Posted March 12, 2009
Seven Kingdoms II is an interesting game. It also doesn't really work.
Its claim to fame is its blend of classic RTS gameplay and deep strategy. It does this well; the game has some great mechanics and some clever approaches to the genre. Personally I think it has a few -too many- clever approaches to the genre, often leading to analysis paralysis, but it's not terribly overwhelming. Besides, the action can be paused at any time to allow for more relaxed decision-making. The basic gameplay is well-balanced, intelligent, intuitive and unique.
So where does it go wrong? Well, the campaign is awful, for one thing. It's a series of random events, resulting in random levels to play in. A good idea in theory, but the results are such a mixed bag that it makes the whole campaign unsatisfying to play. A memorable example had an enemy kingdom trespassing on my land, with the briefing warning me to hold back and take my time to build an army large enough to crush the invaders. Then I saw that right next to where the game had placed the enemy army, it had also placed an army of my own, with numbers far outweighing the opposition. I won that level without doing anything. This is not good design.
The game has a steep learning curve, but this is alleviated by a decent set of tutorials. However, there are a few clarity issues - for instance, the trading/economy tutorial tasks you with increasing your Economy and Population scores to a certain amount. Neither the tutorial nor the manual explain in any way how these scores relate to your in-game performance, leaving the player totally blind. Overall though, the tutorials do a good job of teaching a newcomer how the game works.
Graphics are a bit ugly. They definitely haven't aged as gracefully as those of the original. Over-detailed, show-offy, but also crudely-animated; the overall result is a cluttered mess. Higher resolutions would help alleviate this, but sadly aren't available. The game's maximum of 1024x768 is usually enough for a 2D strategy game, but the buildings and units are all quite large (even on 'small' mode), and I always find myself wishing I could zoom out further. And the sound effects are terrible.
You'll be noticing a lot of negativity here, and wondering why I still gave this a 3. It's because the mechanics of the game are good. Really, really good. If you stick to the custom single game option, you'll have enormous fun. But I can't give a high score based on this one mode of the game. The bad campaign and overly-specific single missions are too disappointing to ignore.
This is a game with a lot of great ideas and some brilliant mechanics - but they've largely gone to waste. If only Trevor had hired some level designers, we'd have had a classic on our hands. As it is, I can recommend the game to any RTS fan or people looking for a solid strategy game - just know that you'll be playing single, custom missions.
Its claim to fame is its blend of classic RTS gameplay and deep strategy. It does this well; the game has some great mechanics and some clever approaches to the genre. Personally I think it has a few -too many- clever approaches to the genre, often leading to analysis paralysis, but it's not terribly overwhelming. Besides, the action can be paused at any time to allow for more relaxed decision-making. The basic gameplay is well-balanced, intelligent, intuitive and unique.
So where does it go wrong? Well, the campaign is awful, for one thing. It's a series of random events, resulting in random levels to play in. A good idea in theory, but the results are such a mixed bag that it makes the whole campaign unsatisfying to play. A memorable example had an enemy kingdom trespassing on my land, with the briefing warning me to hold back and take my time to build an army large enough to crush the invaders. Then I saw that right next to where the game had placed the enemy army, it had also placed an army of my own, with numbers far outweighing the opposition. I won that level without doing anything. This is not good design.
The game has a steep learning curve, but this is alleviated by a decent set of tutorials. However, there are a few clarity issues - for instance, the trading/economy tutorial tasks you with increasing your Economy and Population scores to a certain amount. Neither the tutorial nor the manual explain in any way how these scores relate to your in-game performance, leaving the player totally blind. Overall though, the tutorials do a good job of teaching a newcomer how the game works.
Graphics are a bit ugly. They definitely haven't aged as gracefully as those of the original. Over-detailed, show-offy, but also crudely-animated; the overall result is a cluttered mess. Higher resolutions would help alleviate this, but sadly aren't available. The game's maximum of 1024x768 is usually enough for a 2D strategy game, but the buildings and units are all quite large (even on 'small' mode), and I always find myself wishing I could zoom out further. And the sound effects are terrible.
You'll be noticing a lot of negativity here, and wondering why I still gave this a 3. It's because the mechanics of the game are good. Really, really good. If you stick to the custom single game option, you'll have enormous fun. But I can't give a high score based on this one mode of the game. The bad campaign and overly-specific single missions are too disappointing to ignore.
This is a game with a lot of great ideas and some brilliant mechanics - but they've largely gone to waste. If only Trevor had hired some level designers, we'd have had a classic on our hands. As it is, I can recommend the game to any RTS fan or people looking for a solid strategy game - just know that you'll be playing single, custom missions.