The real-time strategy genre is far from dead, but it’s not exactly a leader in the PC scene, at least not to the extent that it was in the 1990s. This was a decade that was defined by the likes of Command and Conquer, Starcraft, Warcraft, and Total Annihilation, and while some of these IP have persisted in some form or other, many others have fallen into obscurity, and one in particular—Dark Reign—is especially ripe for a comeback.
Engulfed in the shadow of the much more popular and prolific Command and Conquer, Dark Reign adopts many of the RTS genre’s greatest strengths. Its structure-building mechanics, while imperfect, are quite satisfying, and it contains a surprising number of quality-of-life features that, when coupled with some great AI, help it stand the test of time. Dark Reign holds up, in other words. Perhaps publisher Activision simply didn’t feel the IP was worth investing in long-term, or maybe the cultural swing away from the RTS genre in the 2000s made it seem obsolete, but Dark Reign deserves better.
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Dark Reign Presents a Promising Sci-Fi World That’s Worth Revisiting
There are two games in the Dark Reign franchise:
- Dark Reign: The Future of War (1997)
- Dark Reign 2 (2000)
The first game, which I’ll simply refer to as Dark Reign, follows a member of a far-future civilization called the Tograns, that has been largely destroyed due to a conflict between two warring factions, the Imperium and the Freedom Guard. Even the Togran home planet, Strata-7, has been annihilated. Just before its destruction, however, a famous scientist called Alpheus Togra launched a time-travel device into space, giving the remaining Tograns a chance to turn back the clock and change the course of history.
Fit the 9 games into the grid.
To be deemed worthy of taking up this cause, however, the player must complete a series of simulated missions, which make up the majority of Dark Reign’s single-player campaign. These simulations recreate key battles between the Freedom Guard and the Imperium, and the player can freely switch sides before each fight. After winning all the simulated battles, the player-character goes back in time and defeats both factions, thereby stopping the destruction of Strata-7.
A Dark Reign expansion called Rise of the Shadowhand goes on to cover the complications emerging from the resurgence of the Tograns, and is technically the most recent entry in the series’ chronology.
Dark Reign 2, a prequel, offers more context for the events that led to the devastating war between the Imperium and the Freedom Guard. The game is set on 26th-century Earth, which has been ravaged by environmental collapse and civil strife. The Imperium, which at this point is called the Jovian Detention Authority (JDA), oversees a massive authoritarian government spanning several dome cities. The citizens of these cities must submit to the JDA’s absolute authority or else be banished to the inhospitable environments beyond the domes. Those who choose to defy the JDA are called Sprawlers, a faction that eventually morphs into the Freedom Guard. Despite adding this valuable worldbuilding content, Dark Reign 2 is widely considered to have been a commercial failure.
A Dark Reign Reprisal Could Be Sweet and Simple
It’s probable that the low revenue of Dark Reign 2 is the main reason why we’ve never seen a Dark Reign 3, or a Dark Reign remake, for that matter. And while rights holder Activision may be more focused on its big-budget cash cows, the breadth and diversity of the modern gaming audience could absolutely support a smaller project, such as a new Dark Reign.
Unlike many of its contemporaries, the Dark Reign games never put a premium on cutscenes, fancy graphics, or cutting-edge tech. While one would imagine that a newer Dark Reign would be modernized in many ways, it wouldn’t need to change these fundamental aspects of the series: Dark Reign is special because of its world-building, which doesn’t necessarily cost a premium to maintain and develop. In this way, Dark Reign could be modest in terms of innovation and scope, serving as a lower-investment project appealing to a more focused demographic.
