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I want to like it, but had a hard time getting into it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

So this game is really well-done. I'll say that first, unequivocally. The 3-D rendering rocks. The characters are well-defined and well-balanced. The scale and atmosphere is a brooding-film noir-post modern epoch that would make Huxley jealous.

But it's just not that fun to play. I had a blast with Dark Reign, but I can't really describe what's missing here. I think it's a lot slower (the base takes forever to build), and for all the balance of units, combat tends to feel lopsided. Or maybe I'm just lousy at this version, with all the 3-D, since the new terrain shifts the tactics around from the original.

Worth getting, even if you're disappointed with what seems like lousy graphics now (remember this game pre-dates NVIDIA 4 chips).

A good follow-up to a great game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I was honestly surprised when I first played this game. It isn't nearly as hard as its predecessor, Dark Reign: The Future of War, yet it still has its own challenges to overcome.
Since it is a prequel (in the Dark Reign storyline), it builds on the great storyline presented in the first game. The 3-D graphics add to rather than subtract from the practicality of the gameplay, but still have some room for improvement. The graphics and game itself run smoothly for me, even though I run Vista.
In my opinion, this game is well worth the money I paid for it, and I don't regret my purchase at all.

As good as I remember it

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I had played this game years ago when it first came out, but since had moved and lost my CD. For a while now I had the urge to play again. There are not many games out there that allow such a simple thing as building fences or walls around your base, yet that is the main reason I fall back to this game from time to time.

This game is better than all other RTs's

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

...I got this game at a local store. I was expecting something that would only be fun for a couple hours. I was way wrong. This is the most SPECTACULAR strategy game I have ever played. The lighting effects are great. The terrain looks great. The graphics are real 3D (like FPS's.) Some ppeople say the recources run dry to quickly. This is sort of true. In the single player campains there is more than 2 tmes the recources to finish each mission. In the skirmish games you can choose how much money you start out with (one to 1 million!) However I wish that the recources regenerated. The unit blances are some of the best I ever seen. resource gathering is at a good speed not to fast or tooo slow. I have never been a fan of upgrading. However in this game the upgrading(you only upgrade the buildings) did not get boring or seem repetative. Each side has 23 or so units (which is a good number.) Each side has unique units and tactics. The sprawlers can lay andd one of the 4 different kinds of mines anywhere on the battle field. I sugest running this game on a computer with a 1.3 processor just like I am. The graphics are spectacular and so are the huge battles. The main difference between this game and most other games is that you wage FULL SCALE warefare. The are tons of unique strategies that you can use in this game. You can also change views from first personn to thiird person and rotate the camera 90 degrees or 360 degrees. There are lots of things in this game that are not in your average RTs for example Tire tracks(left by units with tank treads) and wheather. There are a good amount of defensive structures and buildings for each side. This game is way better...than any of those other overrated games. The controls are simple put powerful. Each unit has tons of ways that you can use it and can accomplish lots of tasks. The highly varying terrain adds to the tactics that you can use. The naval battles look good. I could say lots more bu t I doubt you would be willing to read on so lemme wrap this up. If you don't have this game then you are missing something very big. Get it. I can promise you will stop doing anything else inorder to play this game. This game is so addictive. After playing this game any other game seems to lack everything. You will stop playing any other game.

A disappointment

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: May 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I was surprised to hear about Dark Reign 2. The original, while one of my personal favorite games, did quite poorly in stores and was a flop compared to direct competition such as Starcraft and Total Annhinilation. Keeping these qualms in mind, I was pleased to notice that Activision was funding another game in the series, and that it would have a full 3D engine. I bought the game the day it came out, rushed it home, and installed it. I was very impressed for the first few hours. The 3D engine was most impressive, the gameplay good, and the missions fun. However, I noticed that the team had taken OUT some options from Fark Reign: where was the settings for your unit's tenacity, their agressiveness? This is where things started taking a turn for the worse.

I also realised that the missions started to become rather repetitive. Although some are the 'survive with a limited number of units' type, most are the 'kill everything' variety, perhaps with some objective put in for good measure...however, the only way to get to these objectives is to kill everybody in between you and them! The graphics are good, but not as amazing as Ground Control- also, I noticed some flagrant false advertising on the back of the box--look closely, and you will see each explosion pictured there is fully 3D and has particles flying out in every direction. In the game, the explosions are lo-res sprites. I do like the music, however, and it runs well at 800x600, full details, on my P3-450 with Geforce 2.

If you liked Dark Reign, try the demo. If you like that, consider buying the game. There was so much more they could've done with this.

Unit Bloches, Gameplay Ups, SP Downs, MP Good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: December 18, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Dark Reign 2 is awesome game. They have really outdone (and sucked) at this game.

Pros: This game has a brand new engine, which can run as smooth as an Unreal Engine on one of those new Gigahertz PCs...Units are detailed up close and still appear detailed from far away (but aren't...nice) Units are well balenced. JDA has the Guns, Sprawl has the Defensive. Also, nice Map Studio.

Cons: Use of Formations. They suck. You get 4 Formations, which they take 4 Minutes to get in a 5x5 Box Formation. Even after that, they are still not in full formation! NEED FIX! Group Ops. If you move someone in the middle of a group, they won't get out for 5 minutes. Units Slows. These units are super slow. On SP, there is in the readme a 'speed up' command. It hardly works. It speed my Guardians, to get from the bottom of the map to the top of the map, from taking 5 minutes, to taking 4 1/2 Minutes.

Buy/Rent: BUY! You can't do everything in 3 days.

Dark Reign 2 = Near perfection!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game rocks. Other strat games can't touch DR2. The editor is also top notch. I made a map the day after I started the editor for the first time. DR2 is a total joy to play because of the awsome balance Pandemic put into it. The best part is that there isn't a offense that can't be defended well if you think it out. Difficulty is just right if you ask me. You put the AI on easy and you will win fast. Put the AI on hard and you are in for the fight of your life! DR2 is a winner!

Buy or Rent the FULL GAME - Dont bother with the Demo !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: October 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

First of all, make sure you patch up the game before you play it. A friend of mine beta tested it and complained like crazy about numerous problems - many of which are FIXED with the latest patch. YA YA we all hate games that are rushed to the store before all the bugs are worked out. But give the FULL version a try. The demo doest do the game justice.

Just about every negative review of this game on amazon.com is from someone who obviously DIDNT bother learing the controls, or actually playing the full version.

Nicholas Van Tassell said: "I wish Pandemic would have allowed the freedom to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees (maybae by holding the Shift, Alt, or Ctrl keys while moving the mouse." -Hold down the middle mouse button while you move the mouse and you can turn the camera 360 degrees! Did this guy read the manual?

Matt Dunphy (see more about me) from Portland, OR said: "Gameplay is a real snoozez, Tons of dicking around and not much combat. Everything is just deliberately slow--aircraft move as slowly as infantry on foot, et cetera. If you are looking for fast, furious, exciting gameplay, this is not the place to find it." - Not much combat? Try a multiplayer game (you vs computer bots or against real people) against an oponent and the ONLY way you can win the map is to destroy their command center. And you cant do that without mashing some turrets, infantry, tanks, etc etc etc. The battles are all over the place...some for the base, some for "talen" (like spice in dune) etc. And the planes move at least 50% faster then infantry and the slow moving tanks are VERY slow. Different units move at different speeds.

Alex Kutsenok (see more about me) from IN said: "This game reinvents real time strategy with such revolutionary concepts as resource gathering and the mother of all tactics: The Tank Rush!" - Again, this guy didnt play against anyone good. There are DOZENS of different ways to avoid a huge tank rush. Ive seen 3 or 4 "regular" gun turrets chew up armies of 10-12 scorpion tanks. It just depends on where you position them. And why not use mojo against the tanks to blind them? Why not try placing some mines out there? Why not use an army of fast infantry to attack the slower tanks? It seems like all the negative reviews come from little cry babies who got their butts kicked at multiplayer and didnt understant why.

James Axsom (see more about me) from San Antonio, TX United States said: "buildings take up too much map real estate, and resource run dry to quickly." - Oh brother. What map did this little boy play on? There are over a dozen maps that come with the game and YOU can set the resourse to WHATEVER amount you want! If the resources run out to fast for you, then YOU need to stop being lazy. Besides, there are hundreds of maps available for download from the internet, and if thats not enough, MAKE your own with the editor. Dont be lazy!

Now I dont work for the game company, nor do I think this game is 5stars like I gave it (its 4) but I wanted to try to cancel out all the idiot reviews that its been getting.

Absolutely Disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: October 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I played the first dark reign and its expansion and got hours and hours of enjoyment, espically the humorous, rebel traning missions, however dark reign 2 just doesn't cut for me.

I think the 3D environment is a bit distasteful and the game maps are generally cluttered with useless obstacles. Units move too slow, buildings take up too much map real estate, and resource run dry to quickly.

There however one redeeming quality about the game I enjoy very much and that is the music.

Don't spend your money on this one, stick with the first dark reign.

the first dark reign is cheaper

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: August 18, 2000
Author: Amazon User

you could easily be equally entertained by any game from the past decade as you could by this game. There is nothing new or exciting (alright i have to admit that techno music really gets me into the commonly abused post-apocalyptic theme of genetically engineered superhumans killing each other with "blasters";"rail guns",etc.) But the graphics are nice. And um, the textures are decent, and can easily be viewed with that nifty camera. But when you actually play, there is nothing to do, but use the same old tactics from starcraft or dark reign or whatever. I did have fun with those snipers though =]

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