Dark Reign 2 is a 3D real-time strategy video game developed by Pandemic Studios and released by Activision in 2000 for Microsoft Windows. A prequel to Dark Reign: The Future of War and its expansion pack, Dark Reign 2s storyline focuses on what came before the conflict in the first Dark Reign.
Gameplay
Dark Reign 2 features three modes: campaign, online multiplayer, and an instant action mode. Multiplayer functionality allows up to 32 players at once, featuring four 'rulesets: Gluttony, Protect HQ, Blood Bath, and Deathmatch. Blood Bath is a mode in which the first team to kill a certain number of units wins. Protect HQ (by far the most used) is a ruleset in which a player who loses their HQ for a certain period of time (about three minutes) loses. Gluttony is a condition where the first player to collect a certain amount of resources wins. Deathmatch is a ruleset in which a player who loses all of their units is defeated.
Players are allowed to create custom mods for the game by making simple configuration files and using the packaging software which can be found on the original game CD.
The game has a built-in map editor and there are several tutorials available on the internet to create custom terrains.
Plot
The two opposing factions introduced in Dark Reign 2 are the Jovian Detention Authority a.k.a. JDA (which evolve to be the Imperium faction) and the Sprawlers (which later evolve to be the Freedom Guard faction of Dark Reign). The two sides are caught up in a conflict spanning Earth's 26th (and final) century. In the introduction, a Sprawler Leader who interacts with the player in the Sprawler campaign states: The struggle between JDA and the Sprawlers is, at its heart, the struggle between authority and freedom, government and proletariat. As the earth reeled into ecological collapse, the JDA established large dome cities to protect the citizenry from the harsh conditions outside. However, they left behind all those who would not succumb to their dictatorial will: the Sprawlers. The disenfranchised Sprawlers are thus left in the outside world, bathed in the harsh conditions of a dying planet and fueled by the explosive rage of rebels fighting for a free life under the thumb of a cold overlord. Thus, the Sprawlers desperately fight to break into the dome cities, while the JDA desperately sally out into the decaying 'Sprawl' to keep them out and in a state of submission. The player can choose to play either the JDA or the Sprawlers campaign, both with similarities and differences to the overall story. In the JDA campaign, the player is a member of strike force, guided by the JDA central AI, "CYGNET". In the Sprawlers campaign, the player is referred to as "Sirdar", a new member of the council eager to prove their worth. Both sides are concerned with the massive increase in seismic activity around the world which is consuming it and each other. As the story progresses, both sides gain access to new units and structures which the player will need to use in order to proceed further and develop more powerful strategies.
JDA plot
Activity in the city is going wild with Sprawlers making regular skirmishes and setting up anti-air batteries that harass air traffic. The situation in Sector 13 is the worst. After being shot down by one of the batteries, Strike Force's first objective is to rescue a base from destruction, push back Sprawler forces and clearing all the anti-air batteries in the area so that an air strike can be performed on the Sprawler base. Along the way, the first earthquake occurs, almost destroying the base Strike Force rescues.
In the next mission, the JDA also discover Togra's shrine has been damaged in the quake. They wish to investigate. Strike Force captures a Voodun priest as a prisoner and force him to take them to the shrine. But along the way, powerful Togran pylons prevent movement up the hill without being destroyed. To deal with this, Strike Force deploys aerial infantry to destroy two Togran power generators in order to disable the pylons and proceed. At the site, they discover a strange mobile artifact, which resembles an ancient slab on a hovering platform. Cygnet indicates the higher up ranks wish to study the artifact and orders Strike Force to evacuate the artifact to a transporter.