I can clearly remember 1999 Christmas. As a Hungarian and a subscriber of Hungarian GameStar, this masterpiece of Digital Reality was in the spotlight for months before release, and months after as well. I've got my copy pretty early, this was one of the few games I had as an original copy right from the store. :) Imperium Galactica 2 is unique. I tried to find a game that has the same atmosphere and same gameplay, but the closest it gets was another DR game released few years later, Haegemonia. The space genre is still - sadly - one of the least favourite scene of the developers all around the globe, but it was extremely popular back then (in general popculture as well, but space games peaked in the late 90's, think about Freespace 1-2...). IG2 gives a great balance between general management and real-time strategy. You have to manage your settlements individually and your empire as a whole. Research and develop new technologies, equip your ships with them, manage your fleet and ground forces, do diplomacy, espionage and other stuff. At it's release, these game mechanics and the AI was pretty neat, and hell, it's pretty damn difficult on harder levels. You need to plan carefully if you about to see next day. Graphics aged really well, and just by looking at them you can tell that it was jawdropping at the time of release. Music is really atmospheric, fits perfectly. I only know the Hungarian voice-over, which is very well done - a bit cheesy, but hey, it's the 90s :) Sound effects do the job. IG2 is a must have if you like management, exploration, strategy and the space scenery. Story is not a big deal, but there are random events (not too many though), and skirmish scenarios, so replay value is great. The 3 main factions give a different experience and there are others in the galaxy as well. IG2 is the flagship of the short and sad story of Hungarians developing AAA quality games. It's still one of the best of it's genre - a classic.
What can be said that haven't been said about this game? Personally, if I'd have to make a toplist about the best games I've ever played - eventhough there were a lot of great games - this would probably come out as top 1. The atmosphere, the countless options, the difficulty, the combat, the music, the characters: everything add up a fantastic experience. I've finished this games at least 10 times, increasing difficulty and/or detail each time. I've spent countless hours training my troops before invading Deidranna's fort as a final mission, just to make sure that everyone has the best stats. Hired merc soldiers, threw a grenade among them, and practiced medical skill by stitching the poor bastards into one piece again :) Ordered every kind of damaged weaponry from Bobby Rays and spent hours reparing to make sure my soldiers are the best mechanics in Arulco. Made, armed and disarmed TNTs to gain wisdom (?! :D), trained in the swamps with 3 mortars on my soldiers back to improve their health, strenght. Beat the living s*** out of those poor cows on the farmlands to improve dexterity and strenght. And having a lot of fun at the same time! This game is like no other, the community is great and made a lot of stuff (like X-COM Long War patch) that makes the vanilla 'expert' difficulty look like a walk in the park. You want 6 IMP characters: you can get it by using mods. Countless hours of oldschool fun that never gets old. Lots of content, great humor, fun, difficulty, options and nice atmosphere. Definately a must have/try, even if you haven't tried it out yet! Don't let the old looks discourage you: the core/heart of this game is as rewarding and as fresh as it was 17 (holy cow!!!) years ago! For me, it's a love that never dies. Love you, Jagged Allience 2!
