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“The year is 2020 and miraculously the world’s map is unchanged. We haven’t decimated each other with nuclear attacks and aliens haven’t invaded. Then, out of the blue Egypt’s government invades the United States of America for oil, signalling the beginning of World War III. Governmental spending is cut on education, the tanks roll out and Africa unites against the world. This is just one scenario possible in Supreme Ruler 2020, the follow up to 2005’s game of the same name, yet different year; 2010. The game is PC only (due to its immense amount of complexity) and should be out at the end of June. We’ve been supplied a preview build to give the once over.

This time around there’s the usual marketing jargon; improved graphics, sound, music and AI. There’s a ‘streamlined interface,’ multiplayer for 16 players and a sandbox mode. In reality, we seem to have the same game as 2010, yet bigger. Casual gamers need not apply. This is by far the most intricate game we’ve ever played, and that includes Napoleon’s Campaigns. Even the hardcore audience will struggle to get into 2020. It mimics the running of a country to a tee and firmly shuts up any qualms of ‘how hard could it be?’ If you’re not looking after your neighbours in peace or war, you’re tweaking every economic option of your chosen power. You can set the spending of every conceivable service from fuel, to education, to military trading, to exports. The game has crammed in as much as it can, and most people won’t even scrape the surface. There’s a button for everything possible, and every military unit, governmental policy or industrial building as a wealth of statistics associated with it. This is a game for the strategy elite, those with a genre fascination. It’s a game for those that aren’t scared of statistics or menu screens.

Whether you pick the world (which was what was only available to us) or a smaller, more concentrated region, you’ll be given a map, fully released by the use of NASA satellite imagery. You can pick a country from any in the world, or to whichever one is available from the scenario. You can zoom out to a worldwide view or zoom in to a specific town. Units, industrial complexes and infrastructure (road and rail) are represented by 3D icons. The visual style is a cross between Google Earth and the early civilization games. The icons are a bit bland, but the game’s focus is not on the visual representation of the world. This is a pure gameplay experience, and it’s fully aware of that.

Movement of units is simple; click and away they go. They will slowly traverse the terrain, utilizing the railways or roads to speed up their journey times. Combat is handled by maths and the victor comes away with scars. Earth 2020 is a modern day envisioning of Civilization 2. It’s brought to the fight hard data, satellite imagery, increased scale and a structure. We weren’t given access to the campaign, any other the other scenarios or the multiplayer. Despite that, we’re still excited. It’s almost summer time, so it’ll be sure to keep you entertained. The core mechanics are there, we just want to see more.”

We decided to combine our previous preview with our review, because the build we played translates to the finished product. The game’s learning curve was lessened by the inclusion of tutorials, which while arguably a bit bland, covered everything that was needed. It helped to highlight the advisor system, which allows you to automate many of the game’s intricacies. It radically reduces the need to multi-task, but still allows you substantial control. Obviously if you’ve got hours of free time, then Supreme Ruler 2020 lets you control everything down to the minute detail.

Also included was the campaign, a string of missions which grant you a particular aim with a set time difference. For example, in “Shattered World” you take control of California who will be voting on reunification with the United States. You’re tasked with increasing social spending, while all the meanwhile keeping everything else under control. There’s not exactly a narrative as such but there is coherence to the missions. The gameplay is identical to what we described in our review. Nothing has been noticeably tweaked or changed. We really wanted to get into Supreme Ruler 2020, but it was difficult. IF you’re a fan of the promise, then there isn’t any reason why you won’t find your summer occupied. It’s definitely accessible, but whether you can fit it in is the key question. Factor in the multiplayer (if you can find 16 people equally interested at the right period of time and you’re onto a winner).

Score: 7/10.

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