Last year, Dark Prophecy: Sacred Lands came almost out of
nowhere and brightened that little corner of the gaming world reserved for turn-based,
fantasy-themed strategy games. Turn-based strategy had seemed to have fallen by the
wayside in favor of newer real-time games. Yet for a strategy game to be set in a
fantasy context was rarer still. Luckily, Disciples, along with Heroes of Might and Magic
and Age of Wonders, has helped to reverse that trend. This Fall, gamers will have another
chance to revisit the Sacred Lands when Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is released.
It is now ten years after the Great War and a Chosen One has emerged. It's now up to you
to bring victory to the empire you lead. The new game will feature 28 campaign scenarios,
and 20 stand-alone quests. The individual game quests will also feature a complex system
of triggers and scripts. That means that finishing some quests will be dependent on
finishing other quests first. Some quests may not even be available until after you've
performed certain actions or eliminated specific enemies.
There are over 200 separate characters in the game along with 50 new units.
There will also be more upgrades for all of your units and a whole new set of leaders.
Like the Heroes of Might and Magic series, Disciples requires each army to be led by a
leader. Leaders in Disciples II differ from their forebears in that they can use a lot
more items. Each leader can carry numerous performance enhancing artifacts as well as
two special items that can be used directly against your enemies in battle.
The team hasn't added any new races to the mix, but since the four races in the first
game were so well balanced, that's hardly something to criticize. You'll still be able
to command the warriors and wizards of the Human Empire or take charge of the dwarven
soldiers and stone giants of the Mountain Clans. Those of you with a more diabolical
inclination can direct the actions of the necromancers and wraiths that make up the
Undead Hordes. Or strike fear in the hearts of your enemies with the Legions of the Damned, composed
of berserkers and demons.
One of the only serious criticisms of the original game was the poor graphics. While the
game had really striking design concepts, the execution of the graphic side of the game
left a lot to be desired. Disciples II looks quite a bit better than its predecessor does
with full 800x600 resolution and 16-bit color support. The game has much more detail on
the units this time around, and since the battle interface now fills the whole screen,
you'll get a chance to see the details close-up. In addition to the reworking of many
of the units, the game will include several ornate spell effects. The art of Patrick
Lambert, who did much of the drawing in the original game, will be featured in the
sequel as well.
Another of the big changes to the game is the more active role given to neutral parties.
In the first game, neutrals only acted in a defensive manner. They held passes and important
resources but never moved to engage nearby armies. In this next version of Disciples,
neutrals will have better AI and participate in the game turns just like any other player.
While this new ability of the neutrals will certainly act as a spoiler in the game, you
can still find ways to use it to your advantage. Let's say that the Greenskins are holding
an important crossroads. You can draw them away from the crossroads with a feint attack
and bring in another force to attack them from the rear. Or, alternatively, you can lead
the Greenskins into the territory of another neutral party and lure them into attacking
each other while you escape.
Disciples II looked particularly impressive when we saw it at E3 this year and we're hoping
that, with the improvements in graphics, the game will attract a larger following than its
predecessor. Turn-based strategy games are rare, and good fantasy war games are equally hard
to come by. Hopefully, Disciples II will give gamers another taste of what made the first
title so great.
