At this point, it seems even those who go completely out of their way to avoid card games like Magic the Gathering at least know what they're about. Through a combination of strategy and luck, players use cards to cast spells and summon creatures to defeat their opponents.

In the case of Etherlords II, players load their deck with sixteen cards, and one's skill level dictates how many times each card can be reused. The goal is to whittle down the opponent spellcaster's health to nothing. Though there are a few spells that cause direct damage, players will rely primarily on creatures to perform blocks and attacks. There is also a large space for your reserve cards, so you can customize your deck before each battle. Ether, known in most other games as mana, is gained through ether channels. At the beginning of the battle, each player starts with one ether channel, and gains another after number of turns. High level characters will gain ether channels at a faster rate. Ether is not cumulative, so whatever isn't used is lost at the end of each turn. If a battle goes on too long, something called "Ether Disturbance" starts, which damages each player, successively getting more powerful per turn. The one thing that got on my nerves during duel mode was the discard phase. Since you can only hold six cards, you have to discard excess cards after each turn. Unfortunately, the game doesn't let you strategically choose which ones to discard, and automatically tosses the ones furthest to the right, which was often frustrating.

Etherlords is set in the Lands of Lords, which is controlled by four races representing different ether powers: Kinets use air magic and specialize in beguilement; Chaots use fire ether to perform more aggressive spells; Vitals work with nature magic; and the Synthets combine technology with flesh, resulting in some very unique and sometimes horrific results. These four are always in skirmishes with each other, but their conflicts have been escalating. It seems that another faction is invading the world - pale creatures from another dimension, sapping the energy and ether from their land. Etherlords II lets players experience the story through multiple points of view, so they slowly come to understand the grand story as each chapter peels away a layer of mystery.

The single player campaign is set in a zoomable isometric view. Your character rides on a giant beast and explores the land, often running into aggressors who stand in your way. You also pick up various resources scattered around the map to purchase spells from factories, and use shrines that will influence different aspects of the game. Skills and specializations may be acquired while exploring the lands. Skills enhance your character beyond what the given level dictates, like extra health and getting more iterations out of your cards. Specializations are powers based on chance, like hero invulnerability or resurrection. The higher the hero's level, the more likely a specialization will work. Gameplay is taken a step further with artifacts, which are charged items that cast spells without cost. However, the game limits their usage.

The main problem with adventure mode is that it's generally too simple. Most paths are laid out plainly from start to finish, with only a few exceptions. For the most part, all players have to do is follow the trail of obstacles, and they will never get lost. At times, I wished that the mini radar on the bottom of the screen were clickable, similar to RTS games, so I could quickly send a hero from one place to another. Or, in the very least, let me hold down the mouse button so that my hero could walk continuously. I also wished that there was a way for me to save specific decks and load them according to situation. I had at least two different decks, one general, one designed specifically against pale creatures. If there were, say, five slots available for quickly loading decks, my life would have been much easier. Instead, I had to shuffle through my reserve pile, trying to remember which cards I wanted.

There isn't much left to do in solo mode after the story is over. There is an option to play against the computer in dual tournaments, but that will quickly get old. Though the computer intelligence is very good, many players will want to challenge other, living ones. Multiplayer in Etherlords II is a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have a full set of multiplayer modes, ranging from hotseat to Internet play. In addition, there are a number of pre-loaded decks to pick from so that players can get right into the action, but Etherlords II falls a little flat when it comes to the customizable decks.

To be fair, the deck builder isn't horrible, and it follows the feel of the single player mode. The problem is that I find it much too limiting. The player sets the resource level (1-3), which dictates base funds. Using those funds, you purchase cards, artifacts, skills, and character levels. One issue I had is that it is impossible to create mixed decks. I cannot, for example, use the potent Chaot spells with regenerative Synthet creatures. Many would argue that mixed decks generally aren't worthwhile, but I would still like the option of making an unworthy deck, and multiplayer rules should be more flexible than single player.

My second, and largest, issue is the purchasing factor in general. There are enough resources to do the essentials, like buying 16 cards for your deck, but not nearly enough to make the player feel like s/he's getting the most out of multiplayer. For example, you have all the artifact slots available to you, and all the artifacts in the game to choose from, but they're so expensive that it's practically impossible to get any. In order to have one artifact, I had to strip my character down to level 1, with no skills or specializations, and carry the least powerful spells to make the 16-card minimum. With all the existing limitations, such as sixteen cards, and long waits between artifact uses, it seems strange that there should be more of them. If only there was an unlimited resource setting, and a marker so that others would see that I used unlimited resources to build my deck. That way, play balance would be preserved, and I would feel that I was getting the most out of my multiplayer experience. As it is now, it's like a carrot dangling in front of me, and I really don't appreciate it.

Etherlords II is a nice, worthwhile game. The single player has a good storyline with some excellent voice acting, and the artificial intelligence is challenging. Aside from a few minor gameplay issues, this is a title worth getting.