Age of Empires-influenced real-time strategy game The Fertile Crescent 2: Collapse of the Bronze Age leaves early access today, publishers MicroProse have announced, with the 1.0 version adding the final chapters of the singleplayer story. You’ll also get your grubby fingers on the very same map editor developers Wield Interactive used to design the campaign.
I’m new to The Fertile Crescent 2 myself. I do like the sound of a strategy sim in which you guide a fugitive community through the Late Bronze Age Collapse. The land has been thrown into turmoil by the arrival of the Sea People, this being a loose historical term for assorted ocean-going migrants who, I gather, are often blamed for the crumbling of the Hittites among other once-glorious Bronze Age powers. I don’t have much scholarly insight to share – I thought the “Sea People” referred to expansionist mermaids, at first – but I do have a trailer.
Watch on YouTube
Nate Crowley (RPS in peace) was exceedingly fond of the original game, calling it “a bite-sized chunk of phenomenal RTS design” that “manages to riff nostalgically on Age Of Empires, while completely rewriting its ground rules”. The sequel continues with the same core concepts – above all, the paramount importance of food, which determines population and army size together with your civ’s progression.
“This is not a game about building the biggest empire,” the developers explain in a press release. “Resources have to be managed, stability is fragile, and growth comes with risk. Every expansion, every battle, and every decision must be weighed against survival. Building and managing a sustainable economy is as important as commanding your forces in battle. Expanding your army too quickly can put your food economy under pressure.”
The story spans 17 missions, with four playable factions: the Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Hittites. The 1.0 release also includes some standalone scenario missions, a skirmish mode, and multiplayer on dedicated servers with bot support.
Read more on Steam. If you’re partial to historical strategy and don’t mind winding back the clock (upturning the hourglass? Adjusting the sundial? Recalibrating the henge?) another few thousand years, Folk Emerging is pretty terrific. If you like stories about migrant tribes, and you don’t mind trading your Hittites for Vikings, you might get a kick out of The Banner Saga.