Black & White 2: Game Review

Black & White 2: Game Review
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Introduction

Peter Molineux and the other people involved in the development of Black & White 2 wanted to create an epic game. This is the reason for the concentration of massive battles similar to Shogun and Medieval – thousands of little soldiers running around the battlefield. You can equip them with all sort of weapons, including bows and arrows, axes, spears, etc. Every nation also has its own typical equipment: you can expect the Japanese samurai to wear katanas while the Nordic tribes will use powerful swords. Every player, even the most peaceful one, will need armies. According to Molineux, the game is an epic battle between Gods, Creatures, and Humans.

Imagine how the typical medieval battle would look like when you add two gigantic and fierce Titans to it, while the Gods are overwhelming their enemies with their typical God wrath in the form of spells.

Gods and Humans

The war, however, will not be your only task. As a God, you will have to spend enough time with your creature. I have to say that this little furball of yours is not just a tool for your everyday needs or for making fun of it – it’s your most powerful weapon both in attack and defense. Once again, no matter the people fear your titan, don’t expect them to worship it as soon as they see his size – their first reaction is to welcome you with a rain of arrows and spears. And even if you have picked and raised a happy and entertaining creature, it won’t guarantee that the citizens aren’t going to make a pin-cushion of your Milka Cow.

We can look at your creatures as a successful combination of gigantic siege weapons and mobile faith generators. With their presence in the army, they are the natural leaders and faith givers. Your furball will learn with the time how to lead a war, it will study tactics, it will know when to push and when to pull back.

BW - 2

It is nice to see that in the second part the creatures are looking a lot better. They are designed better, and you can even see the small fur covering their bodies. You can also transfer the creature from the original game to the new one, but it will have to study many new things.

The people from Eden are also now well-designed, and there has been done a lot of work on their artificial intelligence. The old naive people aren’t there anymore; you can’t just fool them around with cheap spell tricks. They are very independent, they communicate, they get information on other Gods, they travel and trade. However, the core of every city and every war is the religion.

Water World

BW - Water

One of the new additions involves rational use of the water surfaces in the world of Black & White. It is possible to transport your people from one land to another with a big ship similar to the Noah’s ark. Those features are only included for you playing the role of Columbus or Captain Hook. If you see an enemy ship, you can send a volley of cannon balls or raise the power of storms.

There is also one very interesting detail about the sea. If you are a “bad” God, swimming in the sea of “good” Gods, the sea will turn against you. I have to add that the water is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I even thought it’s like some pre-rendered movie, but no.

More White, More Black

The only severe criticism for the original game was that the gameplay wasn’t very oriented to Black and White, or Good and Evil. You will now see that every action will have a decent effect over your alignment, including your creature.

Peter Molineux knows very well where the cons of the first part were, and he confirmed every one of them instead trying to fool us – a very rare gesture. He also promised a better interface, better camera control, and a very detailed tutorial – and he didn’t lie, those features are facts.

Conclusion

When Black & White 2 was released, it was talked about by everyone. Peter Molineux is probably the only man on Earth that actually cares about his creations. Learning from his mistakes and carefully studying the feedback, he is always ready to improve and develop, making him the best game designer ever.

System Requirements:

  • OS: Windows XP/2000
  • Processor: 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 or above
  • Memory: 512 MB RAM
  • Hard Drive: 3.5 GB
  • DVD: 8 Speed
  • Video Card: 64 MB with 1.1 Pixel Shader
  • DirectX: Version 9.0c (included)
  • Sound Card: Directx 9.0c compatible
  • Input: Mouse, Keyboard