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A Revolutionary RTS Game that Starcraft Only Imitated!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: November 12, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Technically and graphically, Dark Reign truly revolutionized the Real Time Strategy genre back in 1997, coming out far better than Command and Conquer or even Dune 2000 or Warcraft II. It is about as good as Starcraft - and Starcraft came out many months after Dark Reign!

Many of the features in Dark Reign, such as line-of-sight for detection and fire, terrain, altitude, unit grouping, movement path waypoint mapping, and production queues, were later adopted by Blizzard Entertainment for Starcraft and used as selling points for that game.

Dark Reign also featured artificial intelligence orders for unit pursuit range, self-preservation, and independence, harassment, scouting, and search-and-destroy.

Perhaps the best aspect of the game is the playability - especially against other opponents online, by modem, or via local-area-network. With all the advanced commands and features available, and with all the specialized units, game players can truly pay attention to both strategy AND tactics.

One of my favorite units is the Freedom Guard Martyr, a plucky little glory-seeking grunt with bombs strapped to his chest, ready to run out in that blaze of glory to take out an entire squad of enemy Imperial Bions.

Although the Imperium does not have readily available Martyrs, its Hostage-Taker vehicle can kidnap units, lobotomize them, strap bombs to their backs, and send them running back against their former squad-mates. Not enough enemy infantry units to kidnap? No problem, order it to kidnap your own infantry to turn them into suicidal bomb-carrying zombies!

Another Imperium unit resembles a hovering chainsaw, specialized in chasing infantry and cutting them to shreds! And yet another favorite is the infiltrator, which is available to both sides: Infiltrators are weak and small, and yet perfect for obtaining secret technology from the enemy. With information, enemy sides can build units normally only available to their opponents!

Every unit on both sides in Dark Reign is unique and special. Not only that, players are encouraged to create or alter existing missions, maps, and even create or alter new sides and new units and buildings of their own! Help is available for that through extensive technical documentation.

All in all, Dark Reign is an enjoyable, exciting game that will never be unplayable. I'm still playing this game, even though it has been a couple of years since it came out!

Lastly, I have a note. This game was designed for Windows 95/98, not just DOS. So feel free to purchase!

No other like it! My favorite RTS!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: September 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Even to this day I play Dark Reign. It's hard to find people to play this game anymore online, especially since Activision offers almost no support for getting the files for the new servers that you have to connect to for multi-player mode. There's still a group of us, however, that keep in contact through ICQ, and we message one another whenever we're up for a game.

Dark Reign has many RTS innovations from its time which have not ever been considered again to date, not even in Dark Reign 2. Every unit has a unique speed, fire power, armor, terrain mobility, and special features like phasing, transport, and splash damage give the player a wide variety of strategies and combinations to use in this game. There's too many RTS games out there today that have a wide variety of units, but few if any unique abilities that set them apart from many other unit choices. In no other game I've seen has the terrain made such a great impact on strategies as well. On maps with lots of water, hover tanks rule while on maps with bottlenecks and rough terrain are more likely to see big artillery battles. In other more recent RTS games, terrain has been made to look more realistic, hilly, and with some strategic options, but none that I have seen. Finally, one of my favorite features of Dark Reign is it's editability and map editor. Though using both of these features take some knowledge about how they work, a wide variety of maps, missions, multi-player co-operatives, units, and AI can be created or edited to enhance the gameplay. It's these features about it that make me keep coming back and back after being unsatisfied with other titles that just didn't compare.

Dark Reign was worth every penny of the near fifty dollars I spent on it when it first came out as well as the expansion when it came out a year or so later. I even rate this title higher than Star Craft. Now that it's so much cheaper, do yourself a favor and buy this game. And if you're ever up for a multi-player game, my ICQ number is 139284882. ;)

It`s an okay game.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: October 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game from Amazon.It`s a pretty good game.The graphics are okay.but if you like really good graphics don`t buy it.If you buy it get it from here because they have the lowest prices you could get.In it you are the togran warrior that has to go back in time, destroy the Freedom Guard and Imperium forces before they destroy the Tograns and its leader Togra.you have lots of units and vehichles.If you like strategy games I think you should buy it.If you do, get it from here! Its the cheapest place i`ve got my games.

A great buy!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game a while back and I still believe it is one of the hardest RTS-type games that I have ever played. If you are looking for a challenging campaign mode then you will find none better. Even the multi player, both online and off, is a real blast.
To this day I still play this game, and I never get tired of it. Dark Reign is easily one of the greatest (largely overlooked) games around. I highly recommend it

Time to feed the 'gators

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is RTS with a touch of sadism. You have your empire, you have your rebels ... but the rebels are genetically programmed by the empire to explode at a certain age. Think of it as Star Wars meets Logan's Run meets Clive Barker.

The good guys are good. The bad guys are twisted. And the technology and backstory are quite engrossing, even for an RTS.

Oh, and rumor has it this is available free online somewhere.... just sayin'.

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