Rating: 
Summary: This game is better than all other RTs's
Review: ...I got this game at a local store. I was expecting something that would only be fun for a couple hours. I was way wrong. This is the most SPECTACULAR strategy game I have ever played. The lighting effects are great. The terrain looks great. The graphics are real 3D (like FPS's.) Some ppeople say the recources run dry to quickly. This is sort of true. In the single player campains there is more than 2 tmes the recources to finish each mission. In the skirmish games you can choose how much money you start out with (one to 1 million!) However I wish that the recources regenerated. The unit blances are some of the best I ever seen. resource gathering is at a good speed not to fast or tooo slow. I have never been a fan of upgrading. However in this game the upgrading(you only upgrade the buildings) did not get boring or seem repetative. Each side has 23 or so units (which is a good number.) Each side has unique units and tactics. The sprawlers can lay andd one of the 4 different kinds of mines anywhere on the battle field. I sugest running this game on a computer with a 1.3 processor just like I am. The graphics are spectacular and so are the huge battles. The main difference between this game and most other games is that you wage FULL SCALE warefare. The are tons of unique strategies that you can use in this game. You can also change views from first personn to thiird person and rotate the camera 90 degrees or 360 degrees. There are lots of things in this game that are not in your average RTs for example Tire tracks(left by units with tank treads) and wheather. There are a good amount of defensive structures and buildings for each side. This game is way better...than any of those other overrated games. The controls are simple put powerful. Each unit has tons of ways that you can use it and can accomplish lots of tasks. The highly varying terrain adds to the tactics that you can use. The naval battles look good. I could say lots more bu t I doubt you would be willing to read on so lemme wrap this up. If you don't have this game then you are missing something very big. Get it. I can promise you will stop doing anything else inorder to play this game. This game is so addictive. After playing this game any other game seems to lack everything. You will stop playing any other game.
Rating:
Summary: THIS GAME GOT GAME!
Review: Although I have not yet played the game (release isn't 'till July) I know for a fact that the game will be one of if not THE greatest games of the year. I have played the original Dark Reign, and the sequels before and they were really interesting and totally fun. The game is easy to learn to play and was a smash hit. With the free floating camera, campaign editor, multiplayer levels, and everything else, I know for a fact that THIS GAME GOT GAME!
Rating: 
Summary: All Hype No Substance
Review: At first look the game is beutiful. I'm a die-hard RTS fan and I am glad that the genre is moving toward 3D (Ground Control, Earth 2150, etc). The real problem with the game is the gameplay itself.First I'd like to point out that the camera model or 'perspective' as it is called is severely lacking. The camera can only be position up, down, left, and right. With many passages in the game on a 30-45 degree angle it is very hard to view the action. I wish Pandemic would have allowed the freedom to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees (maybae by holding the Shift, Alt, or Ctrl keys while moving the mouse. Secondly the missions just are not fun! There is no fast and frantic gameplay. Taelon extraction and unit creation is just too slow.
Rating:
Summary: All Hype No Substance
Review: At first look the game is beutiful. I'm a die-hard RTS fan and I am glad that the genre is moving toward 3D (Ground Control, Earth 2150, etc). The real problem with the game is the gameplay itself. First I'd like to point out that the camera model or 'perspective' as it is called is severely lacking. The camera can only be position up, down, left, and right. With many passages in the game on a 30-45 degree angle it is very hard to view the action. I wish Pandemic would have allowed the freedom to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees (maybae by holding the Shift, Alt, or Ctrl keys while moving the mouse. Secondly the missions just are not fun! There is no fast and frantic gameplay. Taelon extraction and unit creation is just too slow.
Rating: 
Summary: Unit Bloches, Gameplay Ups, SP Downs, MP Good
Review: Dark Reign 2 is awesome game. They have really outdone (and sucked) at this game. Pros: This game has a brand new engine, which can run as smooth as an Unreal Engine on one of those new Gigahertz PCs...Units are detailed up close and still appear detailed from far away (but aren't...nice) Units are well balenced. JDA has the Guns, Sprawl has the Defensive. Also, nice Map Studio. Cons: Use of Formations. They suck. You get 4 Formations, which they take 4 Minutes to get in a 5x5 Box Formation. Even after that, they are still not in full formation! NEED FIX! Group Ops. If you move someone in the middle of a group, they won't get out for 5 minutes. Units Slows. These units are super slow. On SP, there is in the readme a 'speed up' command. It hardly works. It speed my Guardians, to get from the bottom of the map to the top of the map, from taking 5 minutes, to taking 4 1/2 Minutes. Buy/Rent: BUY! You can't do everything in 3 days.
Rating:
Summary: Buy or Rent the FULL GAME - Dont bother with the Demo !
Review: First of all, make sure you patch up the game before you play it. A friend of mine beta tested it and complained like crazy about numerous problems - many of which are FIXED with the latest patch. YA YA we all hate games that are rushed to the store before all the bugs are worked out. But give the FULL version a try. The demo doest do the game justice. Just about every negative review of this game on amazon.com is from someone who obviously DIDNT bother learing the controls, or actually playing the full version. Nicholas Van Tassell said: "I wish Pandemic would have allowed the freedom to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees (maybae by holding the Shift, Alt, or Ctrl keys while moving the mouse." -Hold down the middle mouse button while you move the mouse and you can turn the camera 360 degrees! Did this guy read the manual? Matt Dunphy (see more about me) from Portland, OR said: "Gameplay is a real snoozez, Tons of dicking around and not much combat. Everything is just deliberately slow--aircraft move as slowly as infantry on foot, et cetera. If you are looking for fast, furious, exciting gameplay, this is not the place to find it." - Not much combat? Try a multiplayer game (you vs computer bots or against real people) against an oponent and the ONLY way you can win the map is to destroy their command center. And you cant do that without mashing some turrets, infantry, tanks, etc etc etc. The battles are all over the place...some for the base, some for "talen" (like spice in dune) etc. And the planes move at least 50% faster then infantry and the slow moving tanks are VERY slow. Different units move at different speeds. Alex Kutsenok (see more about me) from IN said: "This game reinvents real time strategy with such revolutionary concepts as resource gathering and the mother of all tactics: The Tank Rush!" - Again, this guy didnt play against anyone good. There are DOZENS of different ways to avoid a huge tank rush. Ive seen 3 or 4 "regular" gun turrets chew up armies of 10-12 scorpion tanks. It just depends on where you position them. And why not use mojo against the tanks to blind them? Why not try placing some mines out there? Why not use an army of fast infantry to attack the slower tanks? It seems like all the negative reviews come from little cry babies who got their butts kicked at multiplayer and didnt understant why. James Axsom (see more about me) from San Antonio, TX United States said: "buildings take up too much map real estate, and resource run dry to quickly." - Oh brother. What map did this little boy play on? There are over a dozen maps that come with the game and YOU can set the resourse to WHATEVER amount you want! If the resources run out to fast for you, then YOU need to stop being lazy. Besides, there are hundreds of maps available for download from the internet, and if thats not enough, MAKE your own with the editor. Dont be lazy! Now I dont work for the game company, nor do I think this game is 5stars like I gave it (its 4) but I wanted to try to cancel out all the idiot reviews that its been getting.
Rating:
Summary: Buy or Rent the FULL GAME - Dont bother with the Demo !
Review: First of all, make sure you patch up the game before you play it. A friend of mine beta tested it and complained like crazy about numerous problems - many of which are FIXED with the latest patch. YA YA we all hate games that are rushed to the store before all the bugs are worked out. But give the FULL version a try. The demo doest do the game justice. Just about every negative review of this game on amazon.com is from someone who obviously DIDNT bother learing the controls, or actually playing the full version. Nicholas Van Tassell said: "I wish Pandemic would have allowed the freedom to rotate the camera a full 360 degrees (maybae by holding the Shift, Alt, or Ctrl keys while moving the mouse." -Hold down the middle mouse button while you move the mouse and you can turn the camera 360 degrees! Did this guy read the manual? Matt Dunphy (see more about me) from Portland, OR said: "Gameplay is a real snoozez, Tons of dicking around and not much combat. Everything is just deliberately slow--aircraft move as slowly as infantry on foot, et cetera. If you are looking for fast, furious, exciting gameplay, this is not the place to find it." - Not much combat? Try a multiplayer game (you vs computer bots or against real people) against an oponent and the ONLY way you can win the map is to destroy their command center. And you cant do that without mashing some turrets, infantry, tanks, etc etc etc. The battles are all over the place...some for the base, some for "talen" (like spice in dune) etc. And the planes move at least 50% faster then infantry and the slow moving tanks are VERY slow. Different units move at different speeds. Alex Kutsenok (see more about me) from IN said: "This game reinvents real time strategy with such revolutionary concepts as resource gathering and the mother of all tactics: The Tank Rush!" - Again, this guy didnt play against anyone good. There are DOZENS of different ways to avoid a huge tank rush. Ive seen 3 or 4 "regular" gun turrets chew up armies of 10-12 scorpion tanks. It just depends on where you position them. And why not use mojo against the tanks to blind them? Why not try placing some mines out there? Why not use an army of fast infantry to attack the slower tanks? It seems like all the negative reviews come from little cry babies who got their butts kicked at multiplayer and didnt understant why. James Axsom (see more about me) from San Antonio, TX United States said: "buildings take up too much map real estate, and resource run dry to quickly." - Oh brother. What map did this little boy play on? There are over a dozen maps that come with the game and YOU can set the resourse to WHATEVER amount you want! If the resources run out to fast for you, then YOU need to stop being lazy. Besides, there are hundreds of maps available for download from the internet, and if thats not enough, MAKE your own with the editor. Dont be lazy! Now I dont work for the game company, nor do I think this game is 5stars like I gave it (its 4) but I wanted to try to cancel out all the idiot reviews that its been getting.
Rating:
Summary: Don't you hate reviews from people who haven't PLAYED it?
Review: Given the pre-release hype from game sites, I was really anticipating this game as the contender for the best RTS this year. I'm pretty disappointed. The good first: The game looks very nice. It has that same techno-organic look as Battlezone 2, not surprising since the same guys did it. It runs fairly nice, aside from the crashes. The framerate and overall running is probably the smoothest I've ever seen on a 3D RTS, even Homeworld. The interface is also quite well thought out, and a step forward over other 3D RTS's, particularly the ease of camera movement. Other than that, the game is a dog. Sorry, fanboys, but I have to call it like I see it. Gameplay is a real snoozer: Tons of dicking around and not much combat. Everything is just deliberately slow--aircraft move as slowly as infantry on foot, et cetera. If you are looking for fast, furious, exciting gameplay, this is not the place to find it. The unit pathfinding is set up in such a way that they all move one at a time so that they don't obstruct each other. Thus, you'll move one unit, and if any others are in its way they will all, agonizingly, move one at a time to new positions so the mover can get through. In any movement of groups this problem is ten times as bad. You'll watch in frustration as your units get ripped to shreds while they stupidly maneuver into position before they start returning fire. No real story is going on here; there are no characters and nothing happens inside of a mission to alter the plot. There are some vague cutscenes between the missions, but they're so irrelevant that you could have just played the missions and made up your own story to string them together. Overall, I regret having bought the game. I can't recommend it unless you're compelled to get an RTS fix.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Disappointing
Review: I played the first dark reign and its expansion and got hours and hours of enjoyment, espically the humorous, rebel traning missions, however dark reign 2 just doesn't cut for me. I think the 3D environment is a bit distasteful and the game maps are generally cluttered with useless obstacles. Units move too slow, buildings take up too much map real estate, and resource run dry to quickly. There however one redeeming quality about the game I enjoy very much and that is the music. Don't spend your money on this one, stick with the first dark reign.
Rating:
Summary: This game is better than all other RTs's
Review: I was surprised to hear about Dark Reign 2. The original, while one of my personal favorite games, did quite poorly in stores and was a flop compared to direct competition such as Starcraft and Total Annhinilation. Keeping these qualms in mind, I was pleased to notice that Activision was funding another game in the series, and that it would have a full 3D engine. I bought the game the day it came out, rushed it home, and installed it. I was very impressed for the first few hours. The 3D engine was most impressive, the gameplay good, and the missions fun. However, I noticed that the team had taken OUT some options from Fark Reign: where was the settings for your unit's tenacity, their agressiveness? This is where things started taking a turn for the worse. I also realised that the missions started to become rather repetitive. Although some are the 'survive with a limited number of units' type, most are the 'kill everything' variety, perhaps with some objective put in for good measure...however, the only way to get to these objectives is to kill everybody in between you and them! The graphics are good, but not as amazing as Ground Control- also, I noticed some flagrant false advertising on the back of the box--look closely, and you will see each explosion pictured there is fully 3D and has particles flying out in every direction. In the game, the explosions are lo-res sprites. I do like the music, however, and it runs well at 800x600, full details, on my P3-450 with Geforce 2. If you liked Dark Reign, try the demo. If you like that, consider buying the game. There was so much more they could've done with this.
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