Video Game / Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War

"Civilizations may rise and fall, but heroes never die."

— Official ad motto

Rise and Fall: Civilizations At War is a RTS game produced by (now defunct) Stainless Steel Studios and Midway Games. You have the choice of playing four different factions, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. The following civilizations are Ancient Persia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Each of these factions have two specialized "historical" Heroes, but the player can only pick one to play as.

Rise and Fall: Civilizations At War contains the following tropes:

• Artificial Stupidity:
  • The game's unit path-finding can range from mediocre to pretty terrible.
  • Units have terrible threat recognition and disregard orders to attack specific enemies with regularity.
  • The enemy AI has no idea what to do about double lines of walls.
• Alternate History:
  • In Alexander's campaign, his nemesis is General Memnon, rather than Darius III.
  • In Cleopatra's campaign, she will manage to kill Octavius, and free Egypt from the Roman Republic. She dies from her wounds sustained in her fight, instead of using an asp to commit suicide to escape capture by the Romans in Real Life.
• Artistic License – History: Sargon II of Akkad and King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon are portrayed as the leaders of the Persian faction, despite actually being non-Persian and unrelated to the Persian Empire in Real Life.
• Arrows on Fire: Archer units and watch towers can be upgraded to use flaming arrows. As he levels up, Alexander the Great's arrows can spread AOE flames across multiple enemies (depending on his level).
• Battle Cry: Germanicus can unleash a mighty bellow, which can terrify the enemy army into temporarily routing.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: All Heroes are equipped with their respective melee weapons, as well as bows.
• Cool Mask: Sargon wears a dark veil over his face, while Ramses wears a golden face-plate.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Invoked in Cleopatra and Ramses's clothing.
• Glass Cannon: Cleopatra, Sargon, and Nebuchadnezzar.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Cleopatra VII.
• Jack of All Trades: Julius Caesar and Alexander function in this role as Heroes.
• Lady of War: Cleopatra VII is depicted as a heroic Action Girl in this game, rather than a hands-off, manipulative temptress as she is usually shown as in other media.
• Logical Weakness: Both Germanicus and Ramses are slower than other Heroes and most units. The former is weighed down by his armour, stout stature and weapon, while the latter is hindered due to his Battle Axe of Ra. Nebuchadnezzar, Sargon and Cleopatra are fragile speeders due to their minimal armour.
• The Paladin: Ramses II functions in this role, as his Imhotep's Blessing ability grants him an AOE heal to himself and his army (based on his level and his proximity to his soldiers).
• Macross Missile Massacre: Julius's special ability to direct a catapult barrage onto any location that is within his line-of-sight.
• Mighty Glacier: Germanicus and Ramses II are the toughest Heroes in the game in terms of their melee power and durability, but they are very slow, compared to other Heroes.
• No "Arc" in "Archery": Averted.
• Rain of Arrows: The archer units will fire upwards to hit enemies who are on higher elevations.
• Reused Character Design:
  • The in-game model for Memnon in Alexander's campaign is Nebuchadnezzar.
  • Julius Caesar looks completely identical to his nephew, Octavius in Cleopatra's Campaign.
• Sword and Sandal
• Sinister Scimitar: Sargon wields one.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard:
  • Not Playing Fair With Resources: At higher difficulties, the AI can easily outlast you via infinite resources.
• The Smurfette Principle: Cleopatra is the only female Hero in this game.
• Third-Person Shooter: The game mixes RTS with Third and First-Person Shooter mechanics when playing as your Heroes.
• Veteran Unit: The Greek, Roman, and Persian factions possess this trait. The Greek soldiers can be levelled up via special trainer units, the Roman legions get stronger from killin enemies, and the Persians can permanently designate a formation of units to be an Elite Army.
• Weapon Specialization: Germanicus's weapon of choice is a hammer.
• White Mage: The only civilization in this game that can produce Healers is Egypt. The Healers are completely defenseless, and they are quite Squishy. Their main uses are to use heal injured allied units to full health (provided that the Healers have enough energy to mend the wounds), and resurrect fallen comrades (if the Herbalist Advisor has been researched). Strategically, the Healers should be targeted first, as they can easily keep an entire Egyptian army effectively immortal as long as they are still healing.
• White Magic: Both Ramses and the Egyptian Healer unit demonstrate this ability via holy magical healing.