Gameplay Features

Gameplay Features

When I first started playing I thought the lack of an economy would make Myth 2 feel half baked compared to other RTS games but it didn't turn out that way. Besides eliminating the need to worry about build orders, Myth 2 has a battle engine that truly rewards good tacticians. Careful micromanagers rejoice! This game was made for you, because you can fully concentrate on moving your troops around in battle and not on the mundane tasks of building infrastructure for a pseudo town. The mindless rushers who can get a measure of success in other games will likely get a quick and brutal education the first couple of times they try to play Myth 2. The reason for this is that multiplayer action is not conducive to "meat grinder" strategy when each player has the same sized army. Another advantage of removing the economic aspect is that games can be played and finished a lot faster. In one session on Bungie.net (Bungie's online matchmaking service for Myth 2) I played five good games in just over half an hour! In contrast, a single match in other RTS games can drag out for hours or more.

Huge army preparing for battle

Although the lack of an economic side benefits Myth 2 in a lot of ways, it should be noted that less is not always more. The fact that you only need to worry about the troops you have is sort of a double edged sword. It's good that your attention can be wholly focused on the fun part of the game but it's bad that you have lost another means to gain the upper hand on your opponents - out-resourcing them. Another problem is the offense/defense balance. I have always felt that in a strategy game, it's important to give an advantage to aggressive players who attack and not the players who timidly cower in easily defensible areas.

However, with the Myth 2 battle engine, it felt as though defenders have a bit easier time at things, particularly if the attackers are not organized very well. With the lack of economy and no means to gain more resources, there's no way for an aggressive player to replenish his army. The more I played though, the less this bothered me. Since the facing of troops in Myth 2 affects their reaction time, it's possible for a smart attacker to flank from the side or behind and gain the upper hand on an entrenched enemy. This is another way in which the 3D battle engine impressed me a lot. In other RTS games, troops can detect attackers equally well from any angle (rather unrealistic), so flanking maneuvers don't pay off nearly as well as they do in Myth 2.