Dungeon Keeper 2

"Have You Ever Wanted The Chance To Be Evil?"

Then here it is. Dungeon Keeper 2 is a strategy game that gives you the chance to be bad. You must build a master dungeon in the underworld, attract a host of devilish creatures from Goblins to Dark Angels, build rooms to suit their needs, like a Combat Pit for training, a Casino for relaxation and a Temple for praying, place in the final touches like traps and doors, and then lure your goodly enemies to their premature deaths.

Graphics 9/10:
Dungeon Keeper 2 is a fully 3D game, allowing you to rotate your view of your dungeon 360 degrees and zoom in and out. The graphics are superbly done, creating a really atmospheric underworld. The creatures are all very well constructed 3D models and add a little more to the game's feel. A good feature of DK2 is the ability to enter one of your creatures using a Possession spell. This allows you to view your dungeon from a creature's point of view, and let's you enter into battles and explore the underworld yourself. The effects from traps and spells are beautifully executed, making the already hectic battles seem even more frenzied.

Sound 7/10:
The sound is certainly a good point of this game. The sounds of your dungeon working are very satisfying to listen to - your creatures snoring as they rest in their Lair, working as the build for you in your Workshop, training as they fight in the Training Room and the sounds made by the chickens in your Hatchery all make your dungeon come alive. However, the sound during battles is rather lame, to say the least. You'll find battle music starts up if the fight is big enough, adding to the intensity of it. That's the good part. The rest, the sound of swords clashing, creatures grunting and an explosion every now and again will very quickly become repetitive. Although this isn't such a bad thing and not really noticeable, it would have been nice if the battles sounded more, well... battle like. You gotta love your creatures war cries though, like the skeleton's laugh and the little horn blow when goblins charge in.

Gameplay 10/10:
DK2 shines in this regard. You must play through the single player game, traversing your way through level after level of heroes and enemy Dungeon Keepers to find each Portal Gem to get into the world above. It gets progressively harder, but fear not, if you need practice, you can play the My Pet Dungeon mode, which allows you to trigger attacks at your will. There is also the Skirmish and online modes, letting you test your skill against other Keepers. The actual game plays very well. You begin with a Dungeon Heart and at least three Imps. You must order your Imps to dig out the earth around you to acquire more land, mine gold to take back to your treasuries and to reinforce your dungeon walls. You then need to attract evil creatures through portals you claim by building the correct rooms to bring them in. You will need to build rooms so they can eat and sleep, train so they increase their skill level, research spells for you, pray to the Dark Gods, build your traps and doors and relax by gambling their money back to you. You will also need to provide them with their pay every payday. The best thing about DK2 is that you can be evil to your creatures. You can slap them to make them work harder, torture them in the torture chamber for fun, or leave them in the prison to rot. Of course, your creatures can become unhappy and leave your dungeon. You have another resource besides gold in DK2, and that is Mana. Every ''tile'' of land you claim brings in Mana every few seconds. You use this Mana to cast spells on your land, offencive and defencive.

Conclusion 9/10:
Despite its many bugs, Dungeon Keeper 2 is an excellent game. It offers fast paced combat with great strategic gameplay. DK2 is a great step forward from its predecessor and a great buy; if you can still find it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/03