By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist
Earth 2025 is a browser based game from Swirve, the creators of another browser-based game, Utopia. The game puts you in the seat of a leader of an establishing country after a cataclysmic war that destroyed everything. You are leading a country that has established itself slowly with the help of the survivors of the war.
Yes I OWN a country
In Earth 2025 you own a country that needs your help and guidance in trying to become one of the most developed and advanced of the countries after a world-shattering event. You do this by trying upgrade on your country’s income, military and diplomatic capabilities. You can either build your own structures, research on key areas or buy the necessary things you need for your country to be on top. The development of your country relies on your capable hands.
For building structures you are given 100 acres of land to build on. Within these 100 acres you have the choice to invest on different structures which are namely: Enterprise Zone, Residence, Industrial Complex, Military Base, Research Lab, Farm, Oil Rig and a Construction Site. Investing on these structures relates directly to how you want your country to turn out in. As for the research, investing on this would boost the overall output of your country. The areas where you can do research are: Military, Medical, Business, Residential, Agricultural, Warfare, Military Strategy, Weapons, Industrial, Spy, SDI. The game has a corresponding effect in the research page to explain what would happen if you do place some points on the said research.
Building and researching in Earth:2025 requires one or more turns. You earn these turns per hour and there is a limit on how much you can store. The turns are important in Earth:2025 because it’s the determining factor for whatever actions you do in the game. Unlike most browser based games, the turns here in Earth:2025 are not time locked in the sense that you don’t have to wait for the turn to finish. Instead, the turns you get are like payment for the actions you took.
Battles
Aside from improving the quality of your country, you have to battle it out with other countries as well. Though it may either be that you are the one attacking or defending, a battle is inevitable. Earth:2025 makes the battles easy to do because there are only a few things you need to consider when it comes to that. There are only four types of units you can use which are namely the troops, jets, turrets and tanks. Once you start playing you are provided with 100 free troops you can use.
When you are about to attack you will then be asked to allocate how many would be part of the attacking brigade. The units that remain then become part of the standing army. Those who get left behind, or are part of the standing party will be your country’s defense against attacks. Your country’s defense not only relies on the units you have in your standing army but also on the structures and researches you have done. You need to have a harmonious mix in this to make sure your country stays prosperous and has a military arm to boot.
Competition Friendly
Earth:2025 has in fact different servers that cater to any type of player’s needs. The game boasts that it is competition friendly and that it provides an avenue for both casual players and hardcore tacticians alike. You have the primary server, alliance server, tournament server and the limited server.
The Primary server is one that is more for the new players and the casual players. The game is moderately paced and alliances or clans are not allowed on this server. The Alliance server on the other hand is more for the experienced players and it becomes possible to forge clans. This server is for the more active players and those who seek to be more involved with the game. The Tournament server is the monthly version of Earth:2025, it is more fast-paced and there is even a ladder-tournament setup. The best players who advance through the ladder are allowed to enter the higher level games. This is for those who want more our of their Earth:2025 experience.
The Limited Server is for those who have reached a certain level in the Swirve site. This server is more exclusive and the game is more relaxed and gives players more freedom. Anyone can join in on this server, but those who have attained Silver Service status on the Swirve.com site will get to advance beyond the protection phase and continue playing.
Lastly you have the Earth Council server which is like the alliance server but is run by select volunteer users. The game is more accelerated than the Alliance server and clans are highly encouraged here.
Conclusion
Earth 2025 is one of those browser-based games that lacks any images that it would seem that it is a bland game to begin with. But as the saying goes, ‘looks can be deceiving’ and that is the case here in Earth 2025. While it may be true that the game does look bland, the game is text-based after all, the game is simple and straightforward. There is no shortcut to having yourself a strong country and everyone who starts off would have to do things from scratch. This lack of any complicated mumbo jumbo that most games seem to have in the dozens makes Earth:2025 a truly engaging game to play. You have to rely on your wits, cunning and tactics to stand out. Everything is easy to understand and you can get it immediately as long as you pay enough attention.
The majority of what you find in Earth:2025 is self-explanatory. There is no ‘making the game original’ idea behind the game because this is in fact a strategy game down to its core. Of course you still to have to look at the guide once in a while, unlike in some games where you waste precious time in reading up exactly how this works: Earth:2025 cuts visiting the explanation pages down to a minimum. With the lack of any images the game loads faster compared to other browser based MMOs. You immediately see what you create without waiting for a turn to end.
Of course the lack of any images could make the game look emptier. Also, you might have a problem with the color combination of the text and the background because it hurts the eyes. This problem, though, is not really that big because you wouldn’t spend too much time in the game anyway, which adds to its charm because it doesn’t make you stay logged in more than needed.
The learning curve of the game isn’t that big because you get everything almost immediately. Instead of concentrating on trying to understand how things work you are given more freedom to focus on the strategy for your country. It’s a shame that Earth:2025 is under-appreciated due to the lack of images.
The game is also competition friendly. The various servers open for you to join is proof of that. The game gives you an alternative server to join in if you think you can go toe-to-toe with other players instead of forcing you to keep on playing on the normal server which is what most browser-based games are doing. If you want your browser strategy games simple, fast-loading without the complications most strategy browser MMOs put into then Earth:2025. If you’re more of the type who wants their browser-based MMOs more image-oriented I’d suggest you’d go for a different one.
Pros:
– Fast game transition
– The game is stripped down into the core gameplay
– You don’t have to worry about game loading times.
Cons:
– The game is text based
– The font color hurts the eyes
– Without images the game turns bland after playing it for some time.
