"Evil is Good (very good, actually)"

Dungeon Keeper is a game released a few years ago, published by Bullfrog. Incredibly original, this game is great fun for anyone who ever wanted to stick it to those high and mighty heroes that plague video games (mwahahaha....)

The basic premise is that you are the Dungeon Keeper, a supremely evil being in medieval times who delights in bringing main and misery too all the land. So, you set out to defile the countryside one region at a time. The game playes like an RTS game mixed with a sim-type game. You view your dungeon from a 3/4 top-down view, and manipulate creatures and objects using the hand of evil (a big green hand). You must use your imps (working creaturs) to hollow out dirt for room, place floor tiles, and fortify walls, all in preparation for the inevitable hero attack that is sure to come. To fight these pesky heroes, you will need loyal minions. To get them, you have to have your imps find and claim a portal. Then, various creatures will enter your dungeon through the portal depending on what type of rooms you have. You can gain giant beetles, flies, warlocks, bile demons, dark mistresses, goblins, orcs, dragons, and many others, including the almighty Horned Reaper. However, to get them you will need certain types of rooms. The bloated bile demons require massive amounts of food, so you better have a large hatchery for him to stuff his face in. The kinky dark mistresses will only come in you build a torture room...

Which brings me to another interesting aspect of this game. The torture room and prison room add a very cool twist. Lets say five or so heroes just busted into your dungeon, and you mopped the floor with them. However, insted of killing them, you selected to take them prisoner. You now have the option of healing them and sticking them into your torture room. Torture them right, and they might just convert to your side. Thus, you can also have tons of human characters like archers, thieves, dwarfs, wizards, barbarians, and even the almighty Lord of the Land.

This game has many cool options, one of the coolest being the ability to posses any of your creatures and roam your dungeon in 1st person 3D. Posses a dragon and go help your minions fight, or posses a lowly imp and do some tunneling. This game never gets boring, there is just too much to do. As you progress through the levels of the game, you will notice the countryside slowly become more dark and sinister. The sounds of birds chirping will slowly be replaced by wolves howling and crows cawing. The green pastures become blackened and burned wastelands. The clear blue ocean water slowly turns a ghastly black and green color. A dark fog begins to creep in from the coast. Even the peaceful blue sky eventually turns orange and purple.

Gameplay: Great fun. What could be better than building your own subterranean dungeon, packing it with evil bloodthirsty creatures, and then turning them loose on the unsuspecting heroes who foolishly try to defeat you? 10/10

Story: Well, it's no RPG, the story is simple. You are the bad guy, you are on a quest to take over the land and kill all good guys. However, there are funny moments before and after each town you destroy, the first one describing how peaceful and wonderful it is, (disgusting, of course) and then how it has been burned and overrun once you win that level (ahh... that's better). Both of course are narrated by your trusty advisor, who does a great job, calling you master and showing pure disgust for the flowery, bunny infested fields you see below. It's hilarious, cool, and fun all in one. 10/10

Graphics: The graphics are good, and are dark and sinister like they should be. The only problem is when you posses a creature and move to 1st person 3D, the graphics suffer, but are still ok. 8/10

Music/Sound: Excellent, excellent. The music can hardly be heard, but it suits the game very well. The sound is superb, and often very funny. When you slap an imp for not working hard enough, his little grunt makes you laugh. And when you get special message, a monstrous voice announces them to you. "Your creatures are becoming angry!", or "Your creatures are under attack!". This all adds to the mood of the game. Very cool. 10/10

Overall: This is an extrordinary game, it's a shame not many people picked it up. I urge you to go to your local PC game store, they should still be selling this on sale for a cheap price. Pick it up! You won't regret it. Oh, and you can't miss the box, it's the one with the big, evil, smiling demon on it >:)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99