Review by Terran
At school, when my class was on the computer and *ahem* doing our work, I noticed that one of them was playing a game on the Internet. Because I am the great student that I am I did not let this distract me and continued my work. Soon, however, I noticed that another kid was in a debate about which Government type was better. Their debate covered many areas of the game and I thought to myself that I might like this game too. I got the URL and when I went home I started my own country and was amazed. Here are the details:
Gameplay: 10/10
This game is very detailed. No matter what government you pick, or what strategy you take on, the ultimate goal is the same. To have the highest networth at the end of the game (the tournament lasts about as month where as the Standard and Free For All games can last as long as 1.5months to 2+ months). This is the common goal for all players. This way you may, in the end, be judged not by who has the greatest military, or who has the most land (although those things will be taken into account) but who had the best strategy and who played the game to it's fullest extent.
Graphics: N/A
The only reason why I'm even mentioning this category is to let you know that this is a text-based game. Thus, graphics can not be counted. This also goes for sounds, as there is no sounds.
Control/Learning Curve: 10/10
This game gives you a lot of control over your country, but it won't take days to learn how to do everything. After about 15 minutes of playing this game I got the basics down. Strategy, however, is a different story. That could take a while for you to develop and unfortunately, as the game is modified/improved each season, your old strategies will become less and less effective (this also makes FAQs less helpful as they age).
Special Features: 10/10
There is a thin line between keeping the game simple enough to learn, yet in-depth enough to have some real fun. This is one of the few games that's right on that mark. You can construct, manage a military, research, choose a type of Government, attack other countries, make alliances, etc. Yet, though it all this game never seems to get too complicated. Everything has been made very clear cut so that it won't take a genius to figure out how things work. If you are having trouble though, take a look at their help menu, everything in it is clear cut and will get you the answers you are looking for quickly.
Re-playability: 10/10
Playing just one season of this game just isn't enough. You’re going to want to play again and again. Why? What if your the best player and you won it all in the standard game? Then go to the tournament and try your luck their. The tournament has a weeding process so that you start out in level 8 (the lowest level) and depending on how good you do in each season you could, eventually, make it all the way up to level 1 where the best do battle. And if you win there? It's not over yet! People will recognize you by your countries name and you can be sure that people will try their hardest to make sure that you don't get in first 2 times in a row. As it is nobody has ever won the tournament 3 consecutive times, so they'll always be new players and it'll never easy.
In addition to that, as I mentioned briefly in the above, the game is modified each season. What this means is that even if you managed to beat the old version of the game, learning how to use some of the new features might be difficult to do.
Overall: 10/10
This has got to be the best online strategy game. I'd recommend this game to anyone.
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