"Imperialism-It'll make time fly"

The tag line for Imperialism reads, "The Fine Art of Conquering the World." Nothing could be more eloquent and precise than that. The game Imperialism may be one of the greatest strategy games ever to be created. In this review, I will be explaining why.

Concept (10): The game takes any young boys day dream, being a nation's leader, and transforms it into semi-real life. The game allows you to either lead a real European nation or a fictional nation through a simulated lifetime. You ca also play multi-player over the Internet, or a lan network.

Gameplay (10): The game has an incredible level of detail and customization. You can name your soldiers and battalions, or even your war ships. You name your country, only in created world mode though. You command the entire nation and its needs. Through commerce, military, and diplomacy you try to conquer the world either by pen or by sword. You can even command your troops in battle, but all naval battles are automatic.

Music (10): The music in this game fits the scenery and aesthetics exactly. A very regal and formal music tread throughout the game, and even the sound effects are accurate. Cannons fire along with bullets in battle, and the sounds of industry permeate through the capitol city.

Replayability (10): The created world lasts for a good 20 hours if you take your time and make thoughtful decisions. The scenarios can take longer or shorter depending on your skill. And the multi-player games can take more time than a monopoly and a risk game combined. Even in create a world, you'll find yourself redoing everything. Making your country peaceful or war happy, making yourself completely independent from foreign trade, or relying on your diplomatics heavily. The possibilities are endless, as is the good times had by all.

Overall (10): This game should be in everyone's collection of strategy games. It's a fairly cheap game, and can be found by online vendors. It will entertain you whenever you need a break from your console games. It makes you think, makes you happy, makes you angry, and makes you proud. Imperialism is one of the greatest strategy games in the world.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/20/04