#Dungeon keeper 2 review series#

Even with a different actor, itРІР‚в„ўs done right. His phrases are more limited than before, and theyРІР‚в„ўre triggered by your actions more (when you open a menu, for instance), but theyРІР‚в„ўre still funny. Your assistant is back as well, making fantastic comments and bringing the universe together. ItРІР‚в„ўs nice to see the old minions are back and are redesigned for a modern era, although the way theyРІР‚в„ўre summoned (just pressing a button in a menu, regardless of rooms) feels odd.

This is a strategy time management sim without the simulation, the strategy or the time management It wouldnРІР‚в„ўt be my first choice, but itРІР‚в„ўs not so off-putting as to be a negative. I wouldnРІР‚в„ўt be averse to playing a proper Dungeon Keeper game with these visuals, even paying for it and playing on iOS if thatРІР‚в„ўs something EA choose to do. The graphics, as mentioned above, are cartoonish but pleasant. ItРІР‚в„ўs not all bad РІР‚вЂњ although it mostly is. Magic can be cast, but itРІР‚в„ўs far-flung from what was available in the old games. Other than choosing where your minions spawn, you have very little to do with things. This is almost entirely automatic though. In a casual MMORTS game, I can understand them simplifying things.

This continues until either the dungeon heart is destroyed or all of the attacking team is dead. TheyРІР‚в„ўll bash one another until one of them is dead. You send out your minions who automatically move towards the enemy. Either way, donРІР‚в„ўt expect much in the way of strategy. These can either be with other players or against the computer. Instead of breaches, which used to keep you on your toes, you must actually choose to get into a fight. The fighting system in Dungeon Keeper is as depressing as the rest of the game. So letРІР‚в„ўs say that youРІР‚в„ўve decided to build a hatchery (which is locked to begin with, behind a ton of gems) and itРІР‚в„ўs taking all night. In fact, it takes longer to finish a single level in Dungeon Keeper 2 than it did for me to walk into the pay wall in Dungeon Keeper iOS. YouРІР‚в„ўll either need to pay or go and do something else. You wonРІР‚в„ўt play for long, not after the tutorial ends, without being blocked from progressing. Everything takes time, everything costs gems. Only now, instead of a satisfying burst of speed, he receives a fifteen minute boost which counts down alongside the many other times that fill your dungeon. You even have to slap an imp to begin! Imagine! You start the game by sliding your finger over an imps face, and he grunts in pain, just like he used to. For about ten seconds after the app had loaded (which takes a significant amount of time), Dungeon Keeper almost made me believe in it. You have a landscape of thick walls for your imps to knock through, and little rooms in the areas they create. The layout is largely the same, apart from updated visuals and smoother animation. Digging through walls takes time, building rooms takes time, all things you can speed along by quickly paying a few pennies. ThereРІР‚в„ўs no longer even really monsters, not that you can interact with in any meaningful way. ThereРІР‚в„ўs no longer combinations of rooms needed to summon an army. The new Dungeon Keeper, released to iOS late last year, loses everything that made the original franchise special. Instead theyРІР‚в„ўve been replaced by games that require your time more than your intelligence. Strategy games are no longer all that common, especially not the sort of management sub-genre that Dungeon Keeper fell into.

If you love Dungeon Keeper and hope for it to return in the future, avoid this release at all costs The dark humour, the adult content, the wry remarks, the thought needed Dungeon Keeper had personality, but it was a fantastic game as well. There was something about it that was so unique, even at a time where management sims and strategy games were ten a penny. For the last decade, fans have waited patiently for any sign that EA might look to revive the franchise. Happy SlapР”Вungeon Keeper 2 came with a teaser trailer for Dungeon Keeper 3, a game that was never released.

#Dungeon keeper 2 review series#

What happens when you take a beloved cult series and bastardize it until it suits mass appeal? What happens when you add just enough reference to the original series that fans are interested enough to check it out, so interested that some might even open their wallet to see what surprises are hiding behind a paywall? These are no longer questions that need answering: in releasing Dungeon Keeper for iOS, EA have done us all a favour, showing exactly how not to revive something so well-loved.