The over the top design of Dark Reign is gone from its sequel and I get the impression fans resent this game for that. Without it, it's a pretty stock standard RTS, but it's well designed, has a surprisingly engaging story and some excellent graphics that justify it's existence.
Even today I remain surprised how attractive DR2 is. I picked it up about 4 years ago- the textures are muddy but aesthetically consistent, unit types are low poly but extremely well defined. Compared to say Sacrifice's impressive but messy visuals, DR2 does 3D graphics correctly for its genre. The presentation is perfectly matched with it's surprisingly well crafted story- discussing the last days of conflict before a global cataclysm between an autocratic government and a rising rebellion movement.
There are two factions, both with quite different play styles. The Sprawlers are relatively cheap and expendable compared to the pricier but shield-equipped JDI. Both factions have a disappointing similar unit roster: the game is quite simple overall in fact- with only one finite resource to manage. The game tries to mix things up with altitude advantages and solar power based on a day/night cycle, but there's not a lot of depth here.
So it's not winning any awards for its game design but it's not bad as a more casual RTS experience for players who don't have the patience for micromanagement. It's looks great, has a good soundtrack- for $6, you could do a lot worse.