Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration
Windows version
If you're a strategy gamer, you must own this game
The Good
The amazing thing about Imperialism II, what jumps out and grabs a person immediately, is the sheer level of detail and the way it all works together to form a cohesive whole. This is the Strategy Game par excellence; the Holy Grail. Not only is there an incredible amount of substance in this game, the AI is topnotch to boot! It's actually an intellectual challenge to take on the computer for once.
The Bad
The production values are strictly middle-of-the-road--not great but not horrible either. While fancy graphics and sound effects are not required for what is essentially a boardgame translated to the computer, they nevertheless would have been nice. Also, the interface is a bit clumsier than it needs to be.
The Bottom Line
THE BEST turn-based computer strategy game ever made, bar none, in my opinion. While its ratings may look artificially low due to the lack of super-whiz-bang 3D graphics and whatnot, don't let that dissuade you from playing. This game has it all where it counts.
Just don't even think about playing without reading--and rereading--the manual (the strategy guide from Sybex is also highly recommended), first.
by Jim Newland (56) on February 11, 2001