Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest

Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest is the massive 2002 official expansion pack to the wildly ambitious 2001 RTS epic, Empire Earth. While the base game was masterminded by Rick Goodman’s Stainless Steel Studios, development duties for this expansion were handed over to Mad Doc Software.

Taking over an already absurdly large game—one that spanned a staggering 500,000 years of human history across 14 Epochs—Mad Doc decided that the only logical next step was to push the timeline even further into the future. They broke the physical boundaries of the Earth and took the franchise straight into the stars.

The 15th Epoch: The Space Age

The absolute biggest selling point of The Art of Conquest was the introduction of the Space Age. Picking up after the Nano Age, this 15th Epoch fundamentally changed how the late-game was played by introducing interplanetary warfare.

Key additions for the Space Age included:

• Spaceports and Starships: You could now build massive Spaceports that produced floating spacecraft. The roster included nimble Space Fighters, devastating Space Bombers, and massive, heavily armored Capital Ships that floated above the battlefield, bypassing traditional ground terrain entirely.
• Planetary Colonization: On specially designed maps, the Space Age allowed players to transport citizens and military units off the primary landmass and fly them to “other planets” (represented as distinct, isolated terrain areas on the map) to harvest exclusive resources and build off-world bases.
• Anti-Gravity Warfare: Traditional tanks and infantry were replaced by hovering, anti-gravity armor and infantry wielding advanced energy weapons and forcefields.

The Three New Campaigns

The expansion added three brand-new, sprawling single-player campaigns that filled in the historical gaps of the base game and expanded the sci-fi narrative:

• The Roman Campaign: A deep dive into antiquity. You follow the rise of the Roman Republic and Empire, playing as historical heavyweights like Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar, eventually conquering Gaul, battling Mark Antony, and securing the empire under Augustus.
• The Pacific Campaign: A gritty, grueling World War II campaign focused entirely on the Pacific Theater. You command American forces through the Battle of Midway, the brutal island-hopping campaigns of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, relying heavily on aircraft carriers and amphibious assaults.
• The Asian Campaign: The wildly imaginative, sci-fi continuation of the Empire Earth timeline. Set after the events of the Russian Campaign from the base game, you follow the United Federation of Asian Republics (UFAR). The campaign tasks you with crushing internal rebellions on Earth before ultimately launching an expedition to colonize Mars, where you must fight off rival corporations and uncover ancient alien artifacts.

Gameplay and Mechanical Tweaks

Beyond the new age and campaigns, Mad Doc Software implemented several highly requested quality-of-life features and mechanical additions to deepen the competitive multiplayer meta.

• Unique Citizen Powers: To make the distinct civilizations feel a bit more asymmetrical, every civilization was given a unique “Citizen Power.” For example, Japanese citizens could uniquely command the “Cyber Ninja” for espionage, while other nations might gain the ability to instantly construct buildings or harvest resources at accelerated rates.
• New Civilizations: The expansion formally added Japan and Korea to the roster of playable nations, each with distinct bonuses tailored to specific historical playstyles.
• Multiplayer Enhancements: The expansion heavily overhauled the multiplayer server browser and added new match types, attempting to balance the notoriously chaotic late-game tech rushes.

Development and Legacy

Released in September 2002, The Art of Conquest was well-received by the existing fanbase. Critics noted that while the 2001 graphics engine struggled slightly to render massive fleets of floating spaceships smoothly, the sheer audacity of taking an RTS from the Stone Age all the way to Mars colonization was undeniably fun.

The expansion’s success was a massive win for Mad Doc Software. It proved to publisher Sierra Entertainment that the studio thoroughly understood the franchise’s complex macro-mechanics, which directly led to Mad Doc being awarded the contract to develop the critically acclaimed 2005 sequel, Empire Earth II.

Today, you do not need to buy this expansion separately. It is permanently bundled with the base game as the Empire Earth: Gold Edition, ensuring modern players can experience the complete, unbroken 500,000-year timeline.

Key Features:

• The Space Age — Evolve your civilization into the 15th Epoch, building massive Spaceports and fielding fleets of hovering Capital Ships and Space Bombers.
• Interplanetary Colonization — Expand your empire by flying citizens to off-world territories to harvest resources and establish secure bases.
• Three Sweeping Campaigns — Conquer antiquity as Rome, master naval warfare in the WWII Pacific Theater, and colonize Mars in the sci-fi Asian campaign.
• Citizen Powers — Utilize brand-new, civilization-specific abilities to give your economy or military a unique, asymmetrical edge.
• Flawlessly Preserved — Fully integrated into the Empire Earth: Gold Edition, easily playable on modern PC hardware today.

Release Platforms:

• Microsoft Windows (PC) — September 17, 2002
• (Currently available on GOG.com as part of the Empire Earth: Gold Edition).