Domination (PC)

CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
Detailed editors' rating
Overall score: 7.1 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating:
  Write your own review

Product summary

Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Scott Osborne
• Reviewed on: 03/11/2005
• Released on: 03/03/2005

They say the third time's the charm. Not with the third Massive Assault game, Domination. For one thing, Domination is in many ways the same game as its two predecessors; it feels like developer Wargaming.net keeps repackaging the same material in slightly different guises. On top of that, Domination also suffers from unpleasant flaws, including ones that have hurt the series since day one. In fact, some of those old flaws have not merely returned, but have been magnified to the point of absurdity. But despite all that, Domination still offers an engaging mix of turn-based tactics and strategy that's easy to learn and hard to master. It also offers some new units and, finally, a really good single-player experience.

Choose your strengths in the new solo career mode.

Massive Assault players will get a sense of déjà vu when they first boot up Domination. It looks extremely similar to its predecessors. You'll see some new details and slicker animations, but the basic look is the same as ever, and once again, it's both pretty and pretty generic.

More importantly, the core gameplay is also the same as ever: elegant and challenging. You'll once again lead land, sea, air, and amphibious forces into battle in a sci-fi setting, struggling for control of territories and the wealth they grant. As in a hex-based wargame, each unit can move a set distance each turn, and only into discrete, fixed cells. The game takes on a chesslike feel since land units can't pass through occupied cells; you'll need to carefully orchestrate massed unit movements to get all your forces into optimum firing positions. Since each unit dishes out a fixed amount of damage with each attack, there's never any guesswork about how to blast an enemy to bits. As with movement, the fighting is all about careful planning.

To help you with that, a user-friendly interface makes it easy to see where your units can move and how far they can shoot. If you forget to employ a unit, the game will offer a friendly reminder. You can even undo moves, bringing destroyed units back to life to try a different tactic. Considering all that user-friendliness, it's ironic the game doesn't offer stronger training missions; the included ones feel perfunctory--an ongoing Massive Assault problem.

In Domination, you'll have to consider more than just the nitty-gritty of movement and combat. Each map features territories that belong to each side, but the landscape is also dotted with neutral territories and secret allies. Secret allies are territories that you can potentially reveal as friends at the time of your choosing, letting you spring major surprises and dramatically altering how battles play out on each map. Couple those considerations with guerrilla forces that can suddenly surround invading units, and territorial revenue streams that can run dry at inopportune times, and you get a smart strategic layer on top of a challenging bed of tactics.

Not only do the basic gameplay dynamics of Domination follow a familiar path, but you'll also find many returning units. Once again these core units are functionally the same for each of the game's two sides, differing only cosmetically. But you do get some new vehicles, like mobile shield generators that defend neighboring units from air attack.

See more CNET content tagged:

territory,

tactic,

flaw,

enemy,

gameplay

User reviews

Write your own review Be the first one to review Domination (PC) and share your experience with the CNET community!

Where to buy

store	price	in stock?	rating
Amazon.com Marketplace	$9.97	Yes
Amazon.com	$9.97	Yes

see prices from 2 stores

Where to buy Domination (PC)

• store price in stock
• Amazon.com Marketplace $9.97 Yes
• Amazon.com $9.97 Yes
• See all stores