Title: Hegemonia: Legions of Iron
Publisher: DreamCatcher Interactive
Developer: Digital Reality
Date Published: November 13, 2002
Platform: PC
ESRB Rating: Teen

Hegemonia: Legions of Iron is a sci-fi Real Time Strategy (RTS) game. Hegemonia is set in space in 2104 AD were the human colony from Mars is battling Earth for supremacy. You may choose to be either side in the dispute and have absolute control over planets to gather resources and build ships.

The story starts in 2104 AD and humanity has started colonies on other planets in the solar system. An unknown force attacks a Martian diplomat convoy to the moon. Mars and the colonies blame the World Government for working behind the sences to eliminate Martian political counter parts. The Organization of Colonists declares war against the World Government and cuts all ties from Earth. Both organizations are equally matched and it will prove to be a long and well-balanced war.

As you can see the story is very political and can have you to sleep in a few minutes. The story is not the best. I believe that the developers knew this and kept the story away from gameplay so you don't get a large lecture on the story during the first few missions.

Hegemonia has great graphics and the gameplay is similar to Homeworld. On every planet you control you can make your people work to produce ships, world projects, or furthering technology. Your planet can be ruled by a hero who can boost certain statistics of your planet like how quickly the population makes ships. Heroes can be leveled up and each hero is better at some things than others. You can have your hero lead a fleet of ships and depending on what level your hero is can make your ships cooperate better to destroy the enemy quicker. Controls for moving around your camera and manipulating your space ships takes time to understand but while your trying to figure it out you can stare at the graphics. The graphics in Hegemonia are very good and I have yet to see a game that is better.

Overall Hegemonia is a high quality sci-fi RTS that is a treat to look at.

He*gem`o*ny
n: the domination of one state over its allies.

System Requirements
OS: Windows98, Win2000, Windows ME, Windows XP
CPU: 600 MHz Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon processor
RAM: 128 MB
CD/DVD-ROM Speed: 4x
Hard Drive Space: 550 MB available
Video: 16 MB Direct3D compatible video card
Sound: DirectX 8.0a compatible sound card
Input: Keyboard, Mouse
Supported 3D Cards: All NVIDIA GeForce cards, ATI Radeon,
Matrox MGA-G550, Matrox Parhelia, Kyro II cards
Recommended:
1 GHz or faster CPU, 256 MB RAM, 16x or faster CD/DVD-ROM drive,
32 MB or greater Direct3D compatible video card, EAX-compatible sound card.

Required for Multiplayer:
1 disc per player per computer
Internet (2-8 players): 56 Kbps or faster Internet
connection
Network (2-8 players): TCP/IP compliant network connection
Internet service required for Internet play.


Sources: Packaging, and my own play experience.