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Dark Reign 2 by Pandemic Studios. Publication date 2000 Topics Windows games, Vintage computer games, Strategy games. The Imperium and Freedom Guard war lies in the distant future. Now is the era of another brutal clash between two sword enemies: the wealthy Jovian Detention Authority and the Sprawlers, a ragtag group of revolutionaries.
I like it when a game breathes new life into a genre. For instance, The Sims brought the slightly faltering simulation market back up. Another example is how Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 put a whole new light on first-person shooters. What I refer to as a game 'breathing new life into a genre' is when it takes an established formula and improves it in some way. I found this to be the case in Dark Reign 2 on the PC. It's a game that pushes the limits of graphics and 3D-strategy even further.
The premise behind this title is one that is common to many other games in the genre. Earth is in chaos and one of two dueling sides will decide the fate of the human race as we know it. Ever heard of a story like that before? Anyway, you get to choose which side to represent. Will it be the Jovian Detention Authority , the noble police force that is left to protect the earth against evil-doers or the Sprawlers who are out to make life hard for the JDA. Each side has a unique appearance but, for the most part, they wear plated armor, masks and carry large weapons.
![Dark Dark](/uploads/1/2/7/7/127704261/343515785.png)
You'll find plenty of structures, units and vehicles to keep you occupied. Each side has a wide range of grunts, warriors and specialty units that perform specific tasks. For instance, a pack of Rumblers can be very effective against JDA units but not when out-matched by air-borne Warriors. Many units are dependent on certain structures being built as well as money and sufficient power supplies. To retrieve power, you must build a Solar Array and gather energy and a Refinery is needed for mineral gathering. This system of gathering and supplying resources for your units is exactly like the interface found in WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness and Command & Conquer. Also, another good addition to the interface is the 'quick-build' buttons that allow for unlimited unit queuing without returning to that structure to initiate the build. Smart thinking by the developers.
Definitely the game's strongest area is the visuals. The game is truly a joy to look at and view from one of its many camera angles. What's that you say? A real-time strategy title with multiple angles? Well, what Myth: The Fallen Lords started, Dark Reign 2 continues and exceeds. You can view from a birds-eye perspective, sideways and even right down in the middle of the action! Now you can see all the carnage up close a great feature to my way of thinking. You can't always use it effectively when executing intricate operations but, when you're sure of a victory in a battle, watching can be fun. However, I did find the option to change angles in degrees was rather confusing and disorienting to say the least. The controls for handling that aspect don't make too much sense.
![Reign Reign](http://hellopcgames.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Dark-Reign-Rise-Of-The-Shadowhand-Game-Picture-3.jpg)
Speaking of controls, manipulating your units is fairly easy. You'll find that selecting specific units, grouping hordes of men, setting waypoints and guarding others is a snap. These commands have hot-keys and buttons so you should be fine when on the battlefield. I did get a little annoyed when I obviously put the selecting box around a group of units and it missed a couple. This wasn't because of a group limit or any restriction of that type I can imagine it happened because the 3D terrain makes it hard for some unit selection routines.
AI for the opposing side is always very good but I wasn't too impressed with the AI of my own team. I often found that while I was off somewhere completing a task or checking on one group, back at my base (or some other location where I had troops) my units were getting attacked by a few enemies and did almost nothing to prevent it. It's annoying to see two Rumblers hacking on a group of ten of my men when, in fact, they should be dead within seconds.
Audio all across the board is very solid and competent. You find plenty of voice work that's decent and there is a multitude of voices throughout the game. Sound effects are about as good as they get for a strategy game and are much like those found in the Command & Conquer series. Some of the music worked for me and some didn't but it never detracted from the game playing experience.
Dark Reign 2 also supports multi-player gaming. You can hook-up with other people via a LAN. Some feel this is a mandatory feature and necessary for a game to succeed. However, I found some of the multi-player options a bit limited and was surprised at the lack of a head-to-head, modem game.
In summary, this foray into the real-time strategy genre is a great effort that encourages gameplay. The complete package of visuals, audio and gameplay is worth checking out if you're a fan of RTS. My only gripes are the slightly dumb AI and somewhat shoddy controls but those aren't enough to dampen the experience.
Graphics: Stellar! Great textures and detailed battlefields plus I liked all the little details on signs, buildings, structures and units. Good use of color and shading as well.
Sound: Terrific voice acting that isn't too cheesy with plenty of characters. I liked the sound effects as well but the music was only average at best.
Enjoyment: I had a good time playing this game and was pleased at the new features it implemented, including the camera angles and short-cuts for building units. I will say the AI for your team is somewhat weak and needs some tweaking.
Replay Value: A big campaign exists for both sides, a skirmish mode and some multi-player options give you plenty to chew on. As long as you enjoy the storyline, you'll have plenty to do.
How to run this game on modern Windows PC?
This game has been set up to work on modern Windows (10/8/7/Vista/XP 64/32-bit) computers without problems. Please choose Download - Easy Setup (374 MB).
People who downloaded Dark Reign 2 have also downloaded:
Dark Reign: The Future of War, Dark Reign: Rise of the Shadowhand, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Command & Conquer: Generals, Emperor: Battle for Dune, Age of Mythology, Empire Earth II
Dark Reign: The Future of War, Dark Reign: Rise of the Shadowhand, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, Command & Conquer: Generals, Emperor: Battle for Dune, Age of Mythology, Empire Earth II
Dark Reign: The Future of War | |
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Developer(s) | Auran Magnetar Games (Redux) |
Publisher(s) | Activision |
Director(s) | Greg Lane, Josh Resnick |
Designer(s) | Trey Watkins |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows Xbox 360 |
Release | September 17, 1997[1] (Windows) January 27, 2013 (Xbox 360) |
Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Dark Reign: The Future of War is a real-time strategyvideo game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Auran and published by Activision in 1997.[2] The game consists of a large single-player campaign but also supports multiplayer online games. A mission construction kit is included with the game, that allows players to create new maps for multiplayer games and create entire missions and campaigns.
Dark Reign was commercially successful, with global sales of 685,000 units by 2004. An expansion pack, Dark Reign: Rise of the Shadowhand, was released on March 31, 1998, which added new missions and new units to the game.[3] A prequel, Dark Reign 2, was released on June 30, 2000.[4]
Gameplay[edit]
The gameplay is that of a sci-fi real-time strategy, similar to that of Command & Conquer. In any given scenario, the player first constructs buildings for unit production, resource gathering, power generation and base defense. The production of units and buildings represent an opportunity cost as they all have an associated cost in terms of credits (the currency used by the game). Additional credits are earned by collecting shipments of water from fresh springs, while additional power can be generated by harvesting Taleon. Water and Taleon are the only two resources collected during gameplay. These resource deposits continuously regenerate and can never be completely exhausted, however, when depletion occurs, resource accumulation from these sources takes longer. In a special case, the complete destruction of water sources can be forced through the use of the Water Contamination Unit as part of a resource-denial strategy. During short games, it is advised to assert control over as many water deposits as possible to ensure a strong income in financing attacks and base defenses. In longer games, this strategy is extended to protecting and maintaining supply routes as it takes longer to derive the same amount of profit.
The two sides have completely unique units and strategies, unlike many contemporary games. Freedom Guard units are characterized as being weaker but more mobile, being faster and better able to handle difficult terrain. As such, these units specialize in lightning strikes and ambushes and are useful in harassing enemy units and supply lines. Imperium units rely on strength and numbers to overwhelm their enemies. Although their units are usually slower when compared to Freedom Guard counterparts, they are able to outmatch Freedom Guard units with increased armor and firepower. Furthermore, Imperium units have a greater reliance on hover technology, which limits their use in extreme terrain but allows them to easily cross natural water barriers. Freedom Guard technology relies on hiding their units through use of technology called phasing. Phasing allows units to quickly hide underground, making them effective for close-quarters ambushes. The Imperium are directed more towards a blitzkrieg style of play, with units focused on supremacy in combat ahead of tactical flexibility. Freedom Guard units are geared more towards an anti-armor role, especially to counter Imperium armor superiority, while the Imperium utilize more anti-infantry weapons to negate Freedom Guard infantry advantages.
Players can steal technology from other players, thus negating specific unit advantages and specialty. In order to do this, the player uses an espionage unit called the Infiltrator to steal weapon designs from an enemy Headquarters, the building tasked with producing construction rigs. Once the plans have been successfully stolen, the infiltrator unit is then directed back to the player's HQ to incorporate the new technology in their production options. The Infiltrator may steal as many weapon designs as possible while in the enemy headquarters but risks being exposed the longer the unit stays.
In the campaign missions, the player is given a number of objectives that must be met before victory can be achieved. These victory conditions follow the historical scenario being replayed - for example, a given mission might require the player, as the Freedom Guard, to evacuate or protect a particular unit or structure, or as the Imperium, to destroy those units or prevent their escape.
Dark Reign possesses a complex fog-of-war where line of sight is affected by varying terrain height and shape.[5] This allows for the use of forests for ambushes and limits the effectiveness of recon in densely forested or mountainous areas. Like many RTS titles, structures in the game consume power and do not function if sufficient power is unavailable. Players can 'power down' buildings to keep their bases online, giving greater flexibility in base management. The game also features production queues, and where multiple production facilities of the same type exist, they automatically divide up production, or can be ordered to each focus on particular production queues.
A player can place any number of paths, each with any number of points, and save each one with a unique name. Units on a path can be assigned to patrol it, loop, or travel to it once, and units automatically carry out behaviours at each point - for example, a resource collector can be given a path to take it around an enemy base to a water deposit and it will treat this route as its standard resource gathering path. Separate from waypoints, units can be given individual orders such as 'search and destroy', 'harass', or 'scout', allowing them to choose their own targets, engaging and occupying the enemy while freeing up the player to work on more significant strategies or development. These tactics can be controlled further with the use of individually customisable AI settings for every unit, allowing the player to set unit pursuit range, damage tolerance (how quickly the unit will seek healing / repairs and flee combat), and independence (how far the unit will stray from orders in order to engage attackers or targets of opportunity). These can be set individually for every unit, and the default setting can be changed, eliminating the need to change every unit if a unified strategy calls for particular settings.
Plot[edit]
The game takes place in the distant future. The player takes the role of a survivor of a faction of humans known as the Tograns, whose society was decimated after their homeworld became engulfed in the civil war between the Freedom Guard and the Imperium (who were once both the Sprawlers and the Jovian Detention Authority (JDA) from Dark Reign 2 respectively). As one of the last remaining Tograns that set off in hopes they might find a new refuge to rebuild and carry on the words of Alpheus Togra (a famous research scientist and philosopher), the player is presented with an opportunity to go back through time and prevent the death of the founder, Togra, using an advanced probe launched by him just prior to the destruction of the planet Strata-7. To use the device, the player must first demonstrate their worth by achieving victory in simulations of famous battles between the Imperium and the Freedom Guard.
The thirteen missions play out the events from the first skirmish between the Imperium and Freedom Guard up to the battle for and destruction of Strata-7. The missions may freely be played from the perspective of the Imperium or the Freedom Guard. In the thirteenth and final mission, the last Togran, the player, is sent back in time using the Chronomachine to Strata-7, and must use the weapons and technology of both the Imperium and the Freedom Guard to combine a force that will defeat both sides and prevent the complete destruction of Strata-7 and the death of Togra.
In the expansion, Rise of the Shadowhand, the story depicts the increasing desperation and despotism of the Imperium after the emergence of the Tograns as a third credible faction. After a massive Imperium assault on Freedom Guard space, a fleeing transport stumbles upon a planet, at the other side of the galaxy, where the Imperium secret police, the Shadowhand, have conducted major research. By coincidence, the Shadowhand simultaneously is faced with losing control of its advanced units due to the malfunction of their guiding AI, Osiris.
Development[edit]
Dark Reign began life as a game called Corporation: Offworld. Developed by Auran's co-founder Greg Lane, Corporation: Offworld and its sister game entitled Wild West were demonstrated to Activision in June 1996 and a deal had been signed shortly thereafter. Auran continued development of the Tactics Engine under Greg Lane while Activision layered a new story on top of Corporation: Offworld and Dark Reign was born. Many of the units, and the unit AI, innovative tile-blending system, map systems, production systems and real time line of sight were already present in Corporation: Offworld when it was first demonstrated to Activision in 1996.
On January 23, 2013, Magnetar Games released Dark Reign Redux, an adapted port of the original Dark Reign, on Xbox Live Indie Games. The projected originally started as a fan remake, until it got licensed and approved by Activison. The game contains all twelve missions of the main game.[6][7]It looks to be later taken down by Magnetar Games as the result of licensing negotiations.[8]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
Reception | ||||||||||||||||
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Edge praised the game's three dimensional terrain because it affects the movement speed of the player's units as well as their line of sight, concluding that Dark Reign 'takes the realtime strategy wargames just that little bit further, and is a very fine game on its own right.'[11]
Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that 'As a whole, Dark Reign is one of the better strategy games to come across our reviews desk in a long time. By combining the best elements of past hits with a slew of new features and a wonderful mission editor, Dark Reign is sure to please.'[12]
Sales[edit]
Dark Reign was a commercial success at launch, and Activision declared the game its fastest-selling product by that time.[15] In the United States, it debuted on PC Data's computer game sales rankings at #4 for September 1997,[16] the highest position for a strategy game that month.[15] It fell to 14th place the following month,[17] and was absent from PC Data's top 20 by November.[18]Dark Reign had 'led charts overseas as well, scoring number one positions in both Germany and Australia during certain periods' by mid-November, according to PC Gamer US. As of that date, shipments to retailers had surpassed 400,000 units globally.[15] The game's sell-through in the United States totaled 78,600 units by the end of 1997, which placed it behind competitors Total Annihilation and Age of Empires over the same period.[19]
Dark Reign's global sales reached roughly 500,000 units by June 1999. At the time, Barry Stavro of the Los Angeles Times noted that it had become 'a big hit in Germany and Australia'.[20] Its worldwide sales ultimately numbered 685,000 units by 2004, for revenues above $12 million.[21]
Legacy[edit]
The Construction Kit shipped with the game allows the creation of anything from multiplayer / skirmish maps to full-fledged campaigns. Tools supplied with it allow for custom-created AI profiles to be created easily and scripted events to be implemented. As a result, there was a large community and several mods, including total conversions such as 'Edge Of Darkness', which added two new races and a host of new units and strategies.
Expansion packs[edit]
Rise of the Shadowhand cover art.
Dark Reign: Rise of the Shadowhand was released on March 26, 1998.[22] The expansion includes a new campaign, along with new maps and terrains. It also features two new sides, Xenite and Shadowhand, resulting in a total of four playable factions. Each of the new factions contains its own units and buildings which expand upon what was available via the original factions, with the Shadowhand including and expanding upon Imperium units and buildings from the original game, and with the Xenite doing the same for the Freedom Guard.
Battles of the Outer Rim was released in 1998. It was developed by Macmillan Digital Publishing USA. It includes six single player missions, 79 multiplayer maps and a searchable map browser.[23]
Multiplayer Community[edit]
In late 2018 the Dark Reign community moved to a Discord server after www.darkreign.ws, the then-de facto community hub for more than a decade went offline suddenly without warning. A temporary webspace was established at www.darkreignws.com to distribute content until the original was brought back online in Q1 2019.
References[edit]
- ^Staff (September 17, 1997). 'Releases and Masterings'. PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 18, 1998. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
'New games continue to hit the shelves every day. Now available:...Dark Reign...' - ^'Dark Reign: The Future of War release information'. gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^'Dark Reign Expansion: Rise of the Shadowhand release information'. gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^'Dark Reign 2 release information'. gamefaqs.com. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
- ^'NG Alphas: Dark Reign'. Next Generation. No. 24. Imagine Media. December 1996. p. 210.
- ^Good, Owen. 'Activision Goes Indie with Dark Reign on Xbox Live [Update]'. Kotaku.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2013-08-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^http://xboxforums.create.msdn.com/forums/t/111847.aspx
- ^Brush, Ryan (1997). 'Dark Reign'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on July 3, 2003.
- ^Cirulis, Martin E. (October 22, 1997). 'Dark Reign'. Computer Gaming World. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000.
- ^ ab'Dark Reign'. Edge. No. 51. Future Publishing. November 1997. p. 94.
- ^ ab'Finals'. Next Generation. No. 38. Imagine Media. February 1998. pp. 118, 120.
- ^Bennett, Dan (December 1997). 'Dark Reign'. PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on November 13, 1999.
- ^Flynn, James. 'Glorious'. PC Gamer UK. No. 45. Archived from the original on January 7, 2001.
- ^ abcStaff (November 14, 1997). 'Dark Reign Doing Well'. PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on February 18, 1998. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^GamerX (November 6, 1997). 'September's 30 Best-Sellers'. CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on January 17, 1999. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^Staff (December 4, 1997). 'MS Flight Sim Tops PC Data Charts'. Next Generation. Archived from the original on February 4, 1998. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^Staff (December 30, 1997). 'Cyan Takes Top Two'. Next Generation. Archived from the original on February 4, 1998. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^Staff (January 22, 1998). 'Retail Strategy Games'. PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on February 18, 1998. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^Stavro, Barry (June 16, 1999). 'With Innovative Pact, Video Game Makers Became Big Players'. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019.
- ^'6. General policy considerations'. From Reel to Unreal: Future opportunities for Australia's film, animation, special effects and electronic games industries(PDF) (Report). Parliament of Australia. June 21, 2004. p. 171. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 15, 2005. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ^Gentry, Perry (March 23, 1998). 'What's in Stores This Week'. CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^'Battles of the Outer Rim for Windows (1998)'. MobyGames. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
External links[edit]
- Dark Reign series at MobyGames
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dark_Reign:_The_Future_of_War&oldid=929512261'
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