Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration

Strategy 1999 Windows SSI Historical Empire management Business Turn based

Ugly but engaging strategy game for armchair explorers

The turn-based strategy genre is a crowded market, with top titles including Civilisation, Total War and Alpha Centauri. While Imperialism 2 lacks the sophistication of some of these other games, it is certainly deep enough to keep budding empire-builders occupied. The game takes players on an epic journey starting in 16th Century Europe and sees them sending out explorers, forging alliances, developing technology and waging war, all with the aim of creating the mightiest empire in history. Players are certainly kept busy, with a number of important considerations to be managed, including resources, international relations, and the needs of your ever growing population. All this is achieved through a user interface which is surprisingly intuitive and easy to get the hang of, despite the complexity of your tasks. Graphically, the game is rather ugly, with basic map screens and crude battle scenes which lack detail. Sound too is minimal and together these factors may put off many players looking for something with a bit more flair. However, to do so would be to ignore what is actually an ingenious and worthy addition to the strategy genre. Although lacking in action, with a deliberately slow pace, Imperialism 2 is addictive and complex, and has much to offer armchair politicians if you can ignore its occasional frustrations.

Rule the empire

Imperialism II : Age of Exploration is a turn-base strategy game released in 1999., by Frog City Software and it's a follow-up of Imperialism, which was released in 1997. In Imperialism II, you start off as a ruler of a 16th century European country, and must build an empire. Its predecessor was not famous for its high quality graphics, and neither is this game. But what is captivating is the interesting gameplay that will get you to stay up for hours on end. Your job is to conquer the unknown New World by whatever means you choose fit military aggression, diplomacy or by economic growth. You can team up with other big forces in the world, or you can just destroy them. It looks good, it sounds good, and It's a must have game for all die-hard strategy game fans, and also a very good start for strategy first-timers. While turn based strategy combined with lack of stunning graphics can turn away some players, those that pursue this game will be entangled by it's great aspects, and will hardly ever notice lack of graphics.

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