand-alone expansion packs The Moon Project and Lost Souls returned to a conventional structure about winning a series of missions.

Battles

As real-time strategy, Earth 2150 belongs to a genre of wargames marked by ease of use and prompt action, and not by realism or intricate simulation; for example, units are built in seconds in factories on the front lines, paid for by gathering materials in the field. Generally the player builds a base, harvests resources, manufactures units, and seeks to destroy the enemy by issuing units commands such as where to move, what to target, or to halt. Some campaign missions liven this up with objectives such as defending the ambassadors at a summit, and scripted events, such as a hacker capturing robotic UCS units or an alliance falling apart, that can change mission objectives. Also changing the formula is the landing pad structure available in most missions, which can supply units for rushes and allow for leaner bases with less need to operate independently - and less ability to rebuild this lifeline should it be cut. Alternately, the player may opt for a single battle ("skirmish") where the goal is always to eliminate the opposition, or for online multiplayer.

The game has ground vehicles, ships, and aircraft, leaving out the infantry from Earth 2140. Units can gain levels, and the game offers a small degree of unit customization where the player builds unit classes by choosing the chassis, the weapon or weapons or other equipment, and the name. Unusually, the commands a unit class can receive can be set to only the three above, the standard RTS commands such as "escort" and "hold position", or to include advanced commands such as "hold area" (ie. pursue enemy units a limited distance) and standing orders such as "retreat at 50% HP." However, this is not available for all unit types and can be changed for units after they're built.

Crucial to unit customization is the choice between conventional and energy weapons. Conventional ones must have their ammo replenished by a flying supply carrier from a depot (for ground or naval units) or a stop at the depot (for air units). This adds a degree of tactical depth, since e.g. a weak machine that hardly ever runs out of ammo requires different support than a powerful, long-ranged grenade launcher that's exhausted in a single engagement, and since carriers and other air units will fly in a straight line unless manually commanded and directly into the teeth of enemy air defenses should the player attack from the wrong direction. Energy weapons have regenerating ammo, bypass the damage reduction some chassis have, and tend to be unusual, "gimmick" types. For example, while the plasma cannon is merely extremely powerful, the laser does no damage to HP and instead heats enemy units until their ammunition detonates and they explode, making short work of most targets but wearing off if interrupted. Energy weapons can be defended against by researching shields, a second, regenerating health bar that conventional weapons bypass but energy weapons must drain completely before inflicting damage or other effects to the target. Weapons that otherwise do no damage still damage shields. Shields take up no room on units but cost to add, trading numbers and therefore firepower for what may be a great increase in survivability.

Defensive emplacements' weapons can be changed for a fee. Unusually, major facilities such as factories can also be armed.

The game has a wide and shallow tech tree. New items are gradually unlocked from mission to mission, and once researched by spending time and resources persist for the rest of the campaign. The tree offers new buildings as well as new and upgraded chassis, weapons, equipment and ammo. Upgrades are generally straightforward strength improvements, but can also be such things as more mounting points for chassis, homing ammunition, or dual, triple or quad guns. The full tree is available in skirmish and multiplayer games, though in some game modes the most powerful weapons can be toggled off.

Factions

United Civilized States: The UCS controls North and South America. They live comfortably, having automated manufacturing, housework, and to a very high degree, all labor and government. The UCS is a demarchy, selecting leaders by lottery, which with minimal positions and short terms has resulted in leaders who do what their AI assistants tell them to do. The chief case of human input was when a skilled programmer used his position to make changes to said AIs; glitching, the UCS was responsible for occupying the British Isles and starting the war of Earth 2140 that doomed the planet. As President of the United Civilized States, the player's powers extend to pursuing whatever military objective is ordered by the AIs. The all-robotic UCS military favors bipedal mecha on the ground and its air units float with antigravity technology reverse-engineered from a crashed UFO, and its mission briefings and other messages are laconic and emotionless.

UCS units are typically slow and expensive but durable and pack high firepower. For example, they have immediate access to the grenade launcher, a particularly powerful weapon in the particularly limited role of unguided ground strikes reliant on frequent resupply. Harvester units gather the UCS's resources, and can do so rapidly if massed, but this is costlier and vulnerable to attack. During the campaign the UCS develops the plasma cannon, an extremely powerful energy weapon, stealth ("shadow") generators and flying, albeit slightly slower, harvesters.

Eurasian Dynasty: Essentially a revitalized Mongol Empire based in Russia and Mongolia, the ED has an industrial, Soviet theme. In the war of Earth 2140, they were responsible for the catastrophic nuclear strikes near the North Pole that disrupted the Earth's orbit and sent it spiralling towards the Sun. They use primitive technology such as tanks and helicopters, and have the most powerful navy. ED units are typically individually weak but cheap and able to be produced in large numbers, with their starting unit being the Pamir, a reverse-engineered Abrams with a one-man crew. ED mines prepare resources for retrieval by dedicated transports, successfully combining the LC's weakness of low output with the UCS's weakness of vulnerable unarmed vehicles. During the campaign the ED develops lasers and the ion cannon, an energy weapon which stuns units leaving them vulnerable for capture.

Lunar Corporation: The LC is a faction of matriarchal pacifists who have colonized the Moon. They're descended from a private spaceflight company that combined idealism for space exploration with exorbitant wealth from selling off-planet habitation to the ultra-rich during the march to World War III. They cut themselves off from Earth with the outbreak of the war, and although the population's adjustment to hard labor was very bloody, by the time of the game they've established a harmonious and peaceable society that frankly has no business trying to fight a war.

LC units are typically fast and fragile, and the LC tends towards being mechanically unusual and the odd one out, for good and ill; this is a nation that both possesses technological superiority and fields it in converted civilian vehicles, with weapons derived from mining equipment. The LC treats electricity as a map-wide resource in the style of Command & Conquer : its factories and defensive lines aren't susceptible to losing nearby power plants or transmitters. On the other hand it uses solar power, and must charge batteries every day if it's to have power by night. LC mines double as processing buildings, fully automating resource production. LC buildings don't need a construction unit, they're lowered to any explored location on the map, allowing the LC to place mining operations, fortifications, etc. across impassable mountains or behind enemy lines with little warning, but buildings attacked in the air plummet to their doom. Without constructors the LC forgoes terrain manipulation: they alone cannot tunnel, build bridges, excavate or level out impassable trenches, or erect walls (LC laser fence posts are a poor substitute.) The LC doesn't use a navy as its ground units all hover on sea as on land, but without bridges they're left with the fraught prospect of amphibious beach landings. In the campaign the player leads the LC in battle as a UCS veteran sent over in an alien craft, the Fang, in exchange for an alliance. Although losing this one-of-a-kind unit means instant failure, the Fang's weapon is capable of easily decimating any opponent it comes across — that is, until its ammo runs out.

Reception

The PC version received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [4] Brian Wright of GamePro was positive to its gameplay, graphics, soundtrack, and sound effects, but concluded that its complexity makes the game more suitable for hardcore players rather than the casual ones. [18] [a]

In the German market, the game debuted in 22nd place on Media Control's computer game sales rankings for November 1999. [19] It took 25th and 23rd in the first and second halves of December, respectively, [20] before dropping to 27th in January 2000 and 44th in February. [19] The game's sales in the German region had surpassed 60,000 units by May, a performance that publisher Topware Interactive considered acceptable, according to PC Player 's Udo Hoffman. He, however, noted that the game had been overshadowed by competitors Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun and Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings , and remarked that "in retrospect, the date of publication was poorly chosen". David Fioretti of the German retailer PC Fun cited the game's numerous bugs and Topware's reputation as a "cheap brand" as further reasons for its failure to achieve hit status. [19]

The game was a commercial failure in the U.S. [21] [22] CNET Gamecenter 's Mark Asher reported in early September 2000 that the game had sold 23,163 units and earned revenues of $873,855 in the country. He felt that this performance "can't be classified as a hit", [21] and with journalist Tom Chick explaining that it "didn't even hit PC Data's charts". [22]

The game won the award for Best Multiplayer Game at the CNET Gamecenter Computer Game Awards for 2000. [23]

Notes

  1. ↑ GamePro gave the PC version 4.5/5 for graphics, 4/5 for sound, and two 3.5/5 scores for control and fun factor.

References

  1. ↑ IGN staff (June 12, 2000). "Now Shipping (And Golding)". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 29, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  2. ↑ Bye, John "Gestalt" (July 7, 2000). "New UK releases". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Mac OSX Port available now!". Steam . Valve Corporation. August 21, 2015. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Earth 2150 (PC)". Metacritic . Fandom. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  5. ↑ Woods, Nick. "Earth 2150 - Review". AllGame . All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  6. ↑ Dultz, Marc (June 22, 2000). "Earth 2150". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  7. ↑ Vitous, Jeff (October 4, 2000). "Earth 2150". Computer Games Strategy Plus . Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  8. ↑ Chick, Tom (September 2000). "Rich Earth (Earth 2150 Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World . Ziff Davis. p. 114. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ Burns, Enid (July 20, 2000). "Earth 2150 (PC)". The Electric Playground . Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on February 28, 2003. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  10. ↑ Male, Peter "Pete" (July 7, 2000). "Earth 2150: Escape From The Blue Planet". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  11. ↑ Bergren, Paul (September 2000). "Earth 2150". Game Informer . No. 89. FuncoLand.
  12. ↑ Silverman, Ben (July 2000). "Earth 2150 Review". GameRevolution . CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  13. ↑ Soete, Tim (June 20, 2000). "Earth 2150 Review". GameSpot . Fandom. Archived from the original on November 19, 2000. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  14. ↑ McConnaughy, Tim (June 23, 2000). "Earth 2150". GameSpy . GameSpy Industries. Archived from the original on October 23, 2002. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  15. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (July 4, 2000). "Earth 2150: Escape From the Blue Planet Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  16. ↑ Blevins, Tal (June 13, 2000). "Earth 2150 Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Earth 2150". PC Gamer . Vol. 7, no. 9. Imagine Media. September 2000. p. 110.
  18. ↑ Wright, Brian (July 7, 2000). "Earth 2150 Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro . IDG. Archived from the original on February 11, 2005. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  19. 1 2 3 Hoffman, Udo (May 2000). "Aktuell: NachSpiel". PC Player (in German). Future Vertlag. p. 29.
  20. ↑ "CD-ROM Spiele über DM 55,--; Stand 2. Hälfte Dezember 1999". Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (in German). Media Control. Archived from the original on May 21, 2000. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  21. 1 2 Asher, Mark (September 1, 2000). "Game Spin: RPG Madness". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on April 18, 2001. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  22. 1 2 Asher, Mark; Chick, Tom (2000). "The Year's Ten Best-Selling Games (Page 2)". Quarter to Three. Archived from the original on February 9, 2001. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  23. ↑ Gamecenter staff (January 25, 2001). "The Gamecenter Computer Game Awards for 2000! (Multiplayer Game Winner)". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on March 3, 2001. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
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