ENDZONE 2 REVIEW - WHEN ANNO MEETS MAD MAX

Endzone 2 crash lands into the Early Access wasteland like a drunken courier with a package marked "Handle With Care." This sequel to the original post-apocalyptic city builder cranks everything up to 11, throwing in enough new features to make your radiation-addled brain melt faster than Chernobyl's reactor core.

WELCOME TO THE THUNDERDOME

At its core, Endzone 2 is still about keeping a bunch of irradiated morons alive long enough to call it a civilization. But now, instead of being stuck in one hellish map, you get to spread your misery across multiple zones like a cancerous growth with delusions of grandeur.

The game kicks off with you piloting a ramshackle bus that looks like it was designed by a committee of meth-addled mechanics. This mobile horror show is your ticket to freedom, letting you choose where to plant your flag in this godforsaken wasteland. It's like a twisted version of "The Oregon Trail," only instead of dying of dysentery, you'll probably succumb to radiation poisoning or good old-fashioned starvation.

MULTI-ZONE MAYHEM

Endzone 2 borrows more from Anno 1800 than a kleptomaniac at a garage sale. The multi-zone system feels like Anno's island mechanics got hit with a nuke and developed a gritty reboot. You'll be hopping between these zones like a flea on a radioactive dog, setting up trade routes and trying to balance resources across your post-apocalyptic empire.

This new system adds a much-needed layer of depth to the gameplay. It forces you to think strategically about resource distribution and specialization, turning your wasteland empire into a twisted version of a corporate conglomerate. Just don't expect any bailouts when things go tits up.

TRADE ROUTES: NUCLEAR EDITION

Speaking of trade routes, they've copied Anno's system so closely you'd think they were cheating off its test paper. But hey, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best, right? It works well enough, letting you shuttle goods between your zones without having to manually haul ass across the wasteland every five minutes.

Setting up these routes is more satisfying than finding an unopened can of beans in the apocalypse. It's a game-changer that turns your disjointed settlements into a somewhat functional network of despair and productivity.

EXPEDITIONS: SCAVENGER HUNT FROM HELL

The expedition system has gotten a complete overhaul, transforming from a text-based snoozefest into something that actually resembles gameplay. Now you get to directly control your explorers as they poke around ruins, looking for loot and probably contracting seventeen different types of cancer in the process.

It's a welcome change, adding a bit of action to break up the monotony of watching your settlers slowly die of radiation poisoning. Just don't expect "Uncharted" levels of excitement – this is still a city builder, not an action-adventure game. Your explorers move with all the grace and speed of a three-legged sloth, but hey, at least you're not just clicking through text boxes anymore.

GRAPHICS: APOCALYPSE NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD

Visually, Endzone 2 is a significant step up from its predecessor. The devs have apparently discovered this newfangled thing called "lighting," and boy howdy, have they gone to town with it. The world looks like what would happen if Bob Ross had a bad acid trip and decided to paint the apocalypse.

Buildings are more detailed, animations are smoother, and the whole thing runs better than a cockroach after a nuclear blast. It's still not going to win any beauty pageants, but at least now you can appreciate the finer details of your slowly crumbling civilization.

UI: SQUINT OR DIE

The UI could use some work, though. Half the time you'll be squinting at the screen like a mole rat trying to read fine print, wondering why the hell your settlers are dying this time. Is it radiation? Starvation? Or have they just lost the will to live in this godforsaken wasteland? Who knows!

It's functional, sure, but about as intuitive as a Geiger counter with the display scratched off. You'll spend more time deciphering your own interface than actually managing your settlement. Consider investing in some reading glasses before diving into this radiated hellscape.

PACING: SLOWER THAN RADIOACTIVE DECAY

Let's talk about the pacing. This game moves slower than continental drift. You'll spend more time waiting for resources to accumulate than you will actually building anything. It's like watching paint dry, if the paint was radioactive and could potentially kill all your settlers.

The glacial pace might be realistic for a post-apocalyptic rebuilding scenario, but it's about as exciting as a three-hour lecture on the half-life of plutonium. Prepare to exercise more patience than a saint on Valium.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: SCARCITY SIMULATOR 2023

Resources in Endzone 2 are scarcer than common sense in a doomsday cult. Every drop of water, every scrap of food, and every building material feels like it's worth its weight in gold-plated uranium.

This scarcity adds tension and forces you to make tough decisions, which is great for the masochists among us. But for everyone else, it can feel like trying to build a sandcastle with a teaspoon and a leaky bucket. Hope you like micromanagement, because you'll be doing it until the radiation finally claims you.

LEARNING CURVE: MOUNT EVEREST SAYS HI

The learning curve in Endzone 2 is steeper than a cliff face covered in butter. It throws you into the deep end of the radioactive pool and expects you to swim. There's a tutorial, sure, but it's about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine.

Expect to fail. A lot. Your first few settlements will probably die faster than Sean Bean in, well, anything. But for those who persevere, there's a certain savage satisfaction in finally getting your irradiated ducks in a row.

FINAL THOUGHTS: A WASTELAND WORTH WANDERING

Endzone 2 is like that sketchy but charismatic friend who always convinces you to do stupid shit. It's frustrating, it's time-consuming, and it'll probably give you a headache, but damn if it isn't entertaining.

Is it perfect? Hell no. The game's got more issues than a post-apocalyptic therapist's waiting room. But when it clicks, when you've got your little empire of dirt running smoothly (or at least, not actively on fire), there's a satisfaction there that's hard to beat.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

Endzone 2 is a solid improvement over its predecessor, taking the core concept and injecting it with enough new ideas to keep things interesting. It's still rougher than a radroach's backside, but there's potential here for something great. If the devs can smooth out the rough edges and balance the gameplay a bit better, this could be the post-apocalyptic city builder to beat.

We at NLM received a key for this game for free, this however didn't impact our review in any way. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go fortify my bunker and stockpile some Rad-Away. In the wasteland, no one can hear you scream... but they can definitely hear you cursing at your monitor as your entire population dies of dysentery. Again.