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Dungeon keeper, there is something unpleasant under your fingernail

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I really liked this game. I played pen & pencil Dungeons & Dragons for years, so I have an appreciation of the dungeon-master concept behind this game. Dungeon Keeper 2 is a blend of real-time strategy, base-building, and sim-developing, but the real treat is being able to play as naughty as you want--and be rewarded for it! There are a few things that I would change about DK2, but overall, I found it quite enjoyable, even years after its initial release.

Gameplay: There are three different gameplay modes. First, there is the campaign, which includes several mission in which you snuff out the lairs of heroes and rival keepers on your way to dominating the region. Typically, you build a base by tunneling out rooms and finding gold, attract a legion of monster henchmen while doing so, and then take on the forces of your rival. There is enough variation in the missions to prevent boredom, although there are a few very tough missions (especially the last two). There is also a skirmish mode that lets you fight against 1-3 rival keepers while fighting off other interlopers. The skirmish game can be customized in various ways, although there are only about 20 maps. Finally, there is a "my pet dungeon" mode for those who just want to build their subterranean masterpieces without being troubled by opposition (although you can choose to include set-piece battles against heroes). All of the gameplay modes have their appeal, though I liked the campaign and skirmish the best. The game can be played online, but I suspect there is not much of a multiplayer community these days.

The game is fairly easy to play, once you master the controls. You'll need certain rooms in place (lair, hatchery, blacksmith, prison, torture chamber, and library) to really get things going, along with a number of choice spells (heal, rally, make gold) that can be researched at the library. You have limited control of your creatures, beyond being able to drag and drop them. You can take direct control over a creature with the possession spell and even have a number of creatures follow you. This puts the game into first-person perspective, which can be fun but not all that useful in later stages of the campaign. But again, the real joy of the game is all of the naughty things that you can do, like torture captured heroes in your custom-built torture chamber, have corpses drug to your graveyard where they might eventually attract a vampire to do your bidding, or summon the god-like Horny Devil to turn the tide of a battle. A fully fleshed-out dungeon feels almost like a small town under your control, and you can spend hours just admiring and tinkering with your handy work (or trying to keep your minions happy). And though a somewhat dark game, DK2 has more than its share of humor, from the Vincent Price-like narrator to the casino that gives you a ridiculously funny treat if one of your monsters hits the jackpot. The game never comes across as cheesy or trivial, but it obviously does not take itself too serious.

Graphics: For a game that came out in the late 1990s, DK2 looks pretty good. Models are detailed enough to be credible representations of various monsters, and animations are pretty decent. Some models such as the enemy hero lords are used too often, but otherwise the visuals are good enough to allow the game to immerse you.

Sounds: The game does have enough sound effects to convince you that it takes place in an underground dungeon. However, the best sounds are the voice acting, which is top-knotch all the way around. The narrator is both sinister and hilarious, and the enemy heroes are over-the-top in their arrogant, dismissive attitudes toward evil. The music is okay, but not particularly gripping.

Technical Issues: The game has been quite stable on my system, even though I have XP with service pack 2. Be sure to install the latest game patch before playing.

Replayability/Value: I picked this game up new for about $12 on eBay, so I certainly got my money's worth. I don't see much replay value in the campaign, though I can imagine replaying it again at least once. The skirmish mode is decent, and there are enough maps to keep you playing for a while. If you are looking to play online, I'm afraid you'll have a hard time finding a game.

Pros:
+great concept for a game
+terrific voice acting
+a few different gameplay modes
+the dark humor is spot on
+"it's good to be bad"

Cons:
+no online community at this point
+a few frustrating campaign missions
+no modding community to speak of

Game is Fun but Glitchy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Dungeon Keeper 2 is a great game. The plot is that you build a dungeon to attract creatures to fight heroes to get portal gems to give to the Horned Reaper who collects them to get to go to the Overworld [our world]. Sadly this never happens because number 3 was canceled but the game is a hidden jewel.

You can build all of the normal dungeon-esque rooms, eg. prisons, gladiator pits, and torture chambers. You can recruit many creatures from the usual demons and undead to the odd imps and goblins. The reason I rated the game 4 overall is because of the incompatibility between DK2 and XP. The game works on my XP for about an hour then it crashes or freezes. The patches also won't work because some goon deleted patch 1.0 to 1.3 which is what you need to get the rest all the way to 1.7. [Confusing, eh?] If you think you can have fun for an hour or get it to work then I strongly suggest you try the game. You won't be disappointed.

Amazing RTS, small problems

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the most fun RTS I have ever played. You get to slap around your minions, torture the good guys, and pretty much have a blast being evil. The bile demons are great, and the dark mistresses laughs are creepy. This has a very good sense of dark humor, and I would not recommend it to anyone under 13, or anyone who didn't like dark humor.

We got Evil Genius because we heard it was made by the same people. Evil Genius does NOT hold a candle to this. I still play it a hell of a lot, and I still have fun with it.

The only problems I have is the fact that it tends to have problems with the videos on my computer, pretty much not playing them. And the fact you cannot get multiplayer to work. If the multiplayer worked, there would be no question about giving this game 5 stars.

DK2 better than the original

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Graphics are better. They fixed a few things like how the workshop builds things. The interface is different from DK1, so a took a little getting used to. All in all a very fun game. There's nothing better than converting captured enemies, and then using them as your first assult wave.

Awesome RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 17, 2003
Author: Amazon User

DK2 is one of, if not the best, computer games I have ever played. It is complicated and simple at the same time. I know that sounds wierd but its true. You are in control of your dungeon and all the creatures within it. that's one of the things that make it great. Between training and keeping your minions happy, expanding your dungeon, attracting new creatures, capturing; torturing; interrogating; and converting the enemy,and trying to defeat each level it never gets boring. Also your are evil, I think that is a nice change from the norm. And its not that bad, I dont think it deserves to be rated Mature

WARNING: this game is extremely addictive. LOL

game will not work

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 27
Date: March 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

shipping was fast but the game wont work. i tryed the game in more than one computer, and i did everything i could to get it to work. i am very upset!

Fun but full of Bugs

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: March 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I loved Dungeon Keeper, so I bought this product thinking it would be the same addictive game as the original. Here are some pros and cons of the game. As you can see, there are more pros than cons, but the one big con, the incompatibility with XP brings it's rating down for me.

Pros:
1. 3D graphics, pretty descent for a 98 game
2. More characters
3. Same great game style as original
4. Easy to pick up
5. Great sound and voice acting
6. Sandbox mode! Yea!
7. Elite creatures and more details for each of your minion
Cons:
1. It won't run on Windows XP for more than half an hour!!! (I have looked on the internet for a cure, and I installed the Windows compatibility administrator to fix it, but I still can't get it to run for long.)
2. You have to patch up the game to enjoy the little time you have
4. Although 3D is good for it's time, polygon characters are a bit distracting
5. I'm not sure if it is just my computer, but the entire screen is covered with little black squares, not too many to see what's going on, but still a problem

Overall, I would have given this game a 5 out of 5, but I cannot play long enough to tell you how great it was. The sandbox mode was awesome and really allows you to relax and build your dungeon with ease. So if you still have an old machine with Windows 98 or 2000, get it! Definitely worth your time... If you don't mind the blood, gore, violence, and the shrieks of your torture victims!

Keeper

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: September 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Dungeon Kepper 2 is a wonderful game experince,gamers who liked the first D,K by Peter Molyneux the man behind Black & White will love the game I know that I loved it and could not stop playing the game intill it was over then played it even more. So this game is in my top five list so buy this game!

dungeon keeper2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: November 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

dugeon keeper 2 is a fabulouse game for older children.. though its hard to gain a copy of the full version a demo version is availabe at dungeonkeeper.com!!

Fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: July 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a very fun game. Its similar in play to WarCraft, though not exactly the same. You start each level trying to build up your base to "attract" the kinds of evil doers you want on your side. You then train them up and attack your human enemies. This game is almost as fun as WarCraft and is a definite good purchase.

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