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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.

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.

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

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!

The Best Older Game:

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The graphics are decent, the objectives are challenging, and you get to play the villain...what could go wrong? True, it doesn't always work on all computers and crashes a lot but if you keep up with saves its not really that big of a deal. I do warn you that this game is pretty addictive once you get it running smoothly though.

When will modern games be as good as this was?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: May 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This 1998 release is about as good as gaming gets. In 2005, I bought a used copy in order to re-experience DK2 which I had bought and sold many years earlier.

Today, the product is finicky, and won't work with every computer system. If you have a fancy sound card, you might experience program crashes. I still rate DK2 five stars, because I remember it was fully compatible in '98. How can the producer plan for future sound cards, which should by rights be backwards-compatible?

I had trouble getting it to work with my laptop, but it worked ok with my PC. Both systems run Windows 2000. The main thing is to be using a sound card that DK2 likes. There is a lot of advice out there on the net of marginal usefulness, and some gurus recommend modifying your Windows Registry, but that seemed a bunch of hogwash to me, and I just took the game to a different PC which had an older sound card, and had no more problems. That is, until I upgrade Direct X. Now the game crashes after 30 minutes.

In summary, expect the program to crash if you buy it. If you can get it to work--likely if you have an older PC--then it is very fun. And a bargain for the price--like Quake II.

I loved DK2 because it was naughty, fun, diverse, witty and easy to use. One of the great tragedies of video gaming is that the much-anticipated DK3 never was, or will be, released, due to the myopia of Electronic Arts, which bought Bullfrog, the original producers. They could have earned many millions from a DK3; but they chose not to. For whatever reason.

***RECOMMENDATIONS for Users/Consumers of DK2: ***

I am including this section for those diehard DK loyalists who really want to play this game on their Win 2000/XP system. There are a few things you have to do.

One is, download the upgrade to version 1.7. This is available for free on many places on the web. Get it from a legit source. Avoid pirate Russian/east European web sites which typically attempt to install spyware on your PC. DK2 will ***NOT WORK*** on Windows 2000 without this upgrade! You have been warned! I have never found any difficulty obtaining the upgrade as it is available on many gamer sites.

Two is, you may need to run dxdiag from your Windows Run menu. This *may* fix problems such as choppy/erratic sound or video. Or, it may not, and you may spend many hours trying to get it to work, without success.

Your best prognosis is if you are running Windows 98. This game is the most prone to crashing of any that I have played in my life, on my Win2K system.

Mainly, I recommend using on a Win 98 system.

Probably the best game I have ever played!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Absolutely great! Great graphics, (not perfect by todays standards!)super fun, and you can download lots of maps and even an editor!! I have half life, halo, doom 3, UT2004, all Need for Speeds,and more; yet I play this MORE!

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!

One of the best games I've ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have to preface this review by saying that I am very, very picky when it comes to computer games. I usually find even the most highly-acclaimed titles dull and uninspiring. That being said, what a breath of fresh (er, dank and moldy?) air Dungeon Keeper II is.

I bought this game on a whim. Like most games more than a couple years old, it was dirt cheap, so I decided to take a chance. And how happy I am that I did! Dungeon Keeper 2 is absolutely one of the most fun and addiciting games I've played in 20+ years of gaming. The gameplay is so simple, yet so compelling that I was hooked within 10 minutes. The music and sound effects are great (love those moaning evil mistresses and the groans of the prisoners being tortured). The voiceover work is absolutely the BEST that I have ever heard in a computer game. Whoever the narrator is, he's a voiceover god. Also, the humor in this game is actually funny -- very funny. Unlike most games that fail pitifully in the humor department whenever they attempt it, Bullfrog really pulled it off. And in terms of the graphics, even though they're considered very old at this point, they still look good to me.

Anyhow, I look forward to my next session of Dungeon Keeper 2. My last one went until 2AM (I just couldn't stop). I'd advise anyone who's going to play this game not to start too late, unless you're a night owl. But do yourself a favor and GET THIS GAME. You won't regret it.

the best video game ever made

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is a perfect blend of real-time-strategy, simulation, fanstasy role-playing and action. The graphics are mind-boggling, given the low system requirements. The audio is equally outstanding. The gameplay puts such classics as the Warcraft series to shame. It is, beyond any doubt in my mind, the best PC game ever made. Only the Grand Theft Auto series is this complete, this immersive, this original, this good. The terrible shame is that the developers, Bullfrog, shelved the third installment in the series. Write your congressman -- this must not stand! And if you don't already have DK2, get it immediately and prepare to lose weeks of your life to it.

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