Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: February 15, 1999

There is only one passion I have that competes with my love of gaming, and that’s international relations. Ever since I was a lad I have been fascinated with shifting patterns of conflict and peace, dominance and dependence, and wealth and poverty on the global level. The swirling controversy and complexity of foreign intrigue never ceases to capture my attention. Of course, it is said that those most attracted to the study of authority structures really want to dominate everything themselves…

Over the years few titles have tapped into the extraordinary color and pageantry of the global struggle for power. Perhaps the most successful game of all time was released in the late 1980s, Chris Crawford’s Balance of Power (published by Mindscape), depicting the Cold War superpower competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Then in the early 1990s D.C. True released Shadow President, that tried to capture the spirit of post-Cold War diplomacy. While today there are tons of war and real-time strategy games, most focus on narrow tactically-oriented battlefield combat rather than the big picture of world politics.

So when I heard that Psygnosis was developing Global Domination, my heart leapt for joy. Was this finally to be the perfect international relations game? Every press release indicated that Global Domination was genre-busting and would enter uncharted territory in terms of a new kind of gameplay. While Global Domination appeared to have a decided combat orientation, it featured a rotating world globe interface (always a good sign) with missiles, aircraft, and satellites circling over it, potential for intelligence gathering, and some of the electric atmosphere of a James Bond movie.

Designed by Psygnosis’ Leeds studio, using a common game engine for both PC and Playstation versions, Global Domination has an absorbing plot with a really epic sweep to it. There is a lot of arcade shooting of the type found in Missile Command, and some strategic planning for conquest of the type found in Risk. You must simultaneously defend multiple bases around the world against attack while launching attacks against new territories, and the key to victory is at least as much speed and reflex skills as it is strategy. An end-of-game score sheet shows your final rank, territories gained and lost, and time used to achieve your objectives.