Empires is a revolutionary mod currently in development for Half-Life 2. It'll be combining the genres of first-person shooter and real-time strategy. Two key players will be present in each game, one player per team will be the commander, playing the game from a top down perspective with the ability to construct bases and give orders to his team, and all remaining players will be soldiers, playing the game from a first person perspective either on foot or in an aircraft or vehicle. The commander can choose to control his team with an iron fist, restrict his team's purchasing ability for buying upgrades and vehicles, and punish anyone who disobeys, or he can be completely nonchalant and allow his team to do what they like with no fear of reprimand. Ultimately, it is up to the commander to determine his team's strategy which will inevitably determine whether his team is victorious. There will be many forms of help when taking on the seemingly monumental task of being the commander. In-game help and NPC characters will offer advice and keep the commander aware of events on the battlefield.
In my opinion, this game is quite fun. It does have disadvantages, I won't lie to you.
In the game, you are part of two armies battling for control over a disputed region.
We have the Brenodi Empire (BE), with "national socialist-like" vehicles, "space-like" weapons, and "national socialist-like" uniforms.
Then, we have the Northern Faction (NF), with makeshift weapons, vehicles, and uniforms.
The weapons are still balanced, however.
The classes are:
Scout.
Weapons:
(Slot 1) SMG 1, SMG 2, or Ranged Rifle. (Accuracy and damage are not worthy of a sniper rifle)
(Slot 2) Pistol
(Slot 3) Concussion grenade, smoke grenade, or sticky concussion grenade.
(Slot 4) Binoculars
Rifleman.
Weapons:
(Slot 1) Assault Rifle (both NF and BE), Heavy Rifle (NF) or Carbine (BE), or Heavy Machinegun.
(Slot 2) Pistol, Machine Pistol (BE) or Shot Pistol (NF)
(Slot 3) Explosive grenade or sticky bomb.
Engineer.
Weapons:
(Slot 1) SMG1 or SMG2
(Slot 2) Pistol, Machine pistol (BE) or Shot Pistol (NF)
(Slot 3) Seismic Grenade
(Slot 4) Engineer tool (Heal players, vehicles or buildings, or make Sentries, Machinegun or Missle Launcher)
Grenadier.
(Slot 1) Bazooka
(Slot 2) Pistol, Machine pistol (BE) or Shot pistol (NF)
(Slot 3) Mines
(Slot 4) Mortar
Pros: It's a good real-time strategy game. Be the commander or the important soldiers of your army. Defend against the evil Brenodi Empire or the Rebellious Northern Faction. It also has a wide variety of maps.
Cons: It quickly turns into an all-out tankfest if you have a vehicle factory. People want kills more than experience, so they hop in a tank and run people over. Idiots. Sniper rifle has too low of damage. Rockets have too low of a damage on tanks.
Personally, I think it's a great game.
Silly me, Dusty forgot the link.
http://www.empiresmod.com/
