The graphics have received some slight improvements. Apart from the weather effects, some of the architecture will differ from nation to nation. Unfortunately, this is where the overall scope of the game begins to fall short. Even though there might be some slight differences, for the most part, every civilization looks almost identical to the other. The units themselves don't differ much from nation to nation except for a few special units, which makes sense for nations that are geographically close together, or perhaps during modern age epochs, but doesn't make sense when comparing Aztecs to Europeans to the Chinese. Additionally, all of the units have the same responses in the same language. No matter what nation you're playing, Galley captains will always shout "Blood and Iron!" when clicked. Not even accents are used to differentiate nations, which limits the otherwise epic scope the game could have achieved, and makes playing one nation feel the same as playing any other.

Another aspect that limits the scope of the game are the diplomatic tools. At first glance, they seem pretty strong for a real-time strategy game, but we couldn't help wanting a little more from them. Players can use the diplomatic tool to set up strategic alliances in exchange for resources, units, or even territories. Most aspects of diplomacy can be set, like how long the treaty will stand for, whether they're in actual minutes or until one declares war on the other. Unfortunately, only two conditions other than neutrality can be set: Alliance or War. There is no option to threaten war if demands are not met, no way to demand that they break an alliance with another player, or demand that they declare war on another nation in order to gain your allegiance. Additionally, there is no way to revise the treaty except until after the expiration conditions are met. It's times like these when you wish that EE2 borrowed more from turn-based games to give more diplomatic options to choose from.

Empire Earth 2's artificial intelligence is very impressive. Unlike computer players from many other RTS games, EE2's A.I. will not repeat a strategy that doesn't work. If its army is defeated on one road, it will most likely stop using it. However, if it can achieve some modicum of success in one area, you can pretty much guarantee that reinforcements will be on their way to that location. The computer will also set up very formidable defense, guard its coasts, and construct walls to slow you down. It will leave some exploitable vulnerability, but the player will have to send explorers and spies to seek it out. As a final touch, the computer has some programmed taunts to keep things going, and will offer to surrender when their situation is obviously hopeless. This significantly cuts down on the time needed to hunt down every last citizen and soldier when taking over territories. Our major complaint about taking over enemy territories is in regards to divvying them up. If two members of an alliance wipe out a city center, or if a player resigns, those territories become neutral and free-for-all. So, even if you worked just as hard as your ally to take a territory, the first person to move some citizens in and construct a city center becomes the owner, causing a frantic land-grab whenever a new territory is seized. There is no feature like in Rise of Nations where someone can surrender to a specific nation and have it annex their territories.

The multiplayer and skirmish features are very good, with a great many options to help with map selection. Empire Earth 2 supports up to ten players, with variable handicaps ranging from Newbie to Godlike. These handicaps influence everything from the resource gathering rate to unit production speed and goes a long way in balancing the game out among experienced and new players.

Overall, Empire Earth 2 is just as ambitious and epic as its predecessor. While it does have its shortcomings, the gameplay more than makes up for it. It is a title that stands on its own and introduces a few tools that might show up in future RTS games. As stated before, this is an opportune time for a historical RTS to hit the shelves, and EE2 fits in perfectly.