How can game developers offer players something they’ve never had before?  It’s becoming harder to do in today’s gaming market with the focus on gamers being the focal point of entertainment.  A game isn’t just a “game” anymore.  The majority of games being released today are life simulations that give players the opportunity to do almost anything.  It’s common for a game to be a mix of several different genres just to appease the finicky gamer today. 

This type of crossbreeding of genres has impacted almost every genre, including military strategy games.  The military strategy game used to be simple and easy; take out the enemy with better tactics.  But now a military strategy game is expected to offer much more than it did 10 years ago.  SuperPower 2 is one of those games that offer players a huge amount of options in how to play the game.  At its core SuperPower 2 is a military strategy game where the ultimate goal is world domination. But instead of just controlling the military now you can control how your political party is aligned, the laws that govern your control, along with the economic goals of your country. 

SuperPower 2 is a fitting name for the game since it really does offer “super powers.”  You have control over an almost limitless array of options within the game.  Not only do you have the option to control the military but also you can control political as well as economic decisions.  Do you want to raise taxes in order to build a better army?  The option is available.  What about offering more resources to other countries in order to reduce your trade deficit?  You can do it in SuperPower 2.  In fact there are some options available within the game that I have never even thought about being in a military strategy game (child labor laws & same sex marriages).   But this goes to show that SuperPower 2 was designed to offer a complete military experience along with a wealth of other options.

For gamers looking for the ultimate strategy game might be hard pressed to find another game that offers as much as SuperPower 2.  In fact this isn’t just a military game, or a political simulation or an economic simulation; it’s all of them combined.  You have the ability to raise the poorest nation into a world dominator or take an excessive military country and turn it into a humanitarian state.  SuperPower 2 is an almost complete package that gives players the ability to take over the world however they choose.  Sure it’s hard to include everything but SuperPower 2 comes close.

Gameplay 7.5 

There are several different ways gameplay can be scored with SuperPower 2 and it all varies depending on how you play the game.  Since the game gives you a ton of options on how the game should be played it might be difficult for some gamers to understand how “to play” the game.  The underlying premise is the same, take over the world.  The only way possible to take over the world is by military force.  But if you don’t want to fool with the military option until much later it’s possible to focus on just the political or economic aspects of the game.  Building your country into an economic “super power” can still lead to world domination but it might take a little longer.  But it’s up to you, the player, to determine the best options for world domination. 

The game controls are easy to learn but might be too much for some gamers.  Everything in the game is controlled by point and click.  Simply clicking on the left and/or right mouse button can move your troops, change legislation, or lower taxes. But understanding how all of the changes impact the game is something that seems to be confusing, at least at first.  The game will probably leave most gamers scratching their heads at first just wondering what it is they need to do.  The in-game tutorial helps somewhat but it only scratches the surface of the game, with a focus just on the military aspects. 

If gamers take the time to try the game out and dig deep into the game they will probably be pleasantly surprised.  Being able to change the dominating political party of the country is one thing but launching a nuclear assault is something else.  Learning how everything works in the game is part of the game itself but an easier interface would have made things easier for all gamers.  The game does offer several different single player goals from achieving world peace to raising the Gross Domestic Product by 50% for your country.  Or you can try out different scenarios within the game, which vary depending on the difficulty. 

Graphics 7.5 

The game is presented in a global view, which means that you have a view of the entire globe.  The graphics for the globe were very nice with some admirable details such as clouds flying over different countries within the game.  A really enjoyable feature with the global view was the ability to zoom in on every country within the game.  So if you want to zoom in for a close of view of Texas you can look at several of the major cities with the state and make out the highways for the city.  It took the game a few seconds to update the graphics while you zoomed it and it a pleasant experience within the game.  However this is about as exciting as the graphics get within the game.  During the military battles you see a static view of your troops on a battlefield.  The troops never actually fight the enemy but you see who’s winning and losing by a number indicator for each troop.  It would have been nice to actually watch the battle unfold by zooming in on the action while it occurs.

Sound 7.6 

I did enjoy the sound effects and music within SuperPower 2.  The music set a nice atmosphere for the game and had a decent amount of variety in the tracks.  The sound effects in the game were at a minimum except for the military actions.  You hear all of the explosions during the battle and hear the sound of each unit moving across the globe.  Both the music and sound effects were a good touch but nothing that will have gamers screaming for excitement.  Luckily no horrendous voice-overs were included within the regular game.  It’s a global simulator so I guess we should be happy that we get sound effects and music.

Difficulty Medium/Hard 

I would rate the difficulty at a hard level if you’ve never played a simulation game before but a medium if you’ve played at least a few.  Understanding what is happening during the game is probably the biggest challenge.  There is so much that is happening during the game even if you don’t make a single decision.  The other countries are making alliances and treaties around the clock, regardless if you’ve made a single decision.  Once you’re familiar with the controls then taking your time will usually result in good outcomes.  But rushing through the game and not plotting what needs to happen for your country can have you facing a huge headache from the other countries. 

Concept 8.0 

A global simulation game isn’t something that comes along every month in gaming.  Having the option to control and change almost every decision made by a country is a huge task.  Being able to make these changes in a game is a great idea but with a few exceptions.  Having the choice of how you want to run your country is a good idea, but SuperPower 2 gives you a wealth of options hard to find in other games.  If you want to turn China into a democracy, it can be done.  If you want to ban child labor or legalize drugs, it can be done.  But understanding how to make these changes and how it will impact the game itself is something not clearly defined during the game.  Also the other countries don’t seem to care what you do until you decide to invade them or one of their allies.  How many times do we hear on the news about another country wanting to start testing weapons and the United States or other countries recommending against such actions?  But these choices are for some reason missing in the game or just something that is overlooked.

Multiplayer 7.5 

The game allows you to play against other players online in order to determine who will dominate the world.  The nice touch about multiplayer is the fact that each player can select his or her starting country.  So just like in real life, each country has it’s own unique leader that is in control of the country.  Granted the person at the other end of the computer in SuperPower 2 has a little more flexibility than some Presidents do it’s still a great idea.  Everything in the online modes is setup the same way as the offline and the controls are exactly the same.  The chat interface seemed confusing because I never noticed a chat icon or section to chat while the game was running.  Also there was no support for voice just text during the chats.  Most of the online games available for play were setup as World Domination games. The game played fine and I didn’t notice any lag during the online games. 

Overall 7.6 

SuperPower 2 is a good simulation game that should please simulation freaks (and fans) all over the globe.  The number of options, the good graphics for the globe and almost limitless gameplay adds up a game that is worthy of United Nations attention.  However even the positives can be a negative, which is really the case with SuperPower 2.  Since the number of options and choices available is staggering and it will leave some players behind.  A better tutorial system to help new gamers understand what can be done within the game would have been a nice option.  But for veterans simulation fans this might be the game for them that keeps them going for months.