Dark Reign 2 is a real time strategy game with decidedly average AI, only mildly original opposing armies and not too much in the way of anything overly new on whole. So just why is it that I liked the game so much anyway? Well, let me try and get to the bottom of that here…

The Global Commonwealth has become irrelevant, stamped underfoot by the Jovian Defence Authority, or JDA. Humanity's elite reside in giant domes, protected by the might of the JDA. Protected from whom? The Sprawlers, the great unwashed, the billions that make up the social underclass that covers a vastly overpopulated earth. For years now an uneasy equilibrium has existed between these two groups, with the numerous but fractured militant Sprawler groups unable to agree amongst themselves to unite against the better armed but less numerous JDA forces. Times are changing, though. The previously sealed entrance to the mountain lab of the revered Alpheus Togra has been split open, and the secrets that lie within trigger a journey towards Sprawler unity at long last. Once again, war is inevitable, and you're to take a controlling part in it.

As I mentioned, Dark Reign 2 is an unremarkable game at first look. Although there are differences, a number of units are pretty similar on both sides, such as the Sprawler Thunder Cannon and the JDA Mastiff, both mobile artillery pieces. Slightly more distinctive armies (and maybe more than two of them) would have added a lot to the game. The AI still displays suicidal tendencies of past RTS games though, happily sending line after line of troops into a veritable wall of gun turrets that invariably cuts down these troops with sheep-like tendencies before they even get a chance to fire back.

That being said, none of the above things prove as detrimental to the overall quality of the title as you might expect. It also does a lot of things right. While Ground Control remains the best looking RTS around, the Dark Reign 2 terrain still looks rather nice. There are a huge number of terrain sets such as jungles (complete with rain), deserts, sewers, Sprawler cities and even the inside of a JDA dome. As far as I could tell, not one mission used the same setting twice, and this continual change of scene from battle to battle adds much to the appeal of the title. For models with so few polygons, the troops and vehicles are attractive and well animated. Although it is hardly realistic, seeing 20 Rumblers firing in unison and in full 3D looks undeniably nice.