by Ryan - March 10, 2004

From the makers of Europa Universalis comes Two Thrones, a strategy game that puts you in control of your own kingdom. Two Thrones is a real-time strategy game with enough detail that it can teach you a history lesson, while you see it lived out on your computer screen. However, does this game prove to be fun while still holding onto its detail for history?

Simply Complicated

The gameplay in Two Thrones is not for the young gamer. The large amount of detail put into Two Thrones� gameplay makes it something that is very complicated, but simple. It is complicated because one aspect of the gameplay, pleasing all the social classes, is very hard to do if you end up having to turn some lands into royal farms or taxing the clergy. On the other hand, it is very simple because this is one of only three things you can really do in this game. You are not only the ruler, but you also must be the diplomat and general. As interesting as this seems, it is put into use in a very boring way. As a diplomat you are given five or six options, which you can choose from. Your goal is to keep everyone happy, pick your enemies or declare war on the world. I chose to pick my enemies and found myself trying to please people and not receiving anything from it except the ability to move my troops over their land or just not having them attack me. Other than what I have mentioned there are no additional benefits. You are not able to choose to increase trade, make pacts or anything else that could add to the experience. Finally, as a general you are limited even more. In Two Thrones the only control you have over your armies is their size or what units are in it. You are not actually able to control the fight. All you can do is to send your army in and hope that you have a better mixture of units than the enemy. Sieges are an even worse aspect. I found myself waiting for thirty minutes or more just so I could have a siege end. Even with the game speed all the way up this took a horrendous amount of time. This game has the three roles that could have made this a very good in depth game. However they did not pull it off.

Bring Out That Old PC

The graphics in Two Thrones are absolutely horrible. The graphics on this game would have been good, three years ago that is. The animations in this game are very limited and there is not very much detail in the game world. The water is just a blue empty area and the land is nothing special, just some simple 2d artwork. Getting use out of that old PC is the only benefit, since this game has such low requirements. This is one area that is a great disappointment to me, but might excite those who want to find a use for that old Pentium II system they have laying around.

Aged Sound to Match

The Sound in Two Thrones is not very plentiful and could use work. Although Two Thrones has sounds for each building and for combat, there are no ambient sounds or even music! This definitely hurts its scores since to me sound is a very big part of a game since it sets the mood. Two Thrones could have had many more sounds, but instead we are let down.

Patient Fun

Two Thrones can be very fun, if your patient that is. Two Thrones is probably one of the longest games I have ever played. Just one game can last for several hours even with the speed setting on the highest. If you are patient enough to wait through the numerous sieges and the numerous battles you are going to encounter then you may find yourself actually having some fun. However, since I�m a very impatient person the slow pace of the game didn�t appeal to me at all. Even when I �speed up� the game it still moves at a ridiculously slow pace of a day per second and when the game spans a hundred years of more it can make for a really long game. If you want fast paced action DO NOT buy this game.

History in Movement

For all its faults this game had one very big advantage and that was that it has many historical facts. Everything in this game is explained, including who did what, where, and why. Since history is one of my favorite subjects this made the game that much more entertaining. The various events that happen in the game also actually happened in history. For example, one event in the game is a plague. As many of you know, the black plague was a very horrible thing and the game explains this and has it affect the game in a way that would actually happen. If you love history and want to learn about it this game is the way to go.

Reference Game

This game for all its faults has one very good value and that is that it teaches history. If you are not into games with great graphics or great sound, but more into the learning aspect then this game is for you. This game would be best suited for the high school student who might be struggling in his history class or just for those of us who want to learn more about European History. Two Thrones is definitely not worth fifth dollars, but could prove useful if bought as a budget game. It is a learning tool and not too much more.