Never before have I seen more useless information on the box of a video game than I have with
Domination. Its fold-out front covers are saturated with blurbs and pictures describing nothing at all. Not once on the box is there any mention that the game is turn-based. It promises “planet on planet massive assault.” Global weaponry is mentioned. The words “Endless Gameplay” are proudly brazened in raised, yellow letters on the box. Any self-respecting game player trying to get something out of these base promises will feel cheated and lied to five minutes after loading up the game.
As mentioned earlier, Domination is a turn-based strategy game. Not much of this basic gameplay doctrine has been tampered with. Each map that is being fought over is based around a certain number of cities and the surrounding area encompassing them. Capturing cities gains you money, money gains you more troops, and more troops gain you a better chance at victory.
The inclusion of the territories surrounding each city changes things up a bit. When you move units into an enemy territory, they get to deploy what are called guerilla forces. These forces can be set up anywhere in their territory and can move and shoot as soon as they are placed. This simple rule makes it almost impossible to sneak a unit past the front line to move into a city and capture it. It ensures that when you invade a territory, you have a serious invasion force to back things up.
This basic premise is changed up a bit by the inclusion of various gameplay modes. Scenario and Campaign are similar to each other in that the Campaign mode is just a bunch of Scenario missions linked together by a storyline. These missions usually have some sort of criteria which usually involves you surviving for a set number of turns or having to kill the enemy in a set number of turns. You can also pick between two different sides, one of which is usually on the offensive and the other which is usually on the defensive.
Career mode allows you to create a persona and upgrade them with certain unit construction capabilities. The more battles you win, the more points you get to spend on being able to create other units. Assault mode is four different missions that give you a set number of turns and a set amount of money to spend on your starting forces. After you purchase and set up your troops, you are on a timer to assault an enemy’s stronghold. World War, the final mode, is basically the core gameplay on larger maps. Nothing is really added here in terms of different strategies, just longer game length. There is also a Multiplayer mode that lets you hook up with all of the other people out there who are sure to own this game by now, and play them in a one-on-one fight to the death.
