When you start Imperialism II, one of the most basic changes immediately becomes apparent - or should that be un-apparent, since fully half of the randomly generated map is now shrouded in black. In order to emphasize the sense of exploration and discovery appropriate to the game's time frame - from the 16th to the 19th century - everything except the Old World portion of the map is hidden until you, acting as ruler of one of the Old World nations, discover and explore the New World. Certainly, this use of fog of war is a lot more realistic - especially in a psychological sense - than the "Is there a tree beyond the next pixel, because I forgot to bring the map from the orbiting starship?" so common in recent tactical strategy games. Besides, Columbus thought he found Cathay, not a new continent; you should experience the same potential confusion and sense of wonder when playing the game.

This, however, brings up one of the few flaws in Imperialism II: The Far East is conveniently ignored, even more so than in many Western civilization-centered histories (no wonder Nehru felt compelled to write History of the World from a different perspective). You don't worry about trading with China or trying to muscle in on Venice's spice trade through Arabia; they simply don't exist. Maybe they'll magically reappear in Imperialism III?

Next: Imperialism II continued