My review of Empire Earth II is now up at Game Method.

What a disappointment. (Yes, I know that 7/10 is pretty good in mathematical terms, but you know how the 7-9 scale works in game reviews.) It is a corporate monolith with nothing novel, interesting or moving. There is no sense of wonder and no feeling that the game is anything more than a bunch of stuff.

Look at the other RTS out there. Act of War has some interesting unit match-ups and a great story. Darwinia (now reviewed at DIYGames) is a much smaller production that does a better job of sucking you in to the game. Warhammer had a style all its own plus frenetic game play and Kohan 2 is just a winner no matter how you cut it.

Of these, only Empire Earth II is a true historical strategy game. Could it be that people who make these games are running out of ideas? Do they truly think that bigger and broader is the same as better?