GoG.com has listened to my greatest wish in including one of the best games I've played in my life. Dungeon Keeper 2, the sequel to Dungeon Keeper (yeah, surprise, I know), has a great deal to recommend it for. Just to go through it: Gameplay - Dungeon Keeper 2 took the gameplay from the first part, polished it up, and then let it run wild. They've changed some functionality, some of the rooms, and that's completely to be expected. As an example, creatures can only be trained up to level 4 in the training room, and then require a different room (the Combat Pit), to advance any further. This approach causes to player to turtle less and wait for his creatures to reach level 10, and interact with his creatures more to get them to as high a level as possible or necessary. Other new gameplay elements include the stunning of creatures as they are dropped - In Dungeon Keeper you could flood a hallway with your most powerful creatures the second you saw an attack coming. In the second instalment a bit more tact was required due to this new approach, though I understand that some may dislike this. Overall though, the gameplay is smooth and polished, and it feels good if you keep your dungeon running smoothly. Of course, the basic mechanics remain the same - you have your dungeon heart, which is your life, essentially, your imps which do your menial tasks for you (though they don't cost gold to summon anymore, but rather the newly implemented mana), your portal which attracts your creatures based on the rooms which you've built, and so on. All in all, managing your creatures and your dungeon well is satisfying and well done. Next up: Sound design. While the music often feels a bit like background noise (with the exception of the fairly nice theme that plays during heavy combat), it is spot on to suit the game's atmosphere. The other aspect of sound, the sound effects, are great. Each creature has his or her own unique 'voice', and they're easily recognisable. And, most importantly, we have the mentor. He who inspires us all with his instructions, and above all his unrivaled sarcasm. He plays his part brilliantly, and I've often grinned after a particularly nasty remark. Graphics: Graphically the game was pretty good for its time. I'll admit I'm not the greatest judge on the planet, but the game looks great, the graphics very much suit its style, and it runs smoothly. What more could I possibly want? :P Summary: All in all, Dungeon Keeper 2 is an absolute classic - in my opinion, put the knife down - that deserves to be played by as many people as possible. While it has its flaws - combat feels clunky, and creatures do get confused from time to time - the final product is one that I've thoroughly enjoyed time and again, and I've long awaited a version of the game that could be played on a newer PC because the game was, quite frankly, a ***** to get working on a newer system. Thank you for this GoG.
Heroes of Might and Magic IV is, to me, one of the most underappreciated games in the series. It suffers from its fair share of faults, but also had a great deal of innovations that make it deserving of so much praise, and regrettably, it does not. Let's go through this section by section. Gameplay: Gameplay-wise, the game changes some core features, but retains many others. Basic overworld movement, for example, remains unchanged. You have a set amount of movement points per hero per day, and once you run out, your day 'ends', after you build whatever buildings you like in your town. The resource system is similarly unchanged, but none of this needed changing. Some of the most interesting changes in the game do take place on this score, however. Heroes IV gets rid of the old creature upgrade system, opting instead for a creature CHOICE system. Each town has a total of 8 creatures divided over 4 tiers, and while you can build both tier 1 buildings, for the other three tiers you have to choose which creature you'd prefer. This is a very interesting change, but not without its problems. Due to 3DO being in financial dire straits at the time, the game was released sooner than it should be, and this shows in creature imbalance. In many cases, choosing a specific creature over the other is downright stupid, because the two are so badly balanced against eachother. (Cyclops vs. Ogre Magi in the Might town comes to mind). Other changes to gameplay do involve overworld movement. While the fundamental basics remain the same, one of the key changes takes place in how you no longer need to have a hero with an army to move it about the map. A hero is required to flag structures and capture cities or mines, but if you want a scouting force, you no longer need to recruit a hero for it. This opens up many new possibilities. Another fantastic innovation, which luckily also made its way into Heroes V's expansions is the caravan system. In heroes III the creature generator buildings outside of your town were only ever used to boost unit growth. In many cases, keeping a spare hero around to constantly gather up the creatures from these external buildings was irritating, and in some cases so time-intensive you just didn't bother. In Heroes IV this problem is solved with the caravan – A way to recruit creatures from the safety of your town and then see them transported with a set movement rate back home. You could even use it to transport armies between cities! Finally on the note of gameplay: The Battle System, because no Heroes game is complete without it. As ever, you command your armies, and in battle, you fight with the stacks of creatures you've amassed from your cities/creature generators. The most important changes lie in the fact that the game no longer uses a (relatively narrow) locked grid of squares you can move on, as with the earlier (and later) instalments, but uses a tp-down view. Creatures still work the same way, using their ranged abilities, spells, or moving in close to smack enemies across the skulls, but the most fundamental change in the battle system is also touched on in other reviews: The hero. The hero isn't a “one spell per round” statbot any more, but an active part in your army lineup. He can move in to melee, he can use ranged weapons, and he can cast his spells, in some cases with devastating efficiency. A low-level hero isn't much of a threat, but a skilled player can level a hero to annihilate anything in his path. The skill system augments this. Gone are the “basic-advanced-expert” skills, replaced by a system with base skills and three 'sub-skills', that have five levels each. Each hero can pick up five such base skills, using them to augment his spells, his army, or his physical ability. Good grief that took longer than I thought. Right then, on to: Graphics: Graphically, the game works quite well. There are some things that I find lacking, such as the town screens (If you pay attention, you'll notice that all the buildings are in the same spot, no matter which alignment you play as), but overall, the game world is rich and vibrant, full of colour, and still quite pretty to look at. Music: Personally, I feel that this game has among the finest music in the series, which is why I'm so happy the game comes with the soundtrack here on GOG. I would've paid the $9,99 just for the soundtrack alone, if I'm honest. However, music, sometimes more than anything else, is purely a matter of taste, so I won't tell you you'll love it. You'll have to experience it for yourself. Story: Story-wise, the original game just gives you six campaigns to choose from, each with an (almost) unrelated story. I believe the stories of Gauldoth Half-Dead and Emilia Arcan touch on eachother lightly, but even then, only lightly. Winds of War and The Gathering Storm added some small features to the game, but the campaigns weren't really much to write home about. Nice additions for the active player though. Final Verdict: While the game certainly suffers from its flaws, it also has MUCH to recommend it for. Personally, this is one of my favourite games in the series, if only for the things it does right. Sure, I've been annoyed playing through it more than once, but at the same time, I've also spent many hours enjoying the game thoroughly. Though I can't award it 5/5 starts, I still thoroughly recommend it. Also, if you're really stuck with the balance issues, check this forum topic started by Arianus on the forums: http://www.gog.com/en/forum/heroes_of_might_and_magic/homm_iv_equilibris_mod It concerns a fan-made mod that addresses many balance issues with the original game. That is all, and bloody hell that's a wall of text. Oh well, hope you enjoyed reading it.
