Call to Power 2

DEVELOPER : Activision
PUBLISHER : Activision

 

System Requirements Pentium 200 Mhz, 64 MB RAM, 320MB HD Space

Recommended Pentium II 300MHz, 128+ MB RAM, 4 Megs Video card, 17 in monitor

Ratings
Code Issues Graphics: 6 While definitely better than its Civilization predecessors, the unit graphics in CTP2 are still a little jagged. The special CGI movies for wonders of the world are very well done, though. Audio: 7 Pretty cool CD quality world beat music accompany your quest to rule the world, and the units will spit out the expected "At your command" and "As you wish" on occasion. The voice of your city production queue manager sounds JUST like that chick in the Command and Conquer installation routine... Interface: 5 Non-intuitive is a word that comes to mind when trying to describe CTP2's interface. The amount of pop-ups, tabs, wheels, menus, and shortcuts can be quite overwhelming at times. However, given the complex nature of the game, I'm not sure how it could have been made more simplistic.	Play Issues Solo Gameplay: 8 Well... it's Civilization with prettier graphics, more units, more wonders, and an upgraded diplomacy model. At the beginning of the game you'll likely wonder why Civ has been remade YET AGAIN... but an hour or so in and you'll be happy it was. Definitely still addictive after all these years. Multiplay: 7 You got your IPX, your Internet, your TCP/IP, and your LAN capabilities. Going multiplayer allows you to circumvent the sometimes clunky AI, but limits you to playing a "conquest only" type of game. PC peaceniks need not apply. Also, when I was able to actually connect to one, the Activision servers were quite empty most of the time... Replayability: 9 With over 30 tribes to choose from, a number of special scenarios, and a random map generator, I can't imagine two games playing even remotely alike. Excellent replayability. Learning Curve: 8 Even if you're an old Civ fan you'll still find some of the interface quirks a hindrance to playing the game. If you're a newbie to the series, be prepared to spend a good hour or so figuring out all the menus and buttons. Some of the production models are especially difficult to digest.
Other/Notes Documentation 7.0 – Great manual, the kind you go to bed with (TO READ, YOU SICKO!). All the game's concepts are covered in loving detail either in the good-sized paper manual or in the online Encyclopedia. The online docs are especially interesting as they present future history to explain some of the futuristic technological advances, giving CTP2 its own background history. Nice touch. Pros:  - Cool "historical" background on future technologies - Game depth and sheer number of improvements, advancements, and units - More addictive than crack laced with nicotine; should be a treatment for narcolepsy Cons:   - Interface has caused astrophysicists to shake their head in confusion - Units are sometimes indistinguishable from one another - It'll cause you more sleep deprivation than the Spice Channel and a cable de-scrambler  Overall: 8.5

All right... let's get one thing straight. Call to Power 2 is not going to win any special awards for innovation. It's really nothing more than a spruced-up version of the Sid Meier's Civilization - a game that many (myself included) consider the finest computer game of all time. So, if lack of creativity bothers you, than you'll want to stay far away from CTP2. However, if it's deep game play and plain ol' FUN you're looking for in your computer entertainment than look no further - CTP2 is one of the finest turn-based strategy games on the market, and packs more bang for your gaming buck than you can probably handle. Get that coffee ready and prepare to be late for work, because Civilization (although due to legal reasons it's not called that any longer) is back and better than ever.

Once you've selected your persona from over 30 different nationalities (all pretty much the same, unfortunately), you'll be presented with a couple of Settler units and a patch of land upon which to build your empire's future. From there, you'll see your nation grow from a simple little farming community with nothing but a few granaries and pikemen to a technological powerhouse complete with underwater communities and bio-organically manufactured units. Victory can be accomplished in a number of ways - the simplest (and probably most popular) way is simply to eliminate all other players on the map. However, for the more "dove-ish" crowd victory can also be achieved by inking a permanent alliance with all other players in the game. If sci-fi is your bag, steer your empire to build an infinite-energy machine known as the Gaia Controller to claim victory. Or lastly, simply play your empire through to the year 2300 A.D., and see how your empire score stacks up against your opponent. These multiple victory paths combined with historic (and semi-historic) scenarios, plenty of customization options, and a complete scenario editor gives Call to Power 2 an almost limitless amount of replay value.

Despite all the positives that this game offers, I will admit that it does take a little while to get moving at an interesting pace. The early game often consists of simply clicking the "End Turn" button over and over while waiting for your initial units to be built. But just when you begin to feel that perhaps the Civilization line of games has past its prime, that familiar feeling will enter your being and you'll quickly achieve a case of "just one more turn" syndrome. Most of what makes CTP2 so well-done is that it lets you make the game as complicated as you like. You can shoot for just a "kill them all" mentality and focus mainly on building military units. However, for a greater challenge, you can concentrate more on following a specific path along the robust technology tree while engaging in complex diplomacy to fend off any unwanted skirmishes. The number of units, advancements, wonders, and diplomatic options are absolutely mind blowing, and the fact that almost all of them add in a meaningful way to game play is even more amazing.

Despite options to win the game by peaceful means, you will almost certainly at one time or another find yourself at war with one of your AI counterparts. Although the mobilization of troops in time of war is one of the tedious parts of the game, once combat really gets going it's a whole lot of fun. No longer can you just push your pieces blindly across the board to attack your enemy - you must now concern yourself with combining flanking units, ranged units, and melee units for maximum effects. Activision has tweaked the strength of certain units to achieve better game balance, and has made numerous other small changes (such as limiting the amount of spaces units can move on railroads) that truly add to the challenge of the game. A little attention to detail truly goes quite a long way in this game.

The computer AI is decent, but a bit flawed. For instance, there were times when computer armies were harassing (but not attacking) my cities. To get the offending units out of my space, I used the diplomacy model to request that these units be removed from within my borders. However, despite the computer seemingly agreeing to my terms, the units just stayed put - apparently oblivious to the treaty that the computer has just agreed to. After trying to resolve the issue with further diplomacy failed, I just gave up and attacked the units, resulting in an unwanted war. There were a few other issues with the computer-controlled civilizations that made me with that Activision would've spent a little more time on AI programming.

Another AI-related issue is the computer-controlled management of friendly cities. In order to alleviate some of the tediousness of micromanaging your empire, CTP2 allows you to turn over control of city production over to the AI. You can choose what aspects of production the AI should concentrate on (offense, science, production, etc.), so you can customize your governors depending on what the game situation. Unfortunately your governors' tendencies to produce offensive units at a more alarming rate than the Osmonds produce children can leave you empire a little light in the pockets due to the financial support needed to keep around all these idle troops. The governors do a nice job, however, in the public works arena where they'll make sure that your city is surrounded by all the farms, mines, and trading posts needed to maximize your civilization's income. Making public works improvements a menu choice as opposed to a unit-dependent function works MUCH better than the Settler method of land improvements in the previous Civ games, and frees up your time to spend on more important matters in the game other than road building and the like.

Given the learning curve and the somewhat confusing interface, Call to Power 2 could have definitely made use of some tutorial scenarios. Instead, the developers simply make use of a few semi-helpful boxes that pop up at certain times throughout the game. A better tutorial - either written or in scenario format - would've done a world of good in making the depth and complexity of the game world a little easier to swallow. Since the game was much more enjoyable to me once I became a little more familiar with some of the game's nuances, giving gamers more of a "nudge" at the onset of game play should've definitely been implemented.

CTP2 is a very intimidating game in many respects - there are simply so many layers of game play here that it's almost impossible to experience everything there is to experience in only a few games. My review would have to go on far beyond the space I'm allotted to truly cover all aspects of the game play: new wonders, new units, improved combat, excellent scenario missions - this game's got it all. Call to Power 2 is a must-have for fans of Civlization.

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Reviewed by Michael Askounes