Dark Reign 2 Preview

This should be, or at least I’m trying to make it, a different preview than the usual stuff we get served on the upcoming titles. This is a story about Pandemic Studios’ venture into the world of 3D, RTS gaming, entitled Dark Reign II. Coming as a sequel to a rather entertaining real-time strategy game, Pandemic team set out to do something completely different. As the first Dark Reign game was to some degree overshadowed by the appearance of C&C: Red Alert, Greg Borrud - director of the Dark Reign II project decided to go full-3D in an attempt to bring a breath of fresh air into the RTS market. Pandemic team set out to create novel features of true-scale 3D terrain strategy, weather effects, low-gravity environments and extreme close-up capabilities - "infantry view; zoom out to a satellite view" type of gameplay. Oh, and did I mention some pretty intelligent path finding and a host of other great AI concepts? Dark Reign II was envisioned as a unique approach to real-time strategy genre that would depart from the classic style of real-time strategies, and rise above so many of the C&C clones out there... So, where is the catch then? Simple enough, that kind of a breakthrough release was supposed to happen in (this is according to one of the older Activision Press Releases) Summer of ’98, and as I’m writing this article the game is yet to hit the shelves and give the gamers a chance to test out all the announced features. Dark Reign 2 release date was pushed later on to Winter ’99. Nowadays, according to Activision’s latest press release schedule the game’s release date is yet to be announced.

Some fierce battles in Dark Reign II

More fierce battles...

Will the concepts and tech innovations that were deemed revolutionary in ’98 hold out in the year 2000? Will the final product have reviewers say that it’s a fair 3D real time strategy game, with some nice features (having had the chance to play Ground Control or Black and White), or will the Dark Reign II be considered as revolutionary as Pandemic Studios originally planned? Before we go any further into detail, I’d like to add that I had a chance to play the beta of the game about 5 months ago, at the Activision presentation day held in London. Also, Activision’s DR2 press material comes equipped with a great number of screenshots, and although none of these elements can compare to sitting in front of your PC and playing the game for hours and days, they give at least a relatively accurate insight into what we can expect from the final product. And as so many previewers don’t even bother to add a few thoughts generated from reading between the lines and using speculation and common sense, I just thought; why not!

Storyline:

The storyline of Dark Reign II comes actually as a prequel of the first game, sort of like Star Wars Episode I and the original three movies. Right at the start this is a nice and original idea from the designers, as I didn’t get a chance to see many similar concepts on the market recently --- set on Earth in the 26th century, Dark Reign 2 tells a story of a brutal clash between two sworn enemies; the wealthy Jovian Detention Authority (JDA) and the Tribes, a ragtag group of revolutionaries fighting to gain freedom from the oppression. Instigated by the JDA kidnapping of the Tribes’ most influential leader, an army of renegades has been amassed to lay siege to the enemy’s largest metropolis. With a battalion of air, sea and land units including Rumblers, Aquanaughts and Stingers, players can wage war from either side battling through more than 25 challenging day and night missions that begin on Earth and unfold throughout the solar system. As you can see the basic plot is not brilliantly innovative, but the later part gives us much more reasons to get excited about the prospects of the storyline. Note the sentence stating that the player will be able to wage battles from either side, beginning on Earth and unfolding throughout the Solar system. This little piece of info taken from the press release holds in it some gripping plot-twisting potential, and could mean that Dark Reign II story features some neat tricks later on in the game.

Graphics, 3D Engine...

Now this is really the trickiest part for the developers. This element of the game is least likely to stand out the test of time; especially considering the fact that the game’s visuals didn’t impress me all that much during my playing experience at the presentation day. Nevertheless, some of the game’s eye candy facts sound pretty impressive. Using a new proprietary engine technology, Dark Reign 2 brings players closer to the battlefield than any other RTS, while maintaining the key gameplay elements of real time strategy games (base building, resource management, and hard hitting combat). Dark Reign 2 will give players the freedom to fully immerse themselves in the action of a 3D world, smoothly transitioning from a top-down view to an infantry-level view and everything in between. Several combat sequences in Dark Reign 2 will even take place indoors, while the battles raging outdoors will be subject to weather and day/night visibility effects. And if you’re a Pentium III owner, with a sub par graphics card, you’re in for a treat, because developers are promising to maximize the Intel Pentium 3 and 3D hardware enhancements via new MRM technology. That should yield some solid frame-rates with substantial graphic detail, even on low-end systems. As I said, that all sounds very nice when written on a piece of paper. You can make up your own mind by looking at the screenshots if you wish. My general impression, when I took a first quick glance at the game was - oh, just another 3D RTS! Unfortunately, I didn’t go breaking my neck to get a chance to play it while constantly going - wow! The textures of the terrain looked a bit too plain, but I’ll hold out on any other comments. The game was still in beta; I didn’t get the chance to see the best levels, along with a number of other reasons why I shouldn’t comment any further on the visuals. The bottom line is we’ll just have to wait and see what the media will say about the graphics once the game is out. 

Swamp-based action sequence...

What are these?? Ninja warriors?

AI, Gameplay...

Reading through the AI and general gameplay specs, one can truly relate to some of the outlined qualities of Dark Reign II. I think any RTS fan can realize the importance of developing a good unit AI in a real-time strategy game. Units’ conduct under fire makes all the difference in the world when it comes to creating a good tactical game. The big question is, will the units run aimlessly around the map shooting at each other and rushing on the enemy when outnumbered, or will they use some proper tactics; the kind you’d expect from a rational squad of soldiers in the battlefield. These are some very important elements of the overall gameplay experience. Luckily, we should expect Dark Reign 2 to really shine in this department. If they follow through on 60% of their promises we could be in for a nice and addictive game playing experience. Some of the AI features will include Revolutionary Squad-Level AI: Troops co-ordinate attacks and cover one another like a real team. A new interface allows more control over the management of the squads. Realistic unit animations signal injury, victory and defeat. Also, Pandemic Studios promises some nifty path finding routines that should make the job of troop management an easier affair. Besides the AI, a few more things could possibly bring some variety and character into the gameplay. Dark Reign 2 will feature weather and atmospheric effects like rain and low gravity environments. Because of the true scale 3D terrain, some new and interesting tactical variants will be made possible. According to Alan Gershenfeld, senior vice president of Activision Studios, with Dark Reign 2, gamers will see the next generation of real-time strategy games by getting a whole new view of the battlefield. The 3D, hardware accelerated engine will allow players to stand at the front lines with their troops, send scouts over hills to explore dark ravines, and even burn down the forest where their enemy is hiding." Weather and atmospheric effects do sound pretty interesting, but I’m not all that convinced with the "revolutionary" label of the true scale 3D terrain features. It will certainly generate a lot of fun if implemented correctly, but the feature doesn’t sound all that original and unique any longer. There is a host of games sporting some incredible 3D terrains; amongst others, the fantastic looking, soon to be released Ground Control from Massive Entertainment. I’m not saying that Dark Reign 2 3D terrain won’t make a difference; I’m just saying that the idea isn’t as revolutionary as it was once considered to be.

Final Thoughts...

I’ve laid down some of the features and speculated a bit on the potential commercial success of Dark Reign 2. The delays, and development problems have been more than evident, but the game still has a lot of good things with which it could pull through, and become a success story. In the end it all depends on what the gamers will say about the final product. Oh, and one more interesting fact. Activision made available to the press a whole bunch of zipped screenshots, saying: (Strictly NO online use until 10th Mar 2000). Does that mean we could expect some action on the Dark Reign 2 front at that time? Could we expect a playable demo, maybe even the final release? We’ll just have to wait and see.