Disciples 2.Gold.Full.PC.Game | 1.83 GB |
Disciples II: Dark Prophecy returns gamers to the magical realm of the Sacred Lands where four races the Empire, the Mountain Clans, the Legions of the Damned and the Undead Hordes continue the battle for the destiny of their Gods. A decade after the First Great War, the final prophecy continues to unfold. Deep within the crevices of the Sacred Lands, the Chosen One has emerged, fated to bring salvation to some and destruction to others. Braced with renewed faith and newfound conviction, each race must once again take up the sword for the sake of their people and the glory of their God.
Release Date: Jan 23, 2002
MSRP: 39.99 USD
T for Teen: Mild Violence
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Publisher: Strategy First
Developer: Strategy First
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One thing that everyone should be well aware of before fans of the old game go diving headfirst into the experience hoping for something new and revolutionary, is that you aren’t going to find anything new and revolutionary. Fans of turn-based strategy in general won’t really find a lot that they haven’t seen before. But what you fans of the genre will find is a very well polished game with very good balancing and a lot to enjoy.
In fact, the main draw for those that have played the original game will be the massive upgrade to the visuals. There are the games that look really good like 3D engines that handle a bazillion polygons and high-res textures in real time like Medal of Honor or Max Payne. And then there are games that not only look good, but have that artistic feel to them that just make the game that much more enjoyable. Games like Sacrifice, Alice, orHomeworld that draw you in to this fiction and never let you go. Add Disciples II to that list because it definitely has style in droves. The look is fantastic. From the character art to the battle models to the spell effects to the animations… the only part of the game that can be a little much is the overland map, which can feel cluttered at times. Even though it was a little hard to see units or items every now and again, even this has a nice feel to it. The combat is really a hell of a treat to watch though. The combatants really look like they’re putting some amount of effort into their attempts to rid you of your enemies. And the impact of some of the spells looks downright nasty. “Here you go Mr. Hill Giant, have a face full of thick ass lightning bolts for that nasty case of existing you seem to have.”
Accompanying the stunning graphics is a pretty noticeable improvement to the sound as well. The background music is very good as well as the ambient sounds to the overland map. Unit acknowledgements can be downright amazing at times even if some of the units still need a little help in that department. Spell casting units in battle also have some great sounds speaking in whatever fantasy language to call lightning or fire down on their foes. Stick this together with the look and dark story of the game and you’ve got a no nonsense world that just begs you to go out and declare war on whoever might oppose your will.
In terms of actual gameplay, Disciples II is almost identical to its predecessor. The basics are that you control one of four factions. They range from the ambiguously righteous types like the Empire and the Mountain Clans to the not very ambiguously evil freaks out for death and mayhem types like the Undead Hordes and the Legions of the Damned. Your choice will dictate some of the style of play you’ll have readily available to you. For example, the Empire uses a lot more benevolent spells that buff your own players and have healing units whereas the Undead Hordes give you access to more destructive and debilitating spells as well as units that can cast debilitating effects.
Whichever race you decide to play with, the general gameplay is pretty much the same thing. You’ll start out by picking what kind of lord you want to be. There are three that each have their own advantages and disadvantages. The Guildmaster Lord will get the ability to make thieves right off the bat and all of the thieves will have extra options. Warrior Lords have the ability to regenerate their units on the field instead of in just in cities. And Mage Lords start the game with a magic tower already built, can cast two of each spell a day (where the others can only cast each once), and get the added bonus of having all spells available to research and having the research cost cut in half. This one small decision can actually have a rather large effect on how you play a game and how you need to play against other opponents.
Once you’re in the game, it’s actually pretty easy to pick up and learn without needing a manual or a tutorial. And that’s a good thing because the manual really isn’t that keen and the tutorial is buried in the New Quest list instead of having it’s own menu slot.
You’ll start out with one hero. Each hero can take a party out with him or her. New units can be purchased in cities. The fun thing about all of these units is that they all go up in level. While you only get to name your hero units, and therefore become a little more attached for some strange parental reason I guess, you’ll love to watch your normal units progress through a scenario as well. These units will actually change into a more powerful unit when they level up, assuming you’ve built the appropriate structure at your capital city. The transformations are pretty noticeable and something to help you want to get your armies into fights more often.
And thankfully, that’s where you’ll be putting most of your attention. The actual gameplay in Disciples II tends toward the tactical maneuvering and actual in combat decisions. The economic and resource management in the game is very simple and will mainly just have you deciding where spending your money will be most useful, whether it be for new items, healing your units, upgrading your city, or buying new heroes and units. All of the resources (that’s gold and four different types of mana) are collected as long as the resource points are on your territory tile in the overland map. There’s no real trading or resource management needed. Resource management in this game is just fighting for control of the land.
All of the decisions you make outside of combat will directly affect combat in one way or another. Upgrading your city in certain ways decides what your units will upgrade into when they gain a level. Once you pick a certain route, you’re stuck with it, so making the decision can be a tough one. There are usually advantages to each of the different branches you can go that are hard to pass up. It definitely makes things a little more interesting.
When you’re playing through the campaign modes of the game, you’ll have the opportunity to carry over your one best hero from the last game and a few items. It can also be a tough decision. This is the one thing… I really wish I could take some units or at least a couple of heroes instead of just one. After 60 odd turns in a game, you do tend to get a little attached to your characters. Poor Joe Bob the Death Knight… you served so well… go away Joe Bob… it’s for the best… you’re free now. GO JOE BOB! You’re FREE! GO! *sob* I loved that Joe Bob… But Sam the Nosferat was just more advanced and I had to think of the good of the Horde first. I’m so sorry Joe Bob…
You’ll also find yourself loading up old games a lot when your advanced heroes and all of their units die in combat. It takes a while to get your units up to snuff to fight with the big boys, so if you lose units and have to start over with new ones, they’ll be outmatched and meat for the grinder. And besides, who would let Joe Bob die when his twin of lesser talent and fame, Willie the Death Knight, is ready to go into the fray to soften up the competition and sacrifice his worthless Willie life for the good of the Horde.
Anyway, once you actually get into combat, you’ll find it’s turn-based much like a Final Fantasy type of game. You’ve got your party of up to six guys against your opponent’s party of up to six guys. Each of the units has initiative, which tells them the order they attack in. Some units are combat based and can only hit one unit right next to them while others are projectile or magic based that can target one or all of the enemy party from any distance. Creating a tight group that works well against enemy troops is really the hard part of it all. You may find yourself moving units between heroes to create the best group to take out a certain group of enemies.
They’ve added some combat options that weren’t in the original game that make things a little more pleasant. They are the defend stance, which halves damage taken in the round, and wait which will allow you to tell your character to wait until the end of the round to attack. This brings in a little more strategy to the combat phases.
One thing seems certain, you’ll be able to play this game for a long time once you get into it. Each of the four races has their own campaigns with levels that can take a long time to finish up. Add this to some individual scenarios and a multiplayer experience that can be interesting and you won’t have to pick up a new game for quite some time.
If you’ve been waiting for a new turn-based strategy game to play, then this is definitely worth your time. If you’ve played Disciples and were looking for more, this also is worth your time. However, if the style changes and upgrades aren’t enough to get you to come back to a game that is pretty much the same as its predecessor, you may want to hold off for Heroes of Might & Magic IV or Age of Wonder 2. But for my tastes, this was one of the more addictive and entertaining strategy titles I’ve played in quite a while.
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