Two Thrones
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Strategy First Developer: Paradox Interactive Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 6 Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Graphics & Sound: Mel Brooks once said, 'It's good to be the king'. While I am sure we have all at one time or another harbored fantasies of some moistened tart lobbing a scimitar at us and suddenly making us king (okay...so maybe that's just me), few of us will ever get the chance to see if old Mel is really right. But when you really think about it, the job comes with its problems. The year is 1337 and, due to his parentage, King Edward III of England contests the legitimacy of Philip VI's claim to the throne. Hostilities arise, which ultimately lead to what is called the Hundred Years War, which lasts until 1451. Four years later, in 1445, the House of York and the House of Lancaster (each represented by white or red rose) take part in a series of civil wars in a conflict referred to as the War of the Roses. Two Thrones gives you the chance to rule England during these rocky periods in British history. Although the game has great promise, the crown lacks luster. Two Thrones looks about as nice as you could want for a 2D board game, but doesn't really push the envelope in any way. Picture a slightly more detailed version of Risk and you have a good idea of what to expect. What you see is really good though, with a nice, sharp palette and excellent animations. Everything featured in the game is also historically accurate (or as accurate as I've seen from the History Channel) and really fit the feeling of the game. I was, however, disappointed in the music, or lack thereof, in the game. There's really not all that much to listen for other than some trumpet flourishes, which lead me to cranking up the Lord of the Rings soundtracks just to give me some sort of music to listen to while exerting my supreme executive power.
Gameplay: Two Thrones is broken up into five scenarios. Three of these scenarios, 1337, 1369 and 1420, depict events during the Hundred Years War. The final two scenarios, 1453 and 1470, represent the War of the Roses. During the Single-Player Campaign, you choose sides and try to either recreate history or rewrite it. The overall structure of the game feels a lot like the board game Risk. You are given control of units spread across a game board, which represent each country involved in the conflict. Within each province under your control, you are given the task of developing a strong economy and balancing both church and state. Your economy is based on both grain and silver, both of which are generated by your holdings through farms and by taxes. Both of these resources are what you use to construct new buildings and create armies. Some actions also depend on your popularity rating, which is a little more difficult to maintain. You can choose to show more favor to the church and piss off the lordships, or exploit the working class and hang on to outdated imperialist dogma, which perpetuate the economic and social differences in society. This sounds difficult at first, but you eventually realize that everyone will like you if you throw a little money at them. Two Thrones features two win conditions: you can either conquer Europe or gain the greatest number of Victory Points. The first method is obviously the more difficult, so more times than not, you'll have to win by gaining victory points. Points are gained by performing actions that benefit your country like building structures, conquering provinces and keeping the peace. At the same time, you can also lose points by losing battles, failing to quell uprisings or breaking a royal marriage. In addition to the scenario mode, Two Thrones also features multiplayer over LAN or through Valkyrie.net. As much as I would have liked to test out this aspect, I had a difficult time finding anyone to play against.
Difficulty: Although it may seem like a straight-out conquer the world type game, Two Thrones features scripted events that will randomly pop up based on that point in history. This was one of the game's follies that turned me off. Although they do lend a little flavor, they also don't add much to the game's challenge or gameplay. Since the event boxes readily display what the consequences of each action are, some of the challenge is lost. Some scripted events can even automatically trigger peace and war -- taking some of the fun out of things. The AI is pretty basic and not all that aggressive, even on the higher difficulty settings. Countries will attack, but most of the time you'll draw first blood. But, this should be expected since you do have to face up against France.
Game Mechanics: The one thing that Two Thrones lacks that other RTS games have is depth. The overall game is a little too straightforward at times, something that could turn hardened RTS players off but make the game more approachable by casual fans. The major focus of the game is clicking on each of your holdings and then clicking on the individual structures within them. After selecting a building, you can choose to upgrade them, produce units or tweak settings -- all depending on the building. Although you can do a lot in each area, your providences are limited to only performing two actions at a time. This drags the pacing of the game down a bit unless you control a sizeable amount of territory. The pace is further slowed by the lack of a build queue or indication of what is being built in each province. As your country grows, so does the frustration of clicking through all of your territories. Growing a strong economy is pretty easy once you get a few key upgrades early on. Once higher upgrades become available, you'll easily have enough gold to buy off everyone. This task is made easier due to the low research cost of high-level upgrades. Moving units is also simple, but does throw in a few wrinkles that require planning. First off, you are only allowed to pass through either your own lands or those controlled by allies. The only real problem I found with troop movements came when trying to cross water since it takes a long time to build enough ships to ferry large armies. When playing with other countries this is okay, but it adds some annoyance when playing as England (grab a map if that doesn't make sense). Though Two Thrones features an interesting premise and time frame, the gameplay still leaves much to be desired. There's really nothing here you haven't already experienced, making for a rather bland game. The game's budget price range does make up for some of these problems, making the game a fun diversion, especially for more casual PC gamers. Veteran RTS fans may want to look this one over because of the lack of both depth and challenge.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Minimum System Requirements: Pentium 2 266MHz or equivalent (Pentium 3 450MHz or equivalent recommended); 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended); Windows 98/2000/ME/XP; Direct X 8 or higher; Internet connection for Online play   Test System: Windows XP; Pentium 4 1.7 GHz; Radeon 9100 128 MB; 640 MB RAM; Direct X 9; Cable Internet
Eric Young's Squad Assault: West Front UFO: Aftermath