Empire Earth II

"Slightly fun, but pales in comparison with the original"

Empire Earth 2 is a sequel to the PC game Empire Earth. Is it good compared to the original? Is it any good at all? Read this review to find out!

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are not very good. Oh sure, they're very good on their own, but compared to the first game they are not improved much. This is a testament to either the excellent graphics of the original or the lack of improvement in this one.

Sound: 6/10
This games sound is not very good. In comparison to the blasting epic score of the original, the music here seems weak and repetitive. I really wanted to like the music, but it just doesn't cut it. The voices are just as bad, with each unit saying the same quotes again and again. So the sound isn't the best.

Story: 2/10
The campaigns in this game proceed like a historical lesson, and not a very interesting one. Compared to the vibrant storytelling of the original, this just falls flat on its face. There are no more cutscenes, only boring monologues.

Gameplay: 5/10
The gameplay has been screwed up real good from the original. In both games, you can fight through 15 epochs of human history. But in the original, the unit relationships changed throughout the epochs. In this, they change in outward appearance but keep the same relationships inward. So the epoch advancement is just for eye candy in this game, while in the original it was the core of gameplay. Also, many things in this game have been changed for the worse. The interface has become more complicated than in the original, the Heroes from the original are gone, replaced with generic leaders, units are built more slowly, and a needless element of diplomacy has been added which serves nothing except to complicate things even more. So I can sum up the gameplay in one word: AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHHHH!

Conclusion:

Empire Earth 2 is a weak, substandard, rushed sequel to a great game. It does not deserve to exist. Don't buy or even rent this game! Play the original and don't look back!

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/06