Dungeons 2

Almost four years ago Realmforge launched Dungeons - a game many hoped would be a spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper - a Bullfrog classic EA seemed to have little or no plans for (they'd later soil its heritage with a free-to-play abomination, but that's another story). Many were disappointed to find that the Munich-based studio had their own unique take on the concept. The idea of building a dungeon to please and entertain the adventurer before sucking them dry of soul energy as a result, well it didn't really click. It was a good idea, but the world wasn't ready for it. As such it wasn't a great surprise that they decided to continue developing the concept in a sequel.

And Dungeons 2 isn't just a case of tweaking and tuning - the core of the game has been revised. The focus is now fully on the dungeon and our role as Dungeon Lord, not the hero that we're providing entertainment for. Obviously this should make the game more appealing to fans of the game that inspired it. The heroes are now merely wandering the corridors - as decorations - and we can cut them down as soon as they enter.

We dig deep into the ground to shape our dungeon. We leave a few walls in place in order to make the rooms more efficient. In order to do this we need a couple of Bratlings - basic building grunts. All the other units we create then work in their respective fields of expertise. Some will work on decorating your dungeon, others work on research, while others simply brew the grog. The brewery is a personal favourite. The idea is that the demons don't work well without beer, which in turn gives them a human side.

As you play Dungeons 2 you discover and unlock more rooms. There is a treasury where you store your gold. A Crystal Chamber with a mana shrine that produces mana and unlocks spells for Naga - a lizard. There's a room where you create tool boxes. Goblins are hard at work letting us discover, traps, upgrades and new room types. We can also build a small training arena to have monsters hone their skills and also work towards unlocking new units. There's even Goblins that pilot small mechs. The larger the room the more things we can place in it, thus occupying our troops.

This is of particular importance as there isn't always enough work to go around. Your creatures will begin attacking each other if they're idle or dissatisfied. It's important to step in at that point or your progress will be severely impeded. Your troops are governed by five values - gold, beer, work, anger, and boredom. At times all they need is a good slap in the face to fall back in line. Sounds like another day at the office, eh?

In addition to heroes there are neutrals. For example we asked a spider king who produces small spiders to help protect us from incoming enemies. And as well as our lackeys there are also traps to help guard our treasure. But the dungeons are only part of the package and the real battles take place in the overworld. The neat little dungeon simulation is transformed into a real-time strategy up top, and this second major innovation in Dungeons 2 gives the game a whole new feel.

The overworld is really pretty. A fluffy, colourful world, full of shepherds and their flocks, and care-free heroes out and about. It's unbearably nice, and something needs to be done about it. The areas in front of our dungeon are divided into different sections. When we conquer these sections they turn into a Mordor-inspired dark wasteland. It's called Evilification and it's something to strive for in the game. The further we progress, the more this peaceful flowery world is turned to darkness. The level designers have done a great job with this and it works really well.

The overworld serves a greater purporse tying the different dungeons together. We happen upon a cute unicorn in a clearing. It's sickingly sweet and flowers spring from its tracks. This gentle and graceful creature acts as a boss and needs to be exterminated. There's even towns and people to conquer in the overworld. There are also Dwarves and Elves to fight. These towns will send more heroes into our dungeons, so they need to be dealt with in a timely fashion. You can also setup traps for protection in the overworld, and you can also reveal enemy traps with the appropriate skills.

Each dungeon and town you occupy also grants bonuses. The currency is Evilness and it's used for levelling up your dungeons. There are three levels to achieve. The world reminds us of Blizzard's Warcraft universe. Primarily as the artstyle is similar, but the mechanics also resemble Blizzard's classic. But there's also the fact that we're members of the Horde that includes three other races. On the other hand, we never get to play as the opposite side - the dreaded Alliance.

Thanks to the solid game mechanics in place, multiplayer for up to four Dungeon Lords can be realised. Modes like King of the Hill are being considered for inclusion. The division of simulation gameplay and more direct real-time strategy controls poses an interesting question in multiplayer, as the simulation is reserved solely for the starting dungeon. This is means that in multiplayer one player can be fighting in real-time mode against a player in simulation mode. Sadly we were not able to sample how this plays out.

What we do know is that there will be night-time maps and snow-covered worlds. The other playable races that we got to know along the way in the campaign will work similarly. Naturally there are special features and unique units, but in terms of what they do there's not too many differences. The campaign is expected to include 8 to 12 missions, but new elements are still added to the story.

One thing you cannot fault developers Realmforge for is a lack of ideas. Even if this is technically a sequel, it feels very much like a completely new game. The addition of the overworld with its real-time strategy, and the change of focus from hero to Dungeon Lord, both strike us as great improvements. There's a sugar sweet, perfect world for us to soil, unicorns that need slaying - what else can you ask for? We can hardly wait to play more of Dungeons 2.