Cultures 2 Gates of Asgard

Review by M.Burrell

So, you?ve found yourself with a boring Saturday afternoon and plenty of time on your hands? What could you do to pass the time? Well you could always become a Viking, travel to 9th century Europe, build villages, plunder others, and explore the countryside looking for a mythical creature of destruction. Yeah right? Well in JoWood?s new Real Time Strategy game Cultures 2, that?s exactly what you?ll do.

Cultures 2 is not a game for everyone. It?s not a quick game to play nor is it big on action. You will spend hours managing your cities and preparing for battles which will last, at most, only a few minutes. You will be responsible for managing every activity within your cities. At times you will have to monitor more than thirty resources and goods at once, while making sure you have workers assigned to keep these goods coming in smoothly. You will need to travel great distances into unknown areas as you scout for your objectives. In short, you will need a lot of patience, a good attention span, and a good bit of time to get into this title. If you?re still interested and willing to take the time to learn the game, you will find an incredibly deep game with a unique style, which really helps you to feel connected with your villages.

Ultimately, this is a game of micromanagement and ultimately this is what will either make you love it or make you hate it. Either way, you have to respect the work put into this title. JoWood continues to put out solid games in many different genres and while this game isn?t groundbreaking, it is another solid addition to their line. While the cartoonish style and time consuming game play are definitely not for everyone, I don?t think the game was made with everyone in mind. I think this game was made to appeal to fans of RTS games who want a more interactive and in depth experience. When I first started playing this game, I didn?t like it much at all. I was overwhelmed by all that I was going to have to do. It didn?t take long for me to pick up on things though, and once I got rolling, I found myself losing track of time and telling myself I?d play for just fifteen more minutes again and again.