Dungeons II Reviews
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We have rounded up some more reviews of Realmsforge and Kalypso's Dungeon sequel, which offer an overall more mixed picture than the ones that had been published pre-release, though the reception still seems more positive than for the original title.
GameSpot, 6/10.
All of this might be much more fun when you take advantage of the LAN and online multiplayer content, which gives up to four players their own dungeons and lets them fight over a shared overworld. Unfortunately, this review arrives prior to the game's full release, so other players are as hard to find as original, sealed copies of Dungeon Keeper from 1997. Its directions are sometimes muddled, and the whole affair feels like it was oversimplified to cut down on micromanagement, but the beauty of Dungeons 2 is that it never fails to let us take some glee in sowing discord. It's not quite a keeper, but it's an improvement over the original.
PC Gamer, 76/100.
Being evil and perhaps more importantly, managing evil is fun, though. And the more opportunities to be evil I had, the more fun everything was. Growing a simulated economy and building a base full of angry orcs and spitting naga, then unleashing them on innocent unicorns and happy bunnies? That's a damn good time.
IGN, 5.2/10.
It's a shame Dungeons 2's above-ground RTS battles are so primitive and poor, because the underground dungeon-management stuff actually works fairly well. It's nothing new or special another would-be Dungeon Keeper successor but that's not the worst idea in the world. Dungeons 2 could have been a nice, if uninspired, Dungeon Keeper clone, but it reaches to do more than that, trips, and falls flat on its face.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun, scoreless.
There are also digs at other games, including EA's notorious free to play Dungeon Keeper and Double Fine's notoriously unfinished Spacebase DF-9, as well as references to the allegations which motivated a certain online harassment campaign. Dungeons 2 is never outright venomous, and clearly means to be playful more than anything, but there are times when it just seems pointlessly snide just for the sake of filling a quiet moment.
This stuff is also going to date the game horribly, which is a crying shame given it's otherwise the Dungeon Keeper-like I'm most likely to return to in the years to come. Though I dearly wish it would calm down, and it's too messy to be as classic as its forefather, Dungeons 2 is the tinkerer's cave I've been waiting for.
Game Informer, 8/10.
Dungeons 2 does an admirable job of channeling that old-school Dungeon Keeper feel into a new title, and fans of the series will find some enjoyable evil to be had in the dungeon-sim genre. Swapping between dungeon and overworld can make the game feel schizophrenic at times, but once you get the hang of it, it's not a significant detractor.
Gaming Trend, 85/100.
Come for the dungeon management, stay for goofy minions like Jayzee, Am'Adamss, and Kato. We've seen a lot of (spiritual successors) to Dungeon Keeper, but none have lived up to that genre-defining product. Dungeons 2 is the culmination of a lot of hard work, and it's great that Kalypso and Realmforge could finally deliver on that often-promised and hardly-delivered goal. Sure, we may not always know what we want, but when somebody shows up and does it right, you immediately know.
ZAM, scoreless.
Dungeons 2 does a great job at giving a respectful nod to the Dungeon Keeper franchise while making a statement of its own. In many ways it's the dungeon sim we've been craving for a long time, but it is a shame that the overworld gameplay detracts some from the game. We look forward to seeing what other improvements and additions Realmforge will bring to the game.
Financial Post, 7.0/10.
If some strangely-specific apocalyptic event wiped both Warcraft and Dungeon Keeper off the face of the earth, those brave souls with the will to continue might find something to cling to in Dungeons 2. Until that happens, the probably just best to stick with the real deal.
Hooked Gamers, 8.5/10.
Dungeons 2 is a riot! More than 50 hours down the line I am still enjoying it every bit as much as I did in its opening moments. The game is full of action, changes gameplay as fast as the Dutch weather and it is - even - funnier than watching an hour's worth of Fox News.
Looking at Dungeons, it's clear as day that we don't need EA for a true Dungeon Keeper experience. This is it, and then some. Realmforge picked up Horny the Horned Reaper's gauntlet and slapped him in the face. Now, all he can do is watch jealously from the sidelines while Dungeons 2 runs off with the prize.
PC World, 3.5/5.
What I'm trying to say is that there's merit to trying something new. By taking two old-hat concepts and throwing them into a single game, Dungeons 2 certainly forges its own identity and does a pretty decent job in the process. But some small part of me can't help but wish Dungeons 2 had just taken the Cities Skylines route and just delivered an updated version of a classic game with all the whizz-bang whistles and complexity afforded by modern hardware.
