<s>
Empires	B-Application
:	I-Application
Dawn	I-Application
of	I-Application
the	I-Application
Modern	I-Application
World	I-Application
is	O
a	O
2003	O
real-time	O
strategy	O
video	O
game	O
developed	O
by	O
Stainless	O
Steel	O
Studios	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Activision	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Customer	O
surveys	O
from	O
Stainless	O
Steel	O
's	O
previous	O
game	O
,	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
were	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
starting	O
point	O
for	O
Empires	O
:	O
these	O
inspired	O
the	O
team	O
to	O
take	O
a	O
more	O
minimalist	O
design	O
approach	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
include	O
civilizations	O
without	O
overlapping	O
styles	O
of	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
certain	O
reviewers	O
disliked	O
its	O
single-player	O
mode	O
,	O
and	O
opinion	O
clashed	O
on	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
level	O
of	O
uniqueness	O
compared	O
to	O
competitors	O
such	O
as	O
Rise	B-Application
of	I-Application
Nations	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
sales	O
of	O
Empires	O
,	O
when	O
combined	O
with	O
those	O
of	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
totaled	O
2.5	O
million	O
units	O
by	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Empires	B-Application
:	I-Application
Dawn	I-Application
of	I-Application
the	I-Application
Modern	I-Application
World	I-Application
is	O
a	O
real-time	O
strategy	O
(	O
RTS	O
)	O
game	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
player	O
guides	O
a	O
civilization	O
through	O
five	O
historical	O
periods	O
,	O
from	O
the	O
Middle	O
Ages	O
to	O
World	O
War	O
II	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
three-dimensional	O
(	O
3D	O
)	O
camera	O
system	O
allows	O
the	O
player	O
to	O
view	O
the	O
action	O
from	O
any	O
perspective	O
,	O
including	O
isometric	B-Application
and	O
first-person	O
angles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Empires	O
allows	O
up	O
to	O
eight	O
players	O
(	O
or	O
artificially	B-Application
intelligent	I-Application
opponents	O
)	O
to	O
compete	O
in	O
two	O
modes	O
:	O
the	O
shorter	O
,	O
battle-oriented	O
Action	O
mode	O
or	O
the	O
longer	O
,	O
defense-oriented	O
Empire	O
Builder	O
mode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
led	O
by	O
company	O
head	O
Rick	O
Goodman	O
,	O
designer	O
of	O
Ensemble	O
Studios	O
 '	O
Age	B-Application
of	I-Application
Empires	I-Application
and	O
Stainless	O
Steel	O
's	O
earlier	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
it	O
had	O
with	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
Stainless	O
Steel	O
delegated	O
separate	O
teams	O
to	O
the	O
multiplayer	O
and	O
single-player	O
modes	O
of	O
Empires	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Further	O
inspiration	O
came	O
from	O
surveys	O
of	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
players	O
,	O
conducted	O
during	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
team	O
found	O
that	O
Empire	B-Application
Earths	I-Application
medieval	O
and	O
World	O
War	O
II	O
periods	O
were	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
,	O
while	O
its	O
futuristic	O
and	O
prehistoric	O
periods	O
were	O
the	O
least	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Goodman	O
believed	O
that	O
this	O
could	O
make	O
the	O
game	O
many	O
times	O
deeper	O
than	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
team	O
discovered	O
that	O
those	O
who	O
favored	O
the	O
single-player	O
mode	O
in	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
preferred	O
slower	O
,	O
more	O
management-based	B-Application
gameplay	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
engine	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
—	O
later	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
name	O
Titan	O
2.0	O
—	O
was	O
retained	O
and	O
upgraded	O
for	O
Empires	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Significantly	O
more	O
detail	O
was	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
units	O
 '	O
3D	O
models	O
than	O
had	O
appeared	O
in	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
priority	O
was	O
storytelling	O
,	O
an	O
element	O
of	O
the	O
RTS	O
game	O
Warcraft	B-Application
III	I-Application
:	I-Application
Reign	I-Application
of	I-Application
Chaos	I-Application
(	O
2002	O
)	O
particularly	O
enjoyed	O
by	O
the	O
Empires	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
each	O
new	O
build	O
of	O
Empires	O
was	O
given	O
to	O
"	O
strike	O
teams	O
"	O
of	O
playtesters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Empires	O
was	O
received	O
positively	O
by	O
critics	O
,	O
according	O
to	O
review	B-Application
aggregators	I-Application
Metacritic	O
and	O
GameRankings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
's	O
sales	O
,	O
when	O
combined	O
with	O
those	O
of	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
surpassed	O
2.5	O
million	O
units	O
by	O
May	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Game	O
Informers	O
Adam	O
Biessener	O
called	O
Empires	O
"	O
a	O
good	O
knockoff	O
"	O
of	O
WarCraft	B-Application
III	I-Application
and	O
Age	B-Application
of	I-Application
Mythology	I-Application
,	O
worthwhile	O
for	O
fans	O
of	O
the	O
RTS	O
genre	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jonah	O
Jackson	O
of	O
X-Play	O
,	O
Ron	B-Application
Dulin	O
of	O
Computer	O
Gaming	O
World	O
and	O
Stephen	O
Poole	O
of	O
PC	O
Gamer	O
US	O
were	O
similarly	O
unimpressed	O
by	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
single-player	O
mode	O
:	O
the	O
last	O
critic	O
highlighted	O
its	O
"	O
stupendously	O
loquacious	O
cut-scenes	O
and	O
terrible	O
voice-acting	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
they	O
criticized	O
the	O
pathfinding	B-Algorithm
,	O
interface	O
,	O
unoriginality	O
and	O
inconsistent	O
graphical	O
quality	O
of	O
Empires	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
named	O
it	O
the	O
inferior	O
of	O
Medieval	B-Application
:	I-Application
Total	I-Application
War	I-Application
and	O
Rise	B-Application
of	I-Application
Nations	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
summarized	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
well-made	O
competitor	O
to	O
historical	O
RTS	O
titles	O
like	O
Rise	B-Application
of	I-Application
Nations	I-Application
,	O
Age	B-Application
of	I-Application
Empires	I-Application
and	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Writing	O
for	O
GameSpot	O
,	O
Sam	O
Parker	O
argued	O
that	O
Empires	O
separated	O
itself	O
from	O
rivals	O
Age	B-Application
of	I-Application
Empires	I-Application
II	I-Application
:	I-Application
The	I-Application
Age	I-Application
of	I-Application
Kings	I-Application
and	O
Age	B-Application
of	I-Application
Mythology	I-Application
,	O
and	O
he	O
commented	O
,	O
"	O
While	O
it	O
may	O
not	O
have	O
the	O
breadth	O
of	O
Rise	B-Application
of	I-Application
Nations	I-Application
real-time	O
empire	O
building	O
,	O
the	O
tight	O
scope	O
deals	O
out	O
dividends	O
when	O
it	O
comes	O
to	O
fast-paced	O
battles.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Steve	O
Butts	O
of	O
IGN	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
GameSpy	O
's	O
Rausch	O
,	O
called	O
Empires	O
a	O
major	O
improvement	O
on	O
the	O
foundation	O
of	O
Empire	B-Application
Earth	I-Application
,	O
thanks	O
to	O
its	O
smaller	O
scope	O
and	O
deeper	O
gameplay	O
.	O
</s>
