China II: Everlasting Empire
By T-Time Technology
Scheduled release: End of August
In the lull after the release of major imported games such as Soldier of Fortune II, WC3, T-Time Technology (
If a player decides to play Taiwan -- an option that Civilization doesn't offer -- its rivals include Japan and Korea as well as the China across the Strait!
As with Civilization, China II is a turn-based strategy game, and the two are largely similar in terms of game play, with primary aims being to find fertile land in which to build a city and then develop the surrounding area building the foundations for population and military and scientific development.
"The main difference with Civilization is in the combat sequences," said Atwood Yen (嚴餘金) a member of the T-Time design team. "China II allows players to develop elite troops, and also to combine military units of the same type into larger and more powerful units. In addition, it is possible to create combined air, sea and land forces." During combat, play switches from the world map to a battlefield map, allowing the player to command individual units, with play moving forward turn by turn like chess.
Unknown: Journey of Reincarnation
By Electronic Art Taiwan
Scheduled release: September
Taiwan game designers rarely venture away from role-playing and arcade formats, which makes the arrival of Unknown: Journey of Reincarnation (
The game's developers, Info Bank Technology Corp (
"Because the characters develop, this game also has some of the qualities of a role-playing game," Lin said. Moreover, characters can choose from over 100 action moves to develop their own special combat techniques."
There are many ways that players can draw on the mysteries of Atlantis to increase their abilities, discovering ways to call on special weapons, or improve their own offensive or defensive capabilities. In large scale combat, players can draw on a wealth of special abilities simultaneously in order to defeat otherwise overwhelming odds.
Thunder Blade: The Maniac
Interwise Mulitmedia Corp
Scheduled release: September
Interwise, a long-term associate of US Interplay and the distributor of the Baldur's Gate series of games, has finally decided to use that game's powerful game engine to power a local release based on the popular Pili Puppet TV series.



