Sid Meier’s original version of Civilization was a bright new plant in our "garden" of PC games, and as an unqualified and unique success, this plant of course grew several branches—sequels, add-ons, and derivative games. Activision, only temporarily entitled to use the "Civilization" name for its first Call to Power game, has continued growing this particular branch.

It’s a good thing Activision had enough faith in Call to Power to grant it a sequel, since the designers and developers of Call to Power II have addressed many of the faults of the first Call to Power. Asking whether Call to Power II is as good as Civilization (or Civilization II) is like asking whether Drakan matched up to Quake II. Call to Power II is carving out a niche in the "Civ" genre, and it’s got enough good qualities to warrant a look.

The Call to Power II interface: beauty meets manageable complexity.

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Like any "Civ"-type game, Call to Power II features turn-based strategic gameplay on a map of square tiles. Perhaps the foundation of the game is a city tile, from which many building and research activities can stem. A city requires multiple turns to build a single item, so you’ll quickly learn how to queue your building desires. Near the front of that queue, be sure to create a Settler, who can explore the landscape and create another city for your budding empire.

Juggling Complications
With more cities, you’ll be able to build more things at once, but interesting complications ensue, from effects on the environment to the worries of managing issues and ongoing construction and research. There are always a number of goals to juggle. You may be keeping an eye on the technology development tree while aiming for specific achievements, but you’ll still want to maintain the contentment of your citizenry, while warding off any military incursions with battles or diplomacy.

While the game keeps you governing at a fairly high level, as your empire grows you’ll appreciate the features that help to ease the gameplay away from the eventual drudgery of micromanagement. The Unit Manager lets you set a level of military readiness. The build queues can be stacked well in advance, and modified on the fly as priorities change. You don’t concern yourself with placement of buildings; this is automatic.

Perhaps the nicest micromanagement reduction comes when you assign an automated "mayor" to one of your cities. You can set a broad priority for her efforts, e.g., production, defense, offense, gold, science, or happiness. As your empire accumulates cities, you’ll find it’s a hassle to keep up with developments in each and every one. It’s useful to be able to delegate some of the basic city management.

The Great Library is Call to Power II’s on-line documentation.

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Enter The Diplomats
The flavor of diplomacy is unique in Call to Power II. You have some choices among the various offers, stances, and counter-offers. Diplomatic agreements are a bit less frustrating than they were in the original Call to Power, as you can more regularly see the effects.

Your mode of government adds an interesting dimension to the game. Call to Power II starts with you acting as tyrant, but progressing through the technology tree can render other governments available to your empire, running a full gamut from anarchy to fascism. As you choose other forms of government, this can have some interesting effects on your game. For example, some governments encourage scientific development more than others. Some governments affect the growth rate and may even limit the maximum size of your empire. Economics, crime, corruption, production rates, military power, nationalism, and even pollution can be affected by your choice of government.

Incongruous Victories
In its computational modeling of units and their effects, Call to Power II includes some balancing of older or even weaker units against more modern units. Certain battle factors are taken into account, such as units capable of flanking an enemy, ranged attack capabilities, and veteran status. If, say, you’re falling behind technologically in a multiplayer game, you may be happy that the game doesn’t become a totally lost cause too quickly.

On the other hand, it’s always disconcerting when "impossible" victories come to pass. Having something like powerful tanks destroyed by archers can be terribly frustrating, though these kinds of anomalies seemed to be toned down since Call to Power. If you were playing a LucasArts Star Wars game, it would be like seeing a bunch of rowdy Ewoks stage a military victory against a whole platoon of the Empire’s finest storm troopers—oh wait, never mind that.

Looking Good, Working Better
Graphically, Call to Power II is competitive for its genre. The graphics are freshly remade since the first Call to Power, though the graphics engine appears to be the same. It’s a pleasant look, certainly. And the graphical display is improved to show some handy features, like showing the area of influence of each city. Country borderlines are also clearer now.

Many interface elements are grouped into "Managers," like the National Manager for commanding all your cities at once, and the Empire Manager, where you can select your form of government and set domestic policies. These "Manager" windows are easily found and summoned, and they otherwise stay nicely out of the way.

A look at Call to Power II’s Empire Manager window (and a message window).

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This all adds up to a game of tremendous depth. The more you read and learn about Call to Power II, the more intrigued you may become. It’s got that great hallmark of Sid Meier’s original Civilization game, where it’s nearly impossible to stop a game in progress without progressing through "just a few more turns." There’s always some goal, project, or prize just around the corner. After one hour turns into several addictive hours of gaming, you have to admit you’re hooked.

It is (I hope) a considerable compliment to the Call to Power II team that they identified the faults of Call to Power and addressed many of them. Sid Meier fans may skip over this game while waiting for an official Sid game, but if you’ve got time to play a fairly inventive Civ knock-off, take a look at Call to Power II. This time around, its gameplay and depth really do overpower any remaining shortcomings. Grade: B+.

Your system shouldn’t call for more power if it meets the following minimum requirements: English Language version of Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/2000, 100% Windows-compatible system with compatible 32-bit device drivers, Pentium 166 (Pentium 233 recommended), 64 MB RAM, 320 MB of uncompressed hard drive space for game files plus 150 MB for the Windows swap file, 16-bit high color video card with 4 MB RAM, 16-bit sound card and drivers, quad speed (4X) CD-ROM drive, and DirectX 7.0a (included). Additional details, including system requirements for multiplayer gaming, can be found on the bottom of the box.
Call to Power II
[street: $50]
Activision
ESRB rating: Everyone ("E"), citing "mild animated violence"

Lighter Blue: Mini-Reviews

A Brief Look at The Conquerors
This first expansion pack for Age of Empires II includes a nice handful of new features, including formations for naval units, smarter workers who need less management, and the ability to queue replantings for farms. It expands the array of civilizations by five, including the Aztecs, Huns, Koreans, Mayans, and the particularly strong Spanish. There are also 11 new units to enjoy—Dig those fancy Aztec plumed archers, or the horse-mounted cannon power of a Spanish conquistador. The Conquerors also has 26 new technologies, one for each civilization.

Play a campaign as Attila the Hun, in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors.

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There are 4 new campaigns, featuring the exploits of military conquerors. Attila, El Cid, and Montezuma each rate a full-scale campaign of their own, and the fourth scenario, "Great Battles," lets you approximate other historical battles and leaders. These scenarios are meaty and as rewarding as any in the main Age of Empires II game. They provide a major reason for buying this expansion pack, along with the attractive art work, and some well-considered improvements that tweak the game farther toward perfection. The price tag may currently be high enough to inspire some objection, but otherwise it’s hard to quibble with such a generous expansion to a great game.
Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion
[street: $30]
Ensemble Studios/Microsoft
ESRB rating: Teen ("T"), citing "animated violence" and "animated blood"