Earth 2140 Download (1997 Strategy Game)

It's the year 2140 the Earth is divided into two nations: the United Civilized States and the Eurasian Dynasty. These two powers each have immense armies and advanced technology. You take the role as the leader of one side, and try to take out the other. Build factories, research weaponry, deploy armies -- do whatever it takes to become commander of the world.

In addition to its contemporarily impressive graphics, Earth 2140 offers gameplay features new the real-time strategy, including a "Virtual General" mode which lets you deploy computer-controlled troops. Along with the single-player campaign, the networked play is supported for up to six human competitors.

Life as you know it is over and the world is locked in a post-nuclear fight for survival. The year is 2140, World War Whatever is over, and now it is time for the last "war to end all wars." You can play as the Eurasian Dynasty (ED) or the United Civilized States (UCS) -- and yes, you've heard this all before ... Earth 2140 is yet another another faceless post-apocalyptic slugfest, and one without much to interest the average real-time strategy gamer unless perhaps you haven't conquered the world enough times over.

The storyline, as far as it matters, is this: most of the world is trashed with only a small amount left that can be inhabited by either man or machine -- the other parts of the world are so toxic that even machines cannot function. That's about it. You just choose a side and go kill the other guys.

Gameplay and Controls

There is a lot to keep track of here, and although you can control everything with a mouse, learning some of the keystroke shortcuts can help in trying to play this game. Basically Earth 2140 is very much like Dark Reign, Dark Colony, etc., with differently named tanks, transports, missile outposts and that sort of thing.

One interesting note: in the field, you have three generals at your disposal to command groups of military units, but I would not use them if I were you since they seem to have graduated last in their class in military command school. The only time I used the generals was to stand and defend a position. Still, having some sort of command structure was at least a worthwhile idea.

As for the flow of the game, the pace seems confused. To keep from being bored during the slow times you need to play with the speed of the game set to fast, but then the battles are impossible to control. There does not seem to be a happy medium in pace of the game that allows you a chance to play without getting either bored or annihilated. Even at the slow speed the battles move too fast. I also wished each scenario would build more on what you did in the last one. It was just a bunch of mission shorts that did not link together in more than a very tenuous way, and this does not allow for any continuity in the game.

Graphics

This is the most redeeming part of the game. The graphics are excellent, and the animations are among the best in the genre. I liked the detail of color and animation -- it made the fighting seem much more realistic than when a destroyed unit just disappears in a puff of smoke.

Gameplay is smooth. The mission briefings have a very cool effect: it has a heads-up display as if it is being broadcast on your display screen and has an occasional screen flicker to add to the realism.

Enemy AI/Difficulty

This game has three difficulty levels; I found "easy" to be way too hard. It is not uncommon for me to play on the "easy" level to get a feel for the game and then once I have some experience to move up to "normal" or "hard," but with Earth 2140, anyone who isn't a grand master real-time strategy guru won't stand a chance.

The first three or four scenarios were easy, but then it got hard real quick. There does not seem to be any help in getting past certain levels, nor does there appear to be a way to skip a scenario without first finishing the objective. I checked the book and Interplay's web page for some help, but no luck. The bottom line is that the game is unbalanced in this aspect, and quite frustrating.

Bottom Line

This game excels in video and detail, but falls far short of the mark in terms of gameplay, innovation and difficulty. If you think you're a RTS hotshot, this is the game for you; otherwise steer clear. Earth 2140 rates a 47 for overall poor execution and lack of inspired design, storyline and mission structure.

It's the year 2140, earth is almost completely destroyed after numerous wars and environmental catastrophes, and the people primarily live underground. The two enemy parties are the United Civilized States and the Eurasian Dynasty. In this RTS game, both are trying to conquer as much land as possible.

Earth 2140's game concepts overlap with those of the Command & Conquer lineage - mine resources, build units, and send them into battle with an enemy which must be tracked down. The two sides have different units, with the UCS advantaged by its Mercs and robotic infantry. There are cinematic cutscenes for each mission

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

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Earth 2150: Escape from the Blue Planet, Earth 2160, Earth 2150: Lost Souls, Earth 2150: The Moon Project, Dune 2000, Dungeon Keeper Gold, Empire Earth, Empire Earth II