Earth 2140

Earth 2140 is a real-time strategy game released in 1997 for MS-DOS and later Windows. It was developed by Polish studio Reality Pump (then known as TopWare’s in-house team "Trans Fiction"). Coming at a time when the RTS genre was already thriving thanks to titles like Command & Conquer, Warcraft II: Tides Of Darkness, and Total Annihilation, Earth 2140 offered a fresh take by blending a dystopian sci-fi setting with a robust mission structure and a heavy focus on mechanized warfare.

Set in a grim future where the planet is ravaged by war and environmental collapse, the game pits two factions against each other: the Eurasian Dynasty and the United Civilized States. The aesthetic leans into cybernetic machinery and futuristic landscapes, with a distinct visual identity characterized by gritty industrial zones and sterile high-tech installations. The narrative is told through mission briefings and cutscenes, framing a war for survival on a dying Earth.

Gameplay-wise, Earth 2140 follows the classic RTS template: harvest resources, construct bases, train units, and outmaneuver your opponent. What sets it apart is its emphasis on unit variety and combined arms tactics. The game features over 50 missions split between the two campaigns, with a mix of base-building, escort tasks, and full-scale assaults. Units are primarily mechanized — tanks, walkers, drones — and the game allows for some unique upgrades and automation features not often seen in contemporaries.

Graphically, Earth 2140 uses a crisp isometric engine that supports high resolutions and delivers a clean, readable battlefield. The animations are smooth, and the terrain is detailed, especially for its time. The soundtrack and sound effects are competent, if not particularly memorable, but do contribute to the high-tech war atmosphere.

Despite its strengths, Earth 2140 wasn't without issues. Pathfinding could be frustrating, and some missions suffered from poor balancing or repetitive objectives. However, the game still found a dedicated fan base, especially in Europe, and sold well enough to spawn a series of sequels, including Earth 2150 and Earth 2160, which gradually expanded and refined the concept.

Earth 2140 may not have had the same global impact as Starcraft or Command & Conquer: Red Alert, but it remains an important piece of RTS history — particularly as one of the first ambitious entries in the genre to come from Eastern Europe. It showed that the RTS boom of the '90s was not limited to American and British developers, and it laid the groundwork for more globally diverse strategy titles in the years to come.