Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration review (PC)

Other changes to the system reflect the new strategies and economic realities of the period. Since this isn't an industrialized society, there's no need for mills and factories. Instead, goods are used for trade and sustaining your population. The population in turn is needed to process the goods. The most noticeable addition is the constant need to feed your population, which makes agriculture of central importance. Processing raw materials - the core of economic growth - takes a backseat to feeding the populace. This gets a bit tedious, even if it is historically accurate.

The most welcome addition is the ability to direct research. You can now choose which technology to develop next. Technologies improve the abilities of various units (ships move farther, military units are more powerful) or the yield of tile improvements, such as farms and mines. Internal development is still based on using special units to develop tiles to produce resources (food, minerals, etc), but these tiles must now be linked through a network of roads. Transportation allocation has been removed, so the goods now travel automatically. The military element has also undergone some subtle tweaking. Sieges are more common than skirmishes, and you can move units in any order now.. The latter remains an optional and not very interesting part of the game, but it's there for people who want more control over battles.

Imperialism was a good game with a cult following. You either liked it and stayed with it or found its low-key gameplay boring and quickly moved on. Its burnished bronze and sepia look wasn't necessarily what we expect from computer games, but the look was distinct and worked well in the context of the of the game. Imperialism II is a more refined and interesting use of the same system, with an excellent interplay of elements. Expansion is always checked by practical realities, and every alliance and war has a price. A well-balanced game with these elements is hard to create, and Frog City has done an excellent job of it with Imperialism II.