Call to Power 2

by ACTIVISION

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004U55G
• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: November 17, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,438 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Call to Power II is the sequel to Activision's problematic Civilization: Call to Power of a year and a half ago. In many ways it's the spiritual successor to the famous and beloved Civilization and Civilization II from MicroProse. The good news is that Call to Power II is streamlined, improved, and overall a much better game than its immediate predecessor. But it still doesn't hold a candle to the original Civ classics.

Call to Power II is turn based and challenges players to begin a tiny civilization in 4000 B.C. You take your empire through the millennia to approximately A.D. 2300, passing through all sorts of social and technological eras and guiding your civilization into a vast world empire. The game lets you manage technology, diplomacy, trade, and warfare through well-laid-out screens and information bars. Everything is easy to read and follow once you get the hang of the very complex interface. But the complexity yields tremendous depth, making it all worthwhile.

Fans of the earlier Civilization titles may be disappointed, however, as Activision has once again failed to capture the magic for which Civ designer Sid Meier is known. This game just feels static and lacking in personality, particularly in the all-important diplomacy component. But Call to Power II is deep enough and strong enough to provide a satisfying strategy meal for anyone anxiously awaiting the upcoming Sid Meier's Civilization III. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• Attractive graphics and improved controls
• Deep gameplay that'll last hours and hours

Cons:

• Lacks that evocative feeling Civ is known for
• Some balance problems with certain units and concepts

Product Description

It's Your Time To Rule!Product InformationWhat if the Ancient Egyptians had worshiped thegod of commerce? What if world leaders left global warming unchecked? What ifJapan hadn't bombed Pearl Harbor? What if the Aztecs had invaded Spain? What ifyou led the world?Prepareto accept history's greatest challenge: build the world's most powerful empireover a 6300 year time span reaching from primitive history to the futurerealms of science fiction. It's your time to rule!Rewritehistory govern cities and expand your empire with a realistic combat system.New units weapons buildings & technology all help you answer the call topower. Product Features More units buildings Wonders and technologies Vast new realms: Space and Sea Fully-animating hi-resolution - 16-bit graphics All-new strategies including unconventional warfare Breakthrough time-saving interface Enhanced diplomatic and trade options Scenario builder Internet and LAN Multiplayer All-new Wonders of the World in stunning cinematics Activities IncludeMore StrategiesBuild a empire to dominate the world over 6300 years. Negotiate via the mostadvanced diplomatic model available utilizing options such as negotiatingstances compound proposals and counter offers. More ScenariosPlay built-in real historical scenarios through Ancient Renaissance and Moderntimes. Create your empire through the ages or randomly created maps or a customEarth map. More MightMaster every aspect of your society using scientific economic diplomatic andmilitary strategies. This combat system gives you more power as you go upagainst A.I. adversaries with unique personalities.More ControlMicromanage or let new city mayors govern for you. Lead your people andkeep track of resources with an all-new interface. Added features include newunits new technologies and nat

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 115 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good changes made, October 18, 2000

By 

A. Bagchee "Tech Snob" (NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Call to Power 2 (CD-ROM)

I am sure a lot of players might disagree with this review but CTP 2 really has taken some steps in the right direction. If you liked CTP (1) game play interface then you will like this sequel.

The following are the major changes:

Combat - A very important change is the addition of an armor attribute to each unit. This means that the phalanx will no longer be able to stand toe to toe with a tank - it simply won't be able to do much damage even if it hits.

Stealth - Spies will let you see all approaching hidden units. While you'll still need the appropriate defense team to stop the approaching stealth unit

New units, Wonders, and Advances CTP 2 includes the City Planner, an advanced settler option that allows users to build cities that come with basic buildings already included and that have a higher population. The game also has loads of new sea units.

Diplomacy - This area is my favorite in the sequel. A completely new diplomatic model allows you to offer proposals and negotiate counter-proposals with other empires. React in friendly or hostile tones as you confront distinct opponents with more in-depth AI personalities for even more realism. Utilize all-new diplomatic options such as Borders to help define the geopolitical situation. For example, you could threaten to attack a country if they don't give you their maps.

Advances - The game will also include new Wonders of the World as well as new "Feats of Wonder." These are one time, temporary bonuses that you get for performing certain actions. For example, if you're the first person to circumnavigate the globe, you get a sea movement bonus for a few turns.

Other important changes in CTP2 are that the Space playing level has been completely removed and the game lasts from 4000BC to 2300AD (instead of 3000AD of CTP).

Overall, what are you waiting for?! Go get it...

Anjan

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Seriously flawed-- If I could return this game, I would, December 29, 2000

By 

Keith R. Hartman (West Hollywood, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Call to Power 2 (CD-ROM)

Personally, I feel ripped off for having wasted money on this product. Like Call to Power 1, the game has some interesting features, particularly the variety of stealth units. However, the game suffers from a number of MAJOR PROBLEMS. Not only does it appear that the designers never playtested this game, it's clear that they never went back and played the first Call to Power either; many glaring problems from the original are still here. The worst problems:

1. WAY TOO MANY BUGS: The game crashes often. Also, there's a problem with save game files being corrupted that gets progressively worse as the game progresses. -- I finally gave up after a game that I had spent 25 hours on would not reload, even though I had EIGHT seperate save game files from the last EIGHT turns. Every single one of them was corrupted.

There are also numerous less catastrophic, but more consistent flaws in the programming. For example, stealth units are supposed to be clandestined. When you are attacked by one, you don't know who sent it. The computer players, however, always do, and immediately declare war in response to any stealth attack by you.

2. BADLY WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION: Quite frankly, this is the worst rulebook I have ever seen. It's long winded and repetitive, yet still lacks many key pieces of information. As a result, you have to use trial and error to figure out how much of the game works. One example: the rules mention that you must have military units on hand to control your slaves, but never spells out how many. The right ratio turns out to be 1:3, but you wouldn't know that unless your read the rules to Call to Power #1.

3. WHOLE PARTS OF THE GAME DESIGN JUST DON'T WORK: While the stealth units are interesting, some of them are so badly designed that they just don't work. The Cleric, for example, is the chief weapon of the Theocracy, which uses it to go out and convert enemy cities to your faith. This is an expensive and risky operation. However, it is so ridiculously easy to undo this conversion (station a military unit in the city, endure one turn of mildly elevated unhapiness among the citizens) that no player (computer or human) ever allows a city to remain converted for more than one turn. So why bother having the cleric unit in the game in the first place? There are similar extreme problems with other parts of the game, many of them left over from Call to Power 1. Do these people ever playtest their own products?

4. CLUNKY INTERFACE: The interface is badly designed. Information that could easily be put on one screen gets spread out over two or three. For example, information on trade routes that you currently have and those that are still available are placed on different screens. So to compare them and figure out if you have the optimal set of routes requires endlessly flipping back and forth between two screens.

Overall, I just don't see how the designers could have played this game and still released it in the pathetic state that they did. This is the second game that I've bought from Activision which was released in an unplayable condition. Personally, I'm swearing off their products in the future.

Those interested in a good Civilization type game should probably try Civilization 2, or better still, Alpha Centauri.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CTP vs. Civ, June 5, 2002

By 

Chris Trent (Reno, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Call to Power 2 (CD-ROM)

Starting caveat: I am originally a Civ player although I picked up CTP/CTP2 in lieu of CivIII.

First of all, CTP2 is FAR superior to CTP. They definitely fixed alot of the balance problems. (Although they didn't get the trade mechanism figured out.)

The game is incredibly deep. You could, potentially, spend far more time playing this game than any Civ. The stackability of units seems to be something Sid Meier is averse to. CTP also accepts some of the unseemlier sides of civilization like slavery, theocracy, totalitarianism and mass subversion while Civ sticks to the "clean" aspects of humanity. The single biggest concept I wish Civ would have adopted from CTP is the Corporate Branch unit. The idea that two nations, regardless of size, could fight legal/business wars with one another while completely at peace is a relatively young concept and CTP does a good job of extrapolating game concepts from sometimes tenuous real-life theories on civilization. The revolutions and creation of new civilizations is an interesting concept that I would have liked to see taken further.

The pro-Civers are not wrong at all, however. Sid Meier games feature a playability that's hard to define and nonexistent in other titles. Hours playing a Civ don't feel like hours. At first I was disappointed that CivIII seemed so similar to CivII but it really isn't. There is far more detail in the military simulations and the city management. Also, most importantly, is the concept of culture, totally new to this genre. Although it's not perfect it is really well done for a first attempt. CivIII acknowledges the reality that we all have unique cultural/racial heritages and that they affect us is subtle ways. For example, if you capture an enemy worker it will not work as efficiently as one of your own. (This is Civ's version of slavery but they never call it that.) Also, when you take an enemy city the citizen remain tied to their own culture and will assimilate to yours slowly. Until then they will be more likely to revolt against your regieme.

Essentially, I'd like to see CTP2 combined with CivIII. If someone did that I'd probably be a fool and pay any price for it.