Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration

"An overlooked gem"

What do you call a game that takes the concepts of Civilization 1 & 2 and puts it on a Risk like board? I call it Imperialism II.

- The Story -
It's the year 1500 AD and your the king (or Queen) of a major European country and having just gone through the dark ages (Black Death and all) your treasury is a little used up, and your resources are running out. So deciding that you have nothing to lose you send an explore to go into the black undiscovered areas (think Civilization) to go find some new lands to conquer and bring some new resources home. If all goes well you can begin processing all those new found riches and build up an army to defend your land or harass your neighbors. Eventually you will have the power to invade your neighbors back home and once you control half of the old world (EUROPE) you win the game.

- The Gameplay -
This is sort of hard to describe. Its a cross between the board game Risk and the PC game Civilization. Basically you start out in a European country and you send your workers to process your resources. You have the option of micro managing everything from production to technology like the civ games but it can become overwhelming. Anyway like the board game Risk you send units to other parts of the ''board'' (like an explorer or a ship) and it takes one turn to process all those moves. The next turn you discover what was there. Building stuff can be confusing. You need to build farms and fish to feed your people or everyone starves and dies (It's really bad on the higher levels of the game). Battling is fun though. Like the explore or ship units you have to move your army to the providence adjacent to the providence you want to attack (1 turn) or create a beachhead from a ship (1 turn). Then the next turn you actually fight it out and you have to option of directing the battle yourself or let the A.I. do it. It really is a good system once you get the hang of everything.

- The Graphics -
These look a little outdate but they get the job done. Providencies look like they were taken right out of Risk. Every image is a flat 2-D representation of the unit it is suppose to look like. Nothing fancy but atleast it doesnt detract from the game itself.

- Audio/Video -
The audio portion has a classic sound track (seems like there are only 2-3 real tracks) that tends to get on your nerves once in a while. It it gets overwhelming just turn you speakers off. This game honestly doesnt need any sound. There are no FMV, except for the intro, but even that is hardly a FMV. Everything else is still pictures.

- Replay -
Extremely high. There is a simi-custom map feature that churns out new starting locations and Old/New World locations. Even on the same map, no two games are the same.

- Buy -
This game is cheap and since its probably already in the bargain bin its definitely worth a look.

Final Tally
Gameplay : 9 (There is a 3hr learning curve on the intro level)
Story : 10 (Rewrite the the history of Europe)
Graphics : 7 (passable, but dated when this was released in 1999)
Audio/Video: 6 (You'll probably end up turning your speakers off)
Replay : 9 (Same replay value as any Civilization game)
Buy : YES (This game is cheap and so you really have no excuse for not owning this)
Total : 8 (Graphics and sound hold this back)

I realize that many people haven't even heard of this game and it's sad that it wasn't more popular when it came out. It really is a gem to own once you get pass the learning curve.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/01, Updated 08/16/01