ark Reign is a real-time combat game fought on various
planets across the galaxy. In the far future the Imperium
controls every planet through strict rationing of the galactic
water supply. But the people will not be kept down. Slave
laborers and other sympathizers have formed a rebel army called
the Freedom Guard, and they are determined to topple the Imperium.
The game provides quite a lot more background--a confusing tale
of science, mysticism, prophets, betrayal and time travel--but
it's not important. The essential task for gamers is to raise armies and
smash the opponent to smithereens.
Building up forces is accomplished by taking control of two
resources, water and energy. Selling water creates cash flow
with which to build training facilities and assembly plants.
These in turn pump out the soldiers, tanks and aircraft that do the
actual smashing. Cash can be spent to upgrade buildings, which
then produce more advanced (and more expensive) munitions.
There are many, many kinds of units to build, and the Imperium
and Freedom Guard have none in common. Basic types include
infantry, tanks, defensive turrets, artillery, flying scouts and
bombers, and troop transports. Each side also has specialized
units, such as hostage-taking tanks, suicide bombers and
spies.
Twelve scenarios make up the single-player game, although
single players can also battle the computer in a general
free-for-all on dozens of maps. The game also has multi-player
modes available via modem, local area network or the
Internet.
It all looks so simple...at first
With the success of Command & Conquer and
Warcraft II, a glut of real-time combat games has hit stores, but Dark Reign is a particularly
solid entrant. The graphics and sound are superb, and the unit
types are quite inventive. The interface is a little tricky, but
not difficult with practice. It has exceptional "paths support,"
which is the ability to direct units along a certain route. An
interesting feature of the game is how individual units can
be programmed for aggressiveness, how far they will chase the
enemy, and how much damage they will tolerate before running back
to base for repairs.
Activision has done a great job giving the game ultra-long-term playability. In addition to the campaign scenarios and the
literally hundreds of possible "Instant Action" battles, there's
a map editor, so players can create their own scenarios from
scratch. They can also design completely new units. The
online realm adds the challenge of human opponents, plus all
the scenarios other people have created and made available to
download. Activision also regularly posts new scenarios on its Web site.
The only negative aspects of the game are its annoying
habit of freezing for about three seconds every few minutes, and
the twitchy mouse pointer. After giving a unit an order,
gamers must spastically right-click to get the pointer back. These
quibbles aside, this is a fun game that's a great value.
