Year: 2001
Type: Gamerip
Composer(s): Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland
Number of tracks: 18

★★★★★

Rightfully forgotten classic with catchy tunes

Empire Earth is what happens when a group of Age of Empires-fans come together and say, "We can do this too, but bigger and in 3D!" Spoiler alert: they couldn't. While the spiritual predecessor still retains a certain charm today, Empire Earth suffers the same fate as most old games that dared to make the leap into the next dimension – it's just plain ugly. When I played it back then, it bothered me less, but if that were the only issue!

In this game from 2001, similar to the Civilziation-series, you lead your people from the Stone Age into the future. What others would call megalomania was actually implemented here. 14 epochs with 5 campaigns, over 100 units (or unit variations) that can be individually specialized, 21 civilizations with different bonuses, and hero units. On paper, a guarantee of fun, and at least in single-player mode, Empire Earth proved to be quite entertaining, but in multiplayer battles, it revealed itself to be a balancing disaster. Additionally, the game also suffers from many peculiar mechanics that set it apart from other real-time strategy games – perhaps it should have stayed closer to the competition. But I'll spare you the details, as nobody reads them anyways.

Empire Earth (2001)

Empire Earth II (2005)

It's all the more gratifying that I can report on the great musical accompaniment, also known as the soundtrack. Because it is largely successful and fits the imperialistic concept of the game. It starts in the main menu when the Main Theme "Empire Earth" unfolds before us and in true Soviet tradition, a men's choir singing in Latin makes our chest hair sprout, continues in the ambient tracks like "Balance of Power," "Shadows," or "The Fallen," which create a battlefield atmosphere, or the thoughtful notes like "Enmity" and "Pawns," where we can watch our delicate, burgeoning nation steadily grow.

What I particularly like is that the tracks don't get boring despite their high loopability. Many songs are between 4-8 minutes long, with one or two repetitions often included within this duration—I've never been bothered by it. Perhaps here too, the much-sung nostalgia club strikes, or the soundtrack simply hits the nail on the head with its drum rhythms. You can definitely give it a listen, although not to every track – especially the alternate versions, which I find rather... questionable. And also a brief note: the "Battle" track is identical to the Main Theme. It's a gamerip after all.

Nostalgia warning

The rating of the individual tracks is purely subjective and clearly colored by my own experience with the game. You can find out more in the article About Nostalgia.

Nr.	Title	Interpret(en)	Ratings
01	Empire Earth	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	5
02	Balance of Power	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	4
03	Battle*	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	5
04	Arthurian	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	3
05	Emnity	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	4
06	Guillotine	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	3
07	Honor	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	3
08	Honor [Alternate]	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	2
09	Pawns	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	4
10	Pawns [Alternate]	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	2
11	Rivers	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	3
12	Shadows	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	5
13	Shadows [Alternate]	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	3
14	Siege	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	3
15	Solemn	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	2
16	The Fallen	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	4
17	The Fallen [Alternate]	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	2
18	Time	Ed Lima; Scott Haraldsen; Steve Maitland	5

*Track entspricht „01 Empire Earth“