The most in depth turn based game to date
User Rating: 9 | Dominions II: The Ascension Wars PC
Dominions 2 The Ascension Wars The Great one has come. Dominions 2 is in my opinion the greatest turn based to come since the original Age of Wonders. Graphics: 3/10 As much as I like this game the graphics are pretty bad. The over world map looks similar to Risk which isn’t to bad but the battle graphics are pretty terrible. Almost all units go through only two animations in battle and upon death disappear in a small poof of red mist (blood). The units are each different in their look and can be zoomed in on during battle which is what gave a point to graphics. Unfortunately they are still very blurred even when zoomed in on. Spell animations are decent. Sound: 7/10 I really enjoyed the music in this game with its medieval monks chanting which seems to really fit the theme well. The battle sound somewhat diverse; unfortunately the sound can get very, very repetitive with one particular move (mind blast) that makes a very loud horrible sound. Now if you have 20 mind blasting creatures casting it repeatedly it can make you want to send your speakers sailing out the window. Gameplay: 10/10 By now your probably wondering why I gave this game the Zeus award when the graphics are terrible and the sound is mediocre at best. Well here is where it makes up for all that. First off the depth of this game is absolutely amazing. To give you an example of the depth let me give you overview of the steps need to create god. Step one chose a civilization. There are 17 to chose from! And they are all different in their look and strengths and weaknesses. After spending 30 minutes on deciding on a team we go onto step two. You are now assigned 500 pick points, which are used throughout the choices. ex: one god (Son of Niefial) costs 50 points. Step two pick a god. There are 15-20 god to choose from and then there are also gods unique to certain teams. And once again they are all distinctive. Step 3, chose magic schools for your god. There are eight to choose from (air, fire, water, earth, nature, astral, death, and blood). You increase the levels of the school by using up some of your points and on top of that you can put points into multiple schools. Step 4, customize dominion. You do this by tipping several scales to use or get back pick points. If you choose turmoil your dominion would get frequent events (mostly bad) and you would get some pick points back for choosing a negative scale pick. However if you choose order your people would be more productive and get less events. However it would use up some pick points for picking this positive adjustment. You can also increase dominion strength and choose your dominion type, which use up points also. I won’t go into detail on this, if you want more information go on a forum. Step 5, finally you must choose a fortification to use (castle, fortress, hill fort). This is your defensive structure and does many things and I could probably write a whole guide on the choices but once again I won’t go into detail on this, if you want more information go on a forum. Now those are choices that you make before even starting the game. Unfortunately if you already have guessed, this game has got to have one of the steepest learning curves out of any game ever made. Still once you get into the game it is very enthralling. Also at shrapnelgames.com Bruce Geryk has made an excellent beginners guide. Commanding your kingdoms is simple and not generally a chore and battles are done automatically though you can watch a tactical replay. You do have a say in fighting but only in the form of assigning tactics. Multiplayer: 8/10 The Multiplayer is good and can be done in multiple forms. And because it is turn based, you and your friends can play a game all on the same computer. Of course you can also play online but unfortunately there isn’t as many players online as other more popular games like Diablo 2. Still it’s an all right multiplayer setup though. Replayability: 10/10 Just look at all the choices I have talked about in this review and you will see the endless combinations. I guarantee no two games will be alike. Final Score: 9/10 If you can get by the weak graphics you will realize this is truly a gem to any gamers collection. I can’t recommend this game enough. 
