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IN AN ATTEMPT TO merge the excitement and intense action of a real time strategy game with the depth and scope of a more traditional turn-based game, Rise of Nations is born. Think of it as Age of Empires for the more discerning gamer - Age Plus, perhaps.

In addition to the usual resource gathering, offence / defence planning aspect typical of an RTS, you also must consider political allegiances and cultural improvements - similar in execution to Civilization II or Alpha Centauri. Suprisingly enough (or not so surprisingly), there's a reason for that - the main brain behind the developers of Rise of Nations (Big Huge Games) is Brian Reynolds. His previous accomplishments include both of the aforementioned games, despite the fact that they were marketed as Sid Meier titles...

With that sort of pedigree and more than two years worth of work, it's fair to say that this could be big - very big.

The general gist of the game is just as you would expect - start off with a very basic, low level culture and set about the task of advancing it. Build your peasants some shelter, set them to work in gathering resources and continue on up the tech tree. Here is where things start to take on a more detailed air - the tech tree isn't really a tree at all, at least not in the way you (as an RTS gamer) are familiar with. You have an "age" section (advancing here will push your civilization into the next epoch, in the same way you would advance in Age of Empires) and sections devoted to Science, Military, Commerce and Civics. Upgrades in each of these affect your civilizations prowess in that particular category, allowing the player to create the sort of society he wishes. Warmonger? Crank up the Military and Science at the expense of Civics. Want to sell some stuff? You'll need to be far enough along the Commerce tree to be able to actually trade or have any sort of economy.

Unlike your average RTS, you don't need to slaughter enemy X or conquer base Y - you can utilise military power to win if you want to, but you can also seek a diplomatic resolution or simply build a strong enough and advanced enough culture that attacking you would be out of the question. This ability to adapt the game to the player's technique shares a lot more in common with Civilization than Age of Empires and allows for a lot more creativity from the player.

Graphically, Rise of Nations is looking very nice indeed. Instead of going "ooh! I can do 3D too!", the designers have stuck to the tried and true 2D graphics approach and have concentrated on making it look very impressive. You wont get lost in the perspective, but you might find yourself staring at the impressive artwork - the unique styles of the various ages and the attention to detail looks dead set amazing.

Due out in March 2003, Rise of Nations is shaping up well indeed. This could be the perfect opportunity for RTS gamers to step up to the next level in complexity, to find that certain something that has been missing from their gaming.

Show me the screenshots!