Software:Merchant Prince II

From HandWiki
Merchant Prince II
Merchant Prince II poster.jpg
Developer(s)Holistic Design
Publisher(s)TalonSoft
Director(s)Andrew Greenberg
Producer(s)Ashton Fletcher
Programmer(s)Ken Lightner
Edward Glamkowski
Artist(s)Mike Snyder
SeriesMerchant Prince
Platform(s)Windows
Release
  • NA: April 30, 2001
  • EU: May 25, 2001
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

Merchant Prince II is a 2001 turn-based strategy game of economic, political, and military conquest. The game is developed by Holistic Design and published by Take-Two Interactive under TalonSoft label.[1] It is the sequel to the 1994 video game Merchant Prince.[lower-alpha 1]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic57/100[3]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame3/5 stars[4]
CGM2.5/5 stars[2]
CGW1.5/5 stars[5]
GameSpot5.2/10[7]
GameSpy75%[8]
GameZone7/10[9]
IGN7.3/10[10]
Next Generation3/5 stars[11]
PC Gamer (US)50%[12]

Merchant Prince II received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[3] So little was added to gameplay that it was properly a rerelease rather than a sequel, and the changes to the graphics were considered uglier, with a zoomed-in and less user-friendly interface. ("End turn", for instance, was represented by an unlabeled wine glass.)[13] It was largely panned by critics[8][5] and even the positive review by IGN called it a "cheap reissue" and pardoned it only because of the difficulty of finding the original DOS games.[10] Computer Gaming World opened its review, "Merchant Prince 2 is the kind of title that gives strategy gaming a bad name," and concluded with, "Mainstream consumers pulled in by the fascinating topic are—once again—going to feel ripped off, confused, dumb, and jaded toward turn-based strategy games."[5] Kent Conrad found the implementation of the research tree "half-baked" and ended his review with "There is a good game hiding inside of Merchant Prince II, and that game is Machiavelli: The Prince. Get that instead."[14] Kevin Rice of NextGen, however, said of the game, "It's virtually the same game it was eight years ago, designed to run under Windows instead of DOS, but in the end it's still an entertaining, unique turn-based strategy."[11]

Notes

  1. Computer Games Magazine mistakenly claimed that the original Merchant Prince was released in "1995".[2]

References

  1. Walker, Trey (February 1, 2001). "Take-Two announces Merchant Prince II". Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/take-two-announces-merchant-prince-ii/1100-2681451/. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Cobb, Jim (May 30, 2001). "Merchant Prince II". theGlobe.com. http://www.cgonline.com/reviews/merchantpr-02-r1.html. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Merchant Prince II". Fandom. https://www.metacritic.com/game/merchant-prince-ii/. 
  4. Smith, Ted. "Merchant Prince II - Review". All Media Network. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=31788&tab=review. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jones, George (September 2001). "Merchant Prince 2". Computer Gaming World (Ziff Davis) (206): 97. https://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_206.pdf. Retrieved January 25, 2024. 
  6. Walker, Mark H. (May 30, 2001). "Merchant Prince II". Greedy Productions Ltd.. http://www.elecplay.com/review.html?article=5920&full=1. 
  7. Geryk, Bruce (May 10, 2001). "Merchant Prince II Review". Fandom. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/merchant-prince-ii-review/1900-2717637/. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 Abner, William (May 19, 2001). "Merchant Prince II". IGN Entertainment. http://archive.gamespy.com/reviews/may01/merchantprince/. 
  9. Da bomb mom (June 6, 2001). "Merchant Prince II - PC - Review". https://www.gamezone.com/reviews/merchant_prince_ii_pc_review/. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 Butts, Steve (May 7, 2001). "Merchant Prince II". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/05/07/merchant-prince-ii. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 Rice, Kevin (September 2001). "Merchant Prince II". NextGen (Imagine Media) (81): 88. https://archive.org/details/NextGen81Sep2001/page/n89/mode/2up. Retrieved April 27, 2022. 
  12. "Merchant Prince II". PC Gamer (Imagine Media) 8 (9). September 2001. 
  13. Horowitz, Josh (August 11, 2001). "Merchant Prince 2". NewWorld.com. http://www.avault.com/reviews/review_temp.asp?game=merch2. 
  14. Conrad, Kent (June 25, 2002). "Merchant Prince II". http://www.explodedgoat.com/gamereview.php?num=9. 

External links