How can game
developers offer players something they’ve never had before? It’s becoming
harder to do in today’s gaming market with the focus on gamers being the focal
point of entertainment. A game isn’t just a “game” anymore. The majority of
games being released today are life simulations that give players the
opportunity to do almost anything. It’s common for a game to be a mix of
several different genres just to appease the finicky gamer today.
This type of
crossbreeding of genres has impacted almost every genre, including military
strategy games. The military strategy game used to be simple and easy; take out
the enemy with better tactics. But now a military strategy game is expected to
offer much more than it did 10 years ago. SuperPower 2 is one of those games
that offer players a huge amount of options in how to play the game. At its
core SuperPower 2 is a military strategy game where the ultimate goal is world
domination. But instead of just controlling the military now you can control how
your political party is aligned, the laws that govern your control, along with
the economic goals of your country.
SuperPower 2 is a
fitting name for the game since it really does offer “super powers.” You have
control over an almost limitless array of options within the game. Not only do
you have the option to control the military but also you can control political
as well as economic decisions. Do you want to raise taxes in order to build a
better army? The option is available. What about offering more resources to
other countries in order to reduce your trade deficit? You can do it in
SuperPower 2. In fact there are some options available within the game that I
have never even thought about being in a military strategy game (child labor
laws & same sex marriages). But this goes to show that SuperPower 2 was
designed to offer a complete military experience along with a wealth of other
options.
For gamers looking
for the ultimate strategy game might be hard pressed to find another game that
offers as much as SuperPower 2. In fact this isn’t just a military game, or a
political simulation or an economic simulation; it’s all of them combined. You
have the ability to raise the poorest nation into a world dominator or take an
excessive military country and turn it into a humanitarian state. SuperPower 2
is an almost complete package that gives players the ability to take over the
world however they choose. Sure it’s hard to include everything but SuperPower
2 comes close.
Review Scoring Details |
Gameplay 7.5
There are several
different ways gameplay can be scored with SuperPower 2 and it all varies
depending on how you play the game. Since the game gives you a ton of options
on how the game should be played it might be difficult for some gamers to
understand how “to play” the game. The underlying premise is the same, take
over the world. The only way possible to take over the world is by military
force. But if you don’t want to fool with the military option until much later
it’s possible to focus on just the political or economic aspects of the game.
Building your country into an economic “super power” can still lead to world
domination but it might take a little longer. But it’s up to you, the player,
to determine the best options for world domination.
The game controls
are easy to learn but might be too much for some gamers. Everything in the game
is controlled by point and click. Simply clicking on the left and/or right
mouse button can move your troops, change legislation, or lower taxes. But
understanding how all of the changes impact the game is something that seems to
be confusing, at least at first. The game will probably leave most gamers
scratching their heads at first just wondering what it is they need to do. The
in-game tutorial helps somewhat but it only scratches the surface of the game,
with a focus just on the military aspects.
If gamers take the
time to try the game out and dig deep into the game they will probably be
pleasantly surprised. Being able to change the dominating political party of
the country is one thing but launching a nuclear assault is something else.
Learning how everything works in the game is part of the game itself but an
easier interface would have made things easier for all gamers. The game does
offer several different single player goals from achieving world peace to
raising the Gross Domestic Product by 50% for your country. Or you can try out
different scenarios within the game, which vary depending on the difficulty.
Graphics 7.5
The game is
presented in a global view, which means that you have a view of the entire
globe. The graphics for the globe were very nice with some admirable details
such as clouds flying over different countries within the game. A really
enjoyable feature with the global view was the ability to zoom in on every
country within the game. So if you want to zoom in for a close of view of Texas
you can look at several of the major cities with the state and make out the
highways for the city. It took the game a few seconds to update the graphics
while you zoomed it and it a pleasant experience within the game. However this
is about as exciting as the graphics get within the game. During the military
battles you see a static view of your troops on a battlefield. The troops never
actually fight the enemy but you see who’s winning and losing by a number
indicator for each troop. It would have been nice to actually watch the battle
unfold by zooming in on the action while it occurs.
Sound 7.6
I did enjoy the
sound effects and music within SuperPower 2. The music set a nice atmosphere
for the game and had a decent amount of variety in the tracks. The sound
effects in the game were at a minimum except for the military actions. You hear
all of the explosions during the battle and hear the sound of each unit moving
across the globe. Both the music and sound effects were a good touch but
nothing that will have gamers screaming for excitement. Luckily no horrendous
voice-overs were included within the regular game. It’s a global simulator so I
guess we should be happy that we get sound effects and music.
Difficulty
Medium/Hard
I would rate the
difficulty at a hard level if you’ve never played a simulation game before but a
medium if you’ve played at least a few. Understanding what is happening during
the game is probably the biggest challenge. There is so much that is happening
during the game even if you don’t make a single decision. The other countries
are making alliances and treaties around the clock, regardless if you’ve made a
single decision. Once you’re familiar with the controls then taking your time
will usually result in good outcomes. But rushing through the game and not
plotting what needs to happen for your country can have you facing a huge
headache from the other countries.
Concept 8.0
A global
simulation game isn’t something that comes along every month in gaming. Having
the option to control and change almost every decision made by a country is a
huge task. Being able to make these changes in a game is a great idea but with
a few exceptions. Having the choice of how you want to run your country is a
good idea, but SuperPower 2 gives you a wealth of options hard to find in other
games. If you want to turn China into a democracy, it can be done. If you want
to ban child labor or legalize drugs, it can be done. But understanding how to
make these changes and how it will impact the game itself is something not
clearly defined during the game. Also the other countries don’t seem to care
what you do until you decide to invade them or one of their allies. How many
times do we hear on the news about another country wanting to start testing
weapons and the United States or other countries recommending against such
actions? But these choices are for some reason missing in the game or just
something that is overlooked.
Multiplayer
7.5
The game allows
you to play against other players online in order to determine who will dominate
the world. The nice touch about multiplayer is the fact that each player can
select his or her starting country. So just like in real life, each country has
it’s own unique leader that is in control of the country. Granted the person at
the other end of the computer in SuperPower 2 has a little more flexibility than
some Presidents do it’s still a great idea. Everything in the online modes is
setup the same way as the offline and the controls are exactly the same. The
chat interface seemed confusing because I never noticed a chat icon or section
to chat while the game was running. Also there was no support for voice just
text during the chats. Most of the online games available for play were setup
as World Domination games. The game played fine and I didn’t notice any lag
during the online games.
Overall 7.6
SuperPower 2 is a
good simulation game that should please simulation freaks (and fans) all over
the globe. The number of options, the good graphics for the globe and almost
limitless gameplay adds up a game that is worthy of United Nations attention.
However even the positives can be a negative, which is really the case with
SuperPower 2. Since the number of options and choices available is staggering
and it will leave some players behind. A better tutorial system to help new
gamers understand what can be done within the game would have been a nice
option. But for veterans simulation fans this might be the game for them that
keeps them going for months.
