Empire Earth 2 Review

There are however some other things that make up for the lack of originality on that field, and that is the immersive and complex game mechanism and various different content, such as the large number of buildings and the enormous number of military units. Some missions are also cleverly conceived, requiring a lot of skill to eventually complete. Because the game is so demanding, you will want to use your Picture in Picture screen where you can monitor a certain area on the map, thus obtaining information about what's actually going on in a specific location.

The ninjas are ready for a catwalk, with the musical support from heavy artillery.

Nothing pays like treason.

There are 15 different epochs and 14 nations featured in the game, each one of them with their own strengths and weaknesses, as well unique military units. Some units, such as the Japanese Samurai and Ninjas, are unique to a particular nation for obvious reasons. All units have specific stats that make them more or less useful against other specific unit types. You will soon grasp which units are effective against which, as the concept is very logical. The unit screen shows all the vital info about your units, as well as the chance of their being converted by enemy priests. It is also possible to upgrade your units and turn them into elite soldiers, but bear in mind, some units won't transform into their technologically advanced counterparts at the turn of the epoch. Most of them do, and the same goes for buildings, so you'll be pleasantly surprised when your small and modest temples turn into a group of majestic, solemn buildings. The expansion of your nation is a pleasant sight to behold, and when your population finally reaches maximum capacity you will be forced to obtain new territories, building more houses and city centers. During the course of the epochs, your buildings will be replaced by more modern ones, with even the slightest changes visible. Your citizens will also change their attire, and the wonders will mark the successes of your nation even more. The amount of detail is obvious even when zooming out, so you won't need to zoom in on a particular unit or an army in order to see what it represents. This makes the mayhem on the battlefield much easier to control.

Another important aspect of the game is technology, which advances by collecting technology points (one way to gather them more quickly is to garrison priests in your temples). The tech system is typical for the genre: there are three aspects of technological advancement - the military, the economical, and the imperial, and each one of them offers specific 'sciences' to be learned. Learning them results in achieving certain updates, meaning new units and buildings. When your nation is technologically advanced enough, it is allowed to pass onto another technology level (e.g. into the new epoch).

Now, there is more to collecting tech points than just that, as the nation which succeeds in collecting enough tech points and leading in any of the three categories gets the Crown. The Crown means you'll be able to choose a special bonus, the effects of which last for a certain amount of time. You may choose to improve your defenses, give a boost to your infantry, collect more gold, or obtain new citizens via immigrants that will come to your kingdom every once in a while.

I should also mention the detailed diplomacy system, which allows you to form an alliance with any other nation (unless that's impossible because of historical reasons (Or if you just can't stand them. Like, say, the French -Ed.)), as well as to declare war, negotiate, offer tribute, or give passage to friendly military units through your territory. Diplomacy and war strategy are implemented in a very realistic way, which gives it a rather authentic feel.

Finally, both multiplayer (via LAN and Internet) and the skirmish mode offer you a chance to play as any nation in the epoch of your choice, with many other parameters that can be modified - from the number of you opponents and the choice of what nation they belong to, to details such as the number of resources and the population, the map size, etc. There are many game modes available, including Conquest, King of the Hill, Hotspots, and Territory Control. While Conquest requires you to eliminate all your enemies, King of the Hill assumes you should take and hold the territory at the center of the map for a certain amount of time. Territory Control demands holding a certain percentage of territory in order to win.

As for the game's visuals, they cannot be called outstanding, which does not mean the game doesn't look good. Most textures are sharp and nicely colored, while the unit models look very detailed and are animated very realistically. Zooming in reveals some nice special effects that add to the atmosphere of combat, and weather effects are done very well, maybe even overdone. The sound is of good quality, with not particularly varied ambient sounds and some discreet musical themes.

Empire Earth II is a game for hardcore RTS players with a hell of a lot of time on their hands and quite a lot of patience. It brings some relatively dull, as well as some rather engaging campaigns, a large number of military units spanning through various epochs in the human history, and some particularly interesting historical moments revived in an intelligent fashion. It also has a solid replay value, bringing an easy-to-use map editor and an engaging multiplayer. Most of the game's options are very functional (like the War Planner), but there are also some that aren't particularly well conceived (such as the citizen manager, and the inhuman stupidity of your units which are not using the roads). The advanced diplomacy options, the solid AI and the inclusion of some realistic elements, such as weather conditions, make it truly enjoyable to play. On the other hand, its complexity will tend to bore you rather than intrigue you after some time, and I cannot tell why it is so. I guess that's because the game brings nothing truly revolutionary, and even the inclusion of the clever War Planner and presenting important historical periods could not hide the fact. Still, it's a well-rounded and nicely conceived game, so if you feel you can come to terms with its complexity and having to take care of every single detail every blasted moment, you should definitely go for it, as the game possesses great game play and replay value.