Disciples II: Dark Prophecy

"Nice game, really."

Disciples II is one of those strategy-based games out there that's not given much credit for the play value it gave. To some people, it's good, to others, it may well be otherwise. For those of you considering buying this game, I hope this review will give you some advice.

Story: 6

There are four different races in this game, and as expected, each race has its own storyline. The humans, the mountain clans, the legions of damned and the undead hordes. All of them are: You start off facing a problem/ having a purpose, then you go having some extra quests not related to storyline, after which you advance in the storyline, and you thought a happy ending is waiting for you, suddenly plot twists came up, then.... Nah no happy ending.
It's pretty disappointing, so let's face it, the storyline ain't really impressive. If you are looking for the 'yeah we won! *celebration* epilogue: ...happily ever after' scenarios and endings, well I'll give you one word: sorry. You may feel a little infuriated knowing that after all the hard work you put in, the plots doesn't reward you the way you hoped they would. That's the bad point, so if you are those who loved juicy plots and will hate any games with stories that doesn't impress, well most probably you won't like this game then. But if you are looking for fanciful storylines full of fantasy and love and fun and comfort and hope and joy and laughter, please, you know, you don't find too much of them in most strategy games. Thus the story doesn't affect the value of this game.

Gameplay: 7

As in any strategy games, you get to use heroes and units, upgrade them, fight enemies, take over castles, pick up treasures etc. Of course, you have to worry about the cost of hiring those units and healing them too. Now, let's look at the cons. As you choose to start each new saga out of the four different races, there are quite a number of quests that you need to complete to finish the saga, that is, the story of that particular race you chose. After you complete one quest, you go on to the next one. Now just when you thought you finally managed to level up those beloved heroes and company of yours and having so many treasures and items and that things will be easier on the next quest, you are totally shocked when you are told you can only take one hero with you to the next quest. Great news ain't it?...yeah So the time and effort taken to upgrade those units have gone to waste, they are just there for you to complete the present quest, the next one, they disappear into thin air. So that means with the start of each new quest, your castles are all gone, your money are all gone, you magic mana are all gone, you have to start all over AGAIN. It's really tough, especially as the difficulty increases over the quests, more enemies, and more powerful enemies. Next thing is, the whole battle style resembles that of RPGs, in battles itself you can't move your units, you choose to attack a target and your unit will attack, you attacked, your enemies attacked, the round is over, next round, repeat the same thing. It tends to get a little frustrating. Third thing, the maps are really huge, and having to complete them is a really tough job(okay I'm just complaining because I had a hard time converting them all as my territory, it's not that bad after all). So that's the challenge, if you think you cannot take it and may have heart attacks, then miss this game, but if you don't mind, good news for you! Even though it's not easy, but information on enemies are completely given, including the items they equip, their skills, their HP, the damage they give with their attacks and more, so that makes you think, and apply your fantastic strategy knowledge to full use, and it's very addictive, you'll just keep on thinking how to defend and attack simultaneously. Another area worth mentioning before you kick me for talking too much about this area and spoil the fun are the spells. This is what I liked most about the combat system, you can use them on any enemy on the map as long as they are not in the fog, and there is a great variety of spells that you can research on.

Graphics: 10

I liked the graphics a lot. 2D yes, but very beautiful. I haven't seen any flaws with them, and all are very well drawn. Totally impressive.

Music: 9

None that will remain in your mind after you exit the game and do your daily stuff, but the themes are all very suitable for the scenarios and none that which will sound out of place, the voices of the characters fit in well too, not too loud, not too soft, just nice.

Replay value: 7

To have the warm feeling in your heart knowing that you have completed the whole game and giving yourself a pat on your shoulder requires...let's see...say...a few months? Remember, There are four sagas, and therefore you'll certainly want to replay the game to finish off all of them. But perhaps you'll wait for a while after completing one saga before you go on to the next.

Overall: 7

I gave this game a 7 because of the good and bad points that it had, if it were just whether I liked it or not, then of course I'd give a 10, but I want this review to be from an unbiased point of view. Disciples II sure is an enjoyable game that should have been given more attention and support from gamers. The game will get you engrossed into it greatly because it just offers so much.

Buy or rent?

From what I've written above, try to see whether or not are they of your preference, if they are not,rent it and try it out, if there are no problems, buy!!!!!!! you won't regret it. It'll definitely give you value for money! erm.....and time.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/26/03, Updated 07/26/03