Black & White 2
by Electronic Arts
|
Our Price: $39.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $6.34 (click here) Category: Video Games See more product details |
|---|
Video Game Reviews of Black & White 2
Customer Review: B&W2 - What you should know before you buy
Summary: 5 Stars
For those that have played the original B&W, and who remember all that frustrating micromanaging, will certainly applaud Lionhead for finally working all that out. For some the new question is "What took you so long?" But for this review the question is "What new problems are there now?"
Newcomers will certainly be awed by the look and feel of this game, and will certainly enjoy watching their creature (I enjoy the cow myself ^^) grow and learn into their ideal beast. Even the old folks can't deny how awesome these creatures look, and are probably just as relieved to see how much more control they have on what their creature will do. But experienced gamers know that good games aren't all "just looks".
In my opinion: I love it. Graphically the game is 98% what I expected. One of my few issues with the graphics is that the people don't have functional facial features (since I don't know what the technical description is, I'm just peeved that nothing on their face actual moves... no talking, blinking... kind of lower standard as to what I was expecting, but allowable). The music is great; if I could I'd put it all on a CD and listen to it all the time. Thankfully, they aren't repeating the same story line (from what I've seen, I'm only 60% through the game) over again from the old one. Of course, you control everything through your hand and have that nifty toolbar to help you out when you need something done. Beats having to go all over the map to find out how many disciples you have how many resources you have stocked, what's going on where... you get the picture. If all these are what made a great game, I'd be tempted to give it 5 out of 5 stars.
Now, here's what you NEED TO KNOW before you commit to buying this game! First off, you will need a shy bit of a high end computer (or a little bit). Certainly might want to think about investing more ram (I'm going to aim for two 512 chips myself) before you get this game. It really sucks when the loading times take forever due to limited ram or slow processor. Speaking of which, you may, depending on what you are willing to spend, want to see about getting a new processor! There can be a heck of a lot going on your screen at once, so never hurts to see if you got the processing power (and then some) to handle it! Of course a good graphics card is most likely a BIG must, but that kind of goes without saying. The space is 3 gigs and a half I think, so just keep that in mind. All that said that's what you should know about the technical stuff. My computer is due for both more ram and probably a new processor, but right now the game runs fine with the exception of the choppy cut scenes (bummer I know, but I blame either the ram or the processor, because the game runs just great when I'm just playing).
Now, a little more about the game. FROM what I see, the creature's size does not grow to be any where near as big as in the original game, cause then I'd think the creature would just hop over the walls and have the run of the town. I suppose they did that so it wouldn't be TOO easy for the creature to destroy the platoons, or the buildings for that matter. After all, gotta give those little people a fighting chance, right? Your alignment, as before is another feature that makes this game so darned purdy. As it changes, the land that's under your influence, or anywhere your hand TOUCHES, is affected and changes accordingly. Example: Evil makes everything look so horribly depressing and ruined, and good is all flowers and bright colors. I'd have to say that that they did a good job rendering all that!
Now your creature is a little different. You can make him good or evil based on his actions, and of course he will change in appearance. However, he will undergo some minor changes at each no land. Example: My ape was 100% evil by the Norse land (second or third), and he really just looked more like a thug. Now I'm on the 5th or 6th area and he's starting to turn black and his hair is falling out in places, as well as his entire look just getting MEANER. Of course your creature will grow in size, and at your discretion get buffer and/or fatter, and so on and so forth, so you do have a LOT of control over his appearance than just if he's a good or bad little monster. Oh, another nifty thing that I just LOVE. As your creature moves around the areas that he walked on (touched?) ALSO changes to reflect his alignment. Now that's a good touch and kudos to the folks who kept an eye on appearance of this game.
Let's talk about your cities now. This is in nature a strategy game, but it is a different kind of strategy than what we're all used to. Even for those who have played the original B&W may find this remodeled system to be intriguing. You have many choices on how you can rule, but to sum them up the game explains them as being either good, bad, or neutral (for the record, neutral just means nothing really changes but your not slave to any decisions.) To be good you are NOT aloud to take over ANY towns (don't mean you can't from time to time.) To be evil you are NOT aloud to do anything that one could define as "NICE" (don't mean you won't if it benefits YOU). Your city will either be a large spread out town full of flowers, which is the general strategy for the good choice. Or it will be buildings atop buildings and people crammed into less than humane living conditions (heck you'll probably kill a few to feed your creature or sacrifice one to cast meteor on an invading platoon outside your walls). My point is that you do have a choice, and you are ALOUD to change your mind. One island you might be focusing completely on being evil, and then you just might have a change of heart at some point and then start aiming to be good. The transition will take a while to change and you won't see the changes right away, but that just depends how long you plan to be playing.
All this is a plus, but what comes next may disappoint a few... The War system. Okay, I say the pretty screen shots while anxiously waiting for it to come out, and I woulda thought without a doubt that your creature was more than just a "siege weapon" for the army. I thought he'd actually give ORDERS or something, ya know, be your GENERAL. Maybe I've not played it far enough, but this was a bit of a disappointment. I STILL don't know what the purpose of him "Inspiring the Troops" or what ever it's called is, but hey it kinda looks nifty! Oh, and when fighting the little platoons, the creature can be really stupid. He could kick into thin air because his foot was a shy bit too high, or he could hop around and NEVER hit one unit that didn't give chase to it, BUT the game does stress upgrading his roles so maybe he just isn't "leveled enough".
Stupid AI in my opinion...
Here's another downer. You don't fight the creature vs. creature fights anymore. He does it all himself based on soldier level, muscle, fatness, fitness, etc. This is cool to watch, and makes sense as to why you don't do it cause you have a bunch of platoons to be looking after, BUT still it would be nice to be able to tell it where to strike and when to block. Ya know, that all would be cool to control, BUT I'm not complaining as long as I always win >:D. For the record, don't think making platoons is a waste of time. Some of the enemy's platoons could kill your creature in seconds without some good back up. So if you designed your creature to be a war machine, support him with archers. That OR make a big platoon of footmen and use them as your main front instead.
The last thing, and my least favorite thing, is how the tribute system works. You know those big epic miracles that game was boasting? Ya know the volcanoes, or the siren? Will, you need to buy the buildings that make that using "tribute", Which is god money really, WHICH is only earned when you've hit some sort of mile stone or completed one of your objectives (like quests). Now, that's all fine and dandy, but while saving up that 400k for the first epic (the siren) you are passing up new buildings you can build, miracles you could use, and upgrades for your creature and town. But now I've gotten to the point where you get a LOT of tribute for doing things, but the problem is that it takes forEVER to get enough. Oh, and if you wanna make volcanoes, you need to buy the 1mil building (which are called wonders for the record) to be able to do that. Hey, if the game had any real fault, I'd say that would be it.
All right. The last points that I have to make. I said you would get the most out of the game TRIBUTE CONCERNED by going neutral because you'll be able to complete both the town and the army missions without being biased to any alignment. What you are missing is mostly appearance and style, and you then are simply playing the game to get through it. However, that's only if you are just doing ANYTHING without care of what alignment you are. You can do all the alignments with style, you just gotta find out what works best for you. Another point is that the tutorials are good enough to help you along, so make sure you pay your consciences good attention (no matter how gross that evil one is, sometimes he has got a point). Some glitches are mostly concerned with the creature, though I blame laggy ram for that.
If you haven't preordered it yet or what not, or put any money on it at all, get your facts straight cause you don't want to go through a total computer makeover to just run a game that you're gonna wanna take back tomorrow. That said, this game I wanna give 4.5 stars for, but because I've not completed it yet it's getting 4 stars to be on the safe side. I'm glad I got my copy of it, and wouldn't trade it for the world. Lets just hope that any "expansion packs" they add to this game can fix a few problems and present some new options.
Customer Review: Good in many ways, even though some may not approve.
Summary: 4 Stars
Although I'm only half way through the game(there are 8 islands), I think I can legitimately write an honest review. If you don't think that's sufficient, don't bother reading.
B&W1 had alot of problems. There were bugs, and there were problems. I loved the game, but people had logical complaints. Most of that stuff has been fixed, but it might not fit your preference.
When I get into the game, I love it. You now build a more intricate town, which is great. You can also create armies which is fun. Having huge battles can be awesome if you have multiple platoons. You can control as many platoons as you have men. Your village has a specific number of men, women, children, and elderly. You may lose alot of your men to war, but your town won't be hindered that much. The best battles are those where you have archers, catapults, and soldiers all killing each other. The game kinda screws you though because it practically forces you to use catapults. I wanted a good creature, and if you send him into battle to destroy enemy walls it will make him evil.
The creature is much easier to use. He now talks to you through chat. You can easily teach him to do stuff now. If you want him to poop in fields, he will. If you want him to gather grain, he will. This kinda sucks because it is much more simplistic. I started having him work out and it said he was evil for some reason. Now, I'm having a really hard time getting him to be good because he won't do alot of things I tell him. Also, he has so many evil tendencies, like killing innocent animals, that it is hard to compensate for everything and make him good. Still, you can have a lot of fun with your creature. Even though, to my knowledge, they can't learn miracles, your creature will occasionaly cast some that he must already know. Whenever he builds a home, he uses miracle wood. In this game, there aren't that many good powers. You will be using water and heal alot if you want to use miracles, but I haven't recieved miracle grain or miracle wood for some reason.
Building towns can be fun. There are a lot of interesting buildings that you must unlock. They expand your influence and make people want to come to your town. You can avoid war altogether and entice people to live in your city, but where is the fun in that? Also, your store house can only hold so much grain, wood, and ore. You will either have too much or not enough. I hate how there is a limit, because I wasted alot of wood and grain my first few hours.
People now don't complain as much. In the first B&W, you could never satisfy everyone. Now, people have logical complaints and address how concerned they are.
The graphics and sounds are top notch. Waving your hand over flowers will move them. There are interesting bump maps which make some textures seem curvacious. There are also really nice character models now for every town.
All in all, I like this game alot. If you do hate it, I don't know what to tell you. If you hated the first game or hate RTS games in general, do not get this. If you worry about replay value, the game is fairly long considering it takes a while to play each island. I am having more fun building and having battles now than I was creating miracle forests everywhere and foresting them myself. Now, I am building cities and taking over cities with huge armies. It's a good one.
Customer Review: As good as the original, better in some ways
Summary: 4 Stars
Black and White 2 isn't the same game B&W was, and in many good ways. First piece of advice if you loved the original; pay attention to the tutorial on "how to move." They've changed some of the navigational details.
The toolbar is a welcome addition, letting you find what you need quickly--use it--and the ability to accumulate "Tribute" and redeem it for various new buildings and tools feels familiar to players of other strategy games.
B&W2 does more of a job of incorporating the elements of a strategy game with an RPG, and if you like battles you'll get that here in a way the original did not satisfy.
The graphics are beautiful, the devil and angel either annoying or cute, depending on how you felt about them before, and the citizens fun to manipulate and help you feel godlike. City-building is more interesting with roads and rewards for doing it well.
Customer Review: Well..
Summary: 1 Stars
This game didn't really impress me. It could have been a lot better if the designers would have the patience. The graphics are good, but the gameplay is no fun. If you want a strategy game, don't buy this.