Activision's Call to Power II is the sequel to Civilization: Call to Power, minus the official Civilization designation. Fans of micromanagement empire-building or previous Civ games may want to take a look, but the game is not going to gain any converts for the genre.

The initial interface of the game is straightforward and logical. You have the option of starting either a multiplayer or a single player game. You can choose among 41 different starting civilizations, although which you choose does not affect gameplay whatsoever. The six difficulty levels range from beginner to impossible. It is impossible to fathom why anyone would choose impossible. You can select a variety of different map options, terrains, ocean/land ratios, and so on.

The game begins with a settler unit. Place the settler on a fertile spot of land to build your first city and start your empire. Empire building consists of managing resources such as food, gold, and infrastructure and keeping your empire's people happy. Adjust your people's wages, workday length, and rations to your heart's content -- or to their heart's content, if you wish to avoid riots. You'll spend the early part of the game pressing the End Turn button repeatedly as you wait for your cities to raise buildings and make scientific advancements. Thankfully, you can assign mayors to micromanage each of your cities for you. Mayors can focus their city for growth, research, offence, and so on.

The military units themselves do a nice job of accurately reflecting the age, from Ancient Age archers and knights, to Modern Age tanks and fighters, to Future Age mech-like war walkers. Battles are a mundane affair, as this is not a game of military strategy. If your army has more and better units, you win. Purists will dislike the inclusion of specialized units such as lawyers or televangelists, though they do offer some unique strategic twists.

Once you have successfully built several cities, fortified your army, and advanced your technology, how do you win? Nothing can beat the tried and true method of wiping out your enemies. Or you can try to achieve the difficult diplomatic victory by establishing permanent treaties with the other empires. Easier than that is the Sci-fi victory: Build the Gaia Controller by being the first to advance the tech-tree to its limit.

The graphics in Call to Power II are nothing too spectacular, but they get the job done. Units are crisply drawn and decently animated. The terrain is boring and boils down to yellow for desert, blue for water, and green for grass. Fortunately, you can play the game in the highest resolution your computer allows, and you can customize the game screen by minimizing the different interfaces. Sound is average, sound effects being what you'd expect them to be. The music is also standard, reflecting the styles of different cultures, Western or Eastern.

Call to Power II is a decent, if average, game for fans of micromanagement strategy. Everyone else should save their money and continue playing Baldur's Gate II or No One Lives Forever.

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Call to Power II
Platform: PC
Developer: Activision
Publisher: Activision
ESRB Rating: Everyone

Ratings
Graphics: 3
Sound: 3
Playability: 4
Gameplay: 3
Overall: 3