"Black and White 2: Fun, But Disappointing"

Let me first start by saying that Black and White 2 is an amazing game. It has beautiful graphics, amazing sound, and great controls. There is much complaining about bugs, but I have seen none and I can run it without lag on my horrible computer so maybe I lucked out. Anyway, I have almost no problems with Black and White 2 as a stand-alone game.

With that out of the way, Black and White 2 is an improvement to Black and White 1- but not nearly the game we've been expecting. Peter does it again- everytime he is in charge of a game, he overhypes it... But Black and White 2 is still an amazing game. Now, without a further introduction, here is the main part of the review.

Graphics: 9/10

Wow. Graphics are where Black and White 2 excels. Some people say graphics are not important in a game, and I usually agree, but BnW2 is an exception. This game is one nice piece of eyecandy.

Sound: 7/10

The sound is also pretty good. The ocasional prayers of "We need more food" can become as annoying as the popular phrase "Spawn more overlords," but the music is pretty good.

Controls: 6/10

The controls are okay. It can be played without a keyboard and just a mouse alone, which is interesting, but in can get annoying at times. Gestures are sometimes hard to perform, but the controls are good. The reason this gets a 6 is because it's not anything brilliant.

Gameplay: 7/10

Extremely fun. Without giving spoilers, I'll say that there are less usuable miracles or creatures than in the last game. For those new to the series, creatures are an essential part of the game. As a god, they can can help you conquer or create. They cast miracles, and have HUGE AI in this game. Of course, in BnW2, the only differences between creatures are cosmetic (which might cause you to think Lionhead should have added more creatures, or vice versa.) Villagers are techincally much more self-sustaining than before, but with the brand new features this game has, its actually relatively harder to let them go about their own buisness. The reason this doesn't get an 8 or even a 9 is because of the lack of a sandbox mode. You can play good or evil, but beyond that, it gets boring after a while.

Final Verdict: 7/10

Buy or Rent: I would suggest you buy this. I know I said there's not much replayability, but it can be fun experimenting with different alignments and creatures. Many people are hoping that Lionhead Studios will implement a sandbox mode later on, which would definently be a cause for you to buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/05