|
Black & White 2 (PC DVD) | 
 enlarge
| From: Electronic Arts
Category: Video Games
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £4.99
You Save: £15.00 (75%)
New (11) Used (7) from £4.27
Rating:  36 reviews
Sales Rank: 1158
Platforms: Windows Xp, Windows Me, Windows Nt, Windows 98
Genre: fantasy-strategy-games
Rating: Universal, particularly children
Media: Video Game
Number Of Items: 1
Age: 3 - 18 years
Operating System: Windows Me
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5030930040734
ASIN: B00009QI5X
Release Date: October 7, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New.
| |
| Accessories:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Preview
Other strategy games can give you control of armies, countries and even whole planets but there's only one that actually puts in the role of a god. Black & White 2 is the latest game from Peter Molyneux, creator of classics such as Populous and Dungeon Keeper, and once again it casts you as a god who draws power from the faith of your subjects in order to manipulate the world around you using various natural phenomena like lightning strikes and earthquakes. The original Black & White was criticised for lacking structure and direction and for fumbling one of its key features: the gigantic AI-controlled monster that worked as your corporeal representative in the game world. For this sequel though all these problems have been solved and the creature is now far more intelligent and able to work a lot more autonomously, although you will still be able to train him in specific tasks - such as leading an army or constructing buildings. The rather aimless structure of the first game has also been drastically improved upon, with a proper campaign mode with specific objectives. One area the original game never disappointed inn was the graphics, but Black & White 2 looks even more amazing than before, with hundreds of humans on screen at a time and amazing attention to detail such as your creature's fur becoming matted and damp in the rain. One of the most ambitious strategy games ever created, for fans of the genre this is manna from heaven. --David Jenkins
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
Depends on the person!! March 16, 2008
Mr. C. D. Illsley (London, England)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I may be the first to admit, but having played through the entireity of both Black + White games I found that although it has it's flaws BW2 really grew on me with time.
OK, so the actual gameplay was disappointingly short, but once you've completed it you can really appreciate the other things. The BEAUTIFULLY crafted landscapes. The sensual + brilliant soundtrack score. The pleasure of watching a villager progress from infant, to adult, to the retirement home.
Lionhead games have never really been about 'completing the game', they were about appreciating the little things along the way, but if you are the sought of person who blitzes through games just to get to the end then this isn't the sought of game for you.
 Why bother? February 3, 2008
Mr. Mark Wilkinson (England)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a game that I waited anxiously for while it was in development and remember there being a thriving community on the Lionhead forums in the build up to its release. The promise of the game prior to release was that it was an evolution of the first game, that did away with the annoyances of B&W1 while increasing the scope of the game by giving you greater control over the people who lived in your towns and cities. What actually happened as far as I can see, is that the mistakes that were made in B&W1 were repeated precisely, but more prettily.
In terms of good points, the game is pretty. I remember that at the time of release you needed a top of the range PC to run it, and the graphical attention to detail is commendable. However, all of the following criticisms of B&W1 are still valid:
1. Horrifically long-winded tutorial (admittedly it is skippable but you're missing a huge chunk of the game content by skipping it)
The tutorial is spread out over the whole of the first three lands, meaning that there's only a few lands that are actually played unaided.
2. Extrememly verbose Angel & Devil characters, that quickly become extremely annoying.
3. Creature intelligence. Maybe it'll take your preferences into account, maybe it won't. Even when I slapped the creature into 'never attacking enemy walls', I couldn't stop the creature from attacking enemy walls whenever it came across them.
4. My biggest criticism: The game becomes extremely repetitive very quickly. 'Impress' a village or take a village by force, repeat until you're attacking the enemies 'main' village. Win the land. Repeat.
If you thought B&W1 was a great game, then you'll probably love this. I got halfway across the second non-tutorial level and thought 'why bother?'
Life is short and as pretty as Black and White II is, it isn't entertainment. A massive disappointment.
yup October 30, 2007
J. Jones (a remote island somewhere off the french coast)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
fun but got boring once completed.
i cant be bothered to write a lengthy reveiw.
 Not a very God-like God June 30, 2007
skb17 (UK)
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
I bought the first Black and White game but got bored with it very quickly and sold it. I felt the game was nice in theory, but just wasn't that interesting. You piled wood on a neighbour town, it became yours, and then repeat. I bought the sequel on the idea that hopefully they'd build upon what was good, but this time make a game that is better and more enjoyable. I was wrong.
The exact same thing happened. I play the game quite contentedly for a few hours, while everything is new. Great start to the story, cute creature, the ability to build many structures and make a nice town.
But it's after a few hours that you start to think... "Okay, so what do I do?" It's the same problem as the first game: you just take over each town one by one. There's not a great deal of influence you have in this, other than just building good towns or sending your armies to take towns. It's extremely easy to do. The only obstacle is patience, as you have to wait for your armies to move about etc. and that can get tedious.
The more towns you takeover, the less satisfying it gets. It's not easy to keep all your towns working optimally so those that like orderly towns will start to get frustrated. There's no way to merge towns (that I can see) and the strangely the advisors talk about "the town" being under attack when can have many towns.
The enemy player is stupid. Stupid. Stupid. You keep hearing repetitive soundbites about how he will crush you, but he sends a few people now and again and your creature is able to quickly destroy them. Even though he had multiple towns and you had one, he is so pathetic that you just take over his towns one by one as he rants on.
Once again it just feels like the game is halfway there. It's got really nice graphics, and its lure is so great at first. It really has so much potential under the hood... until you start to play.
Considering this is a God game, you actually get to do very little. Why can't I rain down fire on the enemy, or smash things up? I can pull trees up and move rocks, but that's largely it. So to echo other reviews it's just like a Sim City game. But with less involvement. The good vs evil angle is intriguing, but ultimately has no real bearing on the game. There are no real consequence for your actions.
Overall, disappointing. A lot of work was obviously put into the game, but it's a shame gameplay couldn't have been more involving.
 Great Fun January 21, 2007
Alexander (Consett, UK)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
I have never played Black and White, but kept looking at B&W2 with mixed feelings having read some rather off putting reviews. Nevertheless I ended up giving in and bought it, liking the idea of playing god as I really needed some time out from the Sims2.
I'm not mad keen on violent games but have played a number of violence/strategy and enjoyed the odd few, Ages of Empires II was one of my favourites, as well as Rome,Pharoah, Zeus. I am also an avid simmer, love the Sims2 and Simcity 4.
B&W2 seems to combine all the elements that I enjoy in gaming. Strategy, daftness, city building, etc.
I have lost several days with it.
The graphics are good, the creatures are funny. Generally a very enjoyable game. Don't know how the others have been playing it who have complained about it, I play 'good' and good has been coming my way!!!!
Love it
|
|
|
www.pcprotech.co.uk | |
