Empire Earth Tips and Cheat Codes You Should Know

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, real-time strategy (RTS) games began to boom in popularity, and many developers jumped on the trend.

Among them, Empire Earth stood out as one of the most iconic RTS titles of its time, offering a grand historical scope that captured the imagination of many players.

Developed by Stainless Steel Studios and published by Sierra Entertainment (formerly Sierra On-Line), Empire Earth was released in 2001 exclusively for Windows. At first glance, the game may remind you of Age of Empires, which makes sense, both were designed by American game developer Rick Goodman.

So, if you're already familiar with Age of Empires, chances are you’ll feel right at home playing Empire Earth. Despite the similarities, Empire Earth managed to carve out its own success. By 2002, just a year after its launch, it had sold over one million copies worldwide.

This achievement was backed by glowing reviews from critics. For instance, GameSpy awarded the game an impressive 94 out of 100, even naming it the PC Game of the Year in 2001.

In this article, we will take you through some fascinating aspects of Empire Earth, including a collection of cheat codes you can use if you’re looking to revisit this legendary game. So, sit back and enjoy the nostalgia!

A Bit About Empire Earth

In a 1998 interview, Rick Goodman revealed that founding Ensemble Studios alongside his brother Tony Goodman and colleague John Boog-Scott had been a long-time dream. For him, working on Age of Empires (AoE) at Ensemble Studios was a natural extension of his childhood love for games.

Born in 1955, Goodman said he often enjoyed modifying the rules of traditional board games like Wooden Ships and Iron Men as a kid. When Age of Empires was released in 1997, it made waves in the gaming world and brought Goodman into the spotlight.

Its interface went on to inspire many RTS games that followed. However, AoE still used a 2D graphics engine and hadn’t yet made the leap to 3D. Despite the game’s success, Goodman eventually parted ways with Ensemble Studios.

Rather than joining the development of Age of Empires II, he left the company due to reported disagreements about the game's direction. He went on to establish Stainless Steel Studios, where he would finally create his dream project, Empire Earth.

“I left Ensemble Studios to pursue a dream, and that dream was Empire Earth. This game is truly epic, and it keeps me from ever becoming complacent,” Goodman said at the time.

“Empire Earth is the culmination of everything I learned during the 1,000 days of developing Age of Empires. I want people to say, ‘This game is amazing,’ not just, ‘It’s not bad.’ My hope is for Empire Earth to become the new standard for RTS games.”

Gameplay

Rick Goodman's extensive experience with Age of Empires helped shape the direction of Empire Earth, particularly in its visual presentation.

Unlike AoE, Empire Earth adopted a 3D graphics engine, a notable advancement at the time. However, it wasn’t the first RTS game to use 3D, and some critics, including GameSpot, weren’t too impressed with the game’s visual quality.

Despite the mixed response to its graphics, Empire Earth was widely praised for its gameplay depth. The game spans 14 epochs across a whopping 500,000 years of human history. Players can choose from 21 different civilizations, including Ancient Greece, the Assyrian Empire, Babylon, and Byzantine Rome.

If you’re not satisfied with the preset options, you can even create your own civilization by combining traits from existing ones. This level of customization was one of the game’s many fresh features. Another standout aspect is its morale system, each soldier’s performance can be affected by their morale, adding a layer of realism to the battlefield.

Empire Earth also introduces a hero system. Some heroes serve as strategists, healing allies and lowering enemy morale, while others act as warriors, boosting the attack power of their units.

Players begin their journey in the prehistoric era and progress through 13 technological transitions, ultimately reaching the futuristic Nano Age. With each era, units, buildings, and technologies evolve, keeping the gameplay dynamic and rewarding.

You can play Empire Earth solo against the AI or in multiplayer mode with up to eight players. These can be all human, all computer, or a mix of both.

Like other RTS games, there’s a campaign mode available when playing solo, but Empire Earth takes a unique approach. Each campaign mission has its own storyline, pulling you deeper into the historical context.

There are five campaign modes: the Learning Campaign, Greek Campaign, English Campaign, German Campaign, and Russian Campaign. New to the game? Start with the Learning Campaign, it guides you through the basics step by step.

Empire Earth Cheat Codes

Feeling excited to dive into Empire Earth? Like many classic strategy games, it comes with cheat codes that can make your gameplay a little easier, or a lot more fun.

Whether the developers meant to leave them in or not, these cheat codes are perfectly usable and legal. However, since they weren’t heavily publicized, many players still don’t know they exist. Carisinyal has compiled a list of useful Empire Earth cheat codes that you can try out.

Just keep in mind: cheat codes only work in Random Map mode, not in campaign missions. Also, make sure you enable the cheat feature in the settings menu. To activate a code, press the Enter key, type in the code, then press Enter again.

Tips for Playing Empire Earth

Aside from the cheat codes mentioned earlier, there are several strategic tips you can try to help you progress through the game more efficiently. These strategies can be adapted depending on the scenario and your overall objectives.

1. Russian campaign

The Russian campaign isn’t too difficult, if you know the right approach. Start by supporting your headquarters, then form alliances with other factions. After that, take a few tanks and upgrade them. Send the upgraded tanks to the outer area in numbers that match the enemy’s defense towers.

Next, upgrade your civilization and build a Titan bomber factory. Don’t forget to boost the bomber’s hit points and speed. Finally, gather all your troops and use planes to fly them to the enemy’s main base. The capital is located behind the enemy base, toward the upper-left corner of the map. Take it down to complete the mission.

2. Strengthen Your Defense

You won’t win if your castle is destroyed early on, so don’t underestimate the importance of strong defenses. One effective tactic is to build three airstrips and fill each one with fighter planes. Set a rally point just outside your base so the planes can automatically patrol the area.

When enemies approach, they’ll be met with airstrikes from your fighters. If you have enough resources, try building 10 planes per airstrip. That way, when one gets destroyed, a replacement is already queued up.

3. A Faster Path to Victory

In standard matches, a quick way to secure victory is by focusing on aircraft. Build as many operators (pilots) as possible, then assign them to planes. Once ready, send your air force to target and overwhelm the enemy kingdom. Planes are especially effective for launching powerful attacks quickly.

4. How to Destroy French Forts Efficiently

In the third campaign, German: The Red Baron, you’ll be tasked with destroying three French forts. The units provided for this mission are artillery observation balloons. To complete the objective efficiently, here’s what you can do:

Start by targeting the fort in the lower-left corner of the map. Move the artillery balloon directly into the center of the fort. The artillery will launch an attack shortly after, and the fort will fall with just one strike.

That’s a quick overview of some useful tips and strategies for playing Empire Earth. Feeling excited to jump back into the game? If you’ve got other tricks or tips, feel free to share them in the comments so fellow players can benefit too!