Big time developers and lots of marketing do not a great game make. Good games can be hard to find, like this one.
The game itself shows a great depth of knowledge about many things fantasy and I found this to be very impressive. The designers have created over a dozen factions that stretch from King Arthur mythology to Norse to Undead to Lovecraft mythos to Maya and even more. They really did their homework and that helps create an engrossing experience if you like that kind of stuff.
The game plays out with you as a god who is fighting all the other gods for supremacy of the lands. The sheer number of gods you can choose is also large and diverse. You then setup your god's magical abilities and other attributes then go off to bludgeon all others in submission.
Gameplay is very simple. The map is divided into provinces and nothing here is too exotic -- more people means more gold from taxes, mountains mean more resources so you can recruit more units, special areas provide magic gems each turn that you need to cast spells and so forth.
Battles are run automatically and the computer does a pretty decent job of using your troops well. You can setup various tactics for your squads such as flank, fire missles, cast spells, and the like and this can make the difference in some battles.
Overall this game is very fun though it suffers from low production values. If you only play games to get off on the graphics then this is not the game for you. However, if you enjoy novel and deep strategy then Dominions 2 does not disappoint.
My biggest gripe is that the guys at Ilwinter are extremely proud of their work and this game is very expensive. The sequel Dominions 3 is even more expensive -- both titles cost more than a new release PC game. In a way, I felt a little cheated at first but I grew to enjoy the game and now feel it was money well spent.