by Tim - November 11, 2003

*Originally written 1/22/2003, archived from NHGN

To start, Hegemonia is not your average Real Time Strategy game. There aren't many space-based strategy games out there, but for those that exist, Hegemonia tops them all. This game has everything a true RTS gamer can think of, and more. The storyline is great, the graphics are amazing. The music gives that touch to make you feel like you're playing out a science fiction epic. Legions of Iron has got to be one of the best space-based Real Time Strategy games out there!

Legions of Iron

The storyline of Hegemonia is very well thought out. The year is 2104, and the human race is caught in the middle of a civil war between Earth and Mars. Whoa now, before you say "I've heard that story before...", give it a chance! After weeks of fighting and taking severe losses, the two sides must join forces against a new threat, an alien force who wants to wipe out all mankind.

Stunning Scenery

As soon as the game is launched, players will see the world (and the universe) from a different perspective. Hegemonia's graphics are so detailed they seem realistic. Players will drool over the visual effects such as sun angles and planet rotations. The background scenery is so amazingly detailed that it creates the illusion that you are actually in space.

The artwork involved with this game is on such a grand scale, it's amazing that something like this was created.

3D Real Time Strategy to a new scale

With the release of several 3D Real Time Strategy games last year, most notably Microsoft's Age of Mythology, the strategy genre has been taken to a new level. Hegemonia lays the hammer down on all of those games though, with its complete 360� rotating camera angles. You can pan around to all angles along with convenient zoom in/out features. The zooming and rotating gives you not only the feel that you are in a realistic environment, but also the ability to use tactics that would otherwise be null in a 2D engine.

Gameplay

In Hegemonia, you as the player can choose to play either the Earth or the Martian campaign. Both campaigns start off with tensions rising between Earth and Mars, leading to war. The campaigns are interrupted with discovery of an alien race, which unites the two human factions. The game progresses as the player will explore and colonize several systems while fighting enemy threats.

Different from your average strategy game, research is a huge portion of gameplay. Researching technologies has a great effect on the usage of your units and production capabilities. You will research weapon upgrades, equipment, buildings, and several other technologies that will help your empire in its domination.

Aside from research, players will need to build different types of units, including military ships, special ships, and buildings. Military ships range in types such as quantum, missile, and proton, and also in classes, such as fighter, corvette, cruiser, and battleship. There are also minelayers, which can be very useful early in the game, and mobile military bases. The military bases are powerful fortresses that must be deployed to be useful.

Special ships include colony ships, mining ships, population transport ships, spies, probes, and wreckage recyclers. Each of these ships have their own special features. Colony ships are used to colonize other planets or moons that are uninhabited. Mining ships are used to gather resources from mineable asteroids or moons. Population transport ships are used to transport people from one planet to another. Spies are used to go on missions such as information gathering, money stealing, or counter-intelligence. Probes are used as radar to see things away from your planets and bases - they're small, quick, and hard to detect. Wreckage recyclers gather materials from destroyed ships and turn them into credits for you.

Buildings are just as important in Hegemonia as the military ships and the special ships. Buildings will help increase research, production, and also help with planetary defense. Shields and planetary guns are included in buildings. Planets and moons have varying capacities for the amount of buildings they can handle. Make sure you terra-form your colonies right away to be able to hold more buildings!

Another important factor is morale. Morale affects your production, research, and taxation rates. You don't want your morale to drop too low or you'll have an uprising and your population will riot against you. Keeping your tax level near the middle will help keep your morale in the positives, and not the negatives.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer in Legions of Iron goes through GameSpy Arcade. It is built in to the game and can also be accessed through the GameSpy Arcade program itself. This is one of the downsides of the game, because the players can only use GameSpy Arcade to connect and nothing else. Being powered by GameSpy Arcade also degrades the game to an extent.

There is no rating system so there is nothing really to keep players coming back and playing, other than the fun of playing against other people. Hegemonia has so many hours of gameplay in it in the single player mode however that players might not even want to try out the multiplayer.

Despite the poor choice of matchmaking services (or the inability to create its own matchmaking service), multiplayer games have several map choices to choose from. Players can be any of the three races: Human, Unknown, and Solon. The settings are completely customizable, with the ability to set research levels, starting funds, starting technology level, etc.

Games against other opponents can last extremely long, especially if all the players involved are at the same experience level. You can pick up heroes in the multiplayer games to help your Empire by paying them for their services as they randomly come along. Random events will also spur disaster into your empire if you aren't careful, like a solar flare or volcanic eruptions.

A greatly delivered soundtrack

Really defining the game's brilliance is the musical score. The epic soundtrack gives you the feel that you are playing out a blockbuster science fiction movie. The music doesn't get old as you play throughout the campaign missions or battle across the internet in a multiplayer game.

Wrapping it up

Hegemonia: Legions of Iron is almost flawless. It has beautiful graphics, amazing sound, a splendid storyline, and awesome gameplay. We have our hopes set on an expansion or sequel to be created for this game to further expand the limitless possibilities for an intergalactic plot. This is truly the strategy gamer's dream come true.

Hegemonia is so addicting it will keep gamers having fun for hours, and keep them satisfied every time they play.