Spellforce 2 Receives a New Expansion, Dungeon Lords MMXII

[Anthile]

So yeah, this is a bit strange. I was browsing Steam's Coming Soon section and there I saw it: Faith in Destiny. Unimaginative title aside, the interesting thing is that it was announced way back in 2009, when Jowood was still around and was declared dead more than once. The game is still published by Nordic Games (the Jowood successor).
It's going to be stand-alone so it won't require the original game or the expansion. There's also new multiplayer modes. Maybe they want to jump aboard the MOBA train, somehow.


I just hope the gameplay is not quite as bare.

While gathering information about that new expansion, I found out there is also a new Dungeon Lords game on the way, which is actually just an updated re-release called Dungeon Lords MMXII. For those of you who don't remember, Dungeon Lords was an action-RPG released in 2005, not unlike the Gothics, made by the man behind the Wizardry titles 5, 6 and 7, D.W. Bradley. It was supposed to be huge but it was a buggy mess and got loads of 50% reviews and yet it still managed to sell very well, proving once again that there is no justice in the world. Apparently it's going to improve just about everything. We will see about that.

[NathanH]

The SpellForce girls get skimpier every expansion. And they started out without much on!

[Althea]

Yeah, that cover's a bit shit.

That said, I am tempted just for the sake of having it (plus, chances are the soundtrack'll be a Dynamedion one) as I have the previous games. I really, really hope they've spent the last three years (if they've been working on it that much more) sorting out the technical side and adding MUCH more graphics settings, such as proper widescreen resolutions and so on.

[NathanH]

I think the original SpellForce cover was the best.

Do any of the SF2 expansion make the game not so... well... boring?

[Heliocentric]

Yeah, chainmail bikini doesn't really block much, one made of leafs(leaves?).

[Vexing Vision]

If you get hit, you're doing it wrong.

Very interested, definitely getting it - I love Spellforce not only for the gameplay but also for the usually outstanding soundtrack.

[mrwout]

Is Spellforce 2 any good? Really loved the first one but somehow never got 'round picking up the 2nd one...

[Vexing Vision]

Is Spellforce 2 any good? Really loved the first one but somehow never got 'round picking up the 2nd one...

It's more of the first one and gives you significantly more freedom on how to build your character, which I really appreciate. There's also more focus on (minor) puzzles and the heroes.

[Screwie]

I just hope the gameplay is not quite as bare.

*golf clap*

[KauhuK]

That cover follows the traditional design: Blue-Orange colour scheme, A character from the game in the middle and being a woman she is scantily clad. Makes me sigh every time I see those kind of cover arts. As for the game itself I really should play the Spellforce 2 gold edition I've had for a long time. Might be interested in this expandalone.

[NathanH]

Is Spellforce 2 any good? Really loved the first one but somehow never got 'round picking up the 2nd one...

I think SF2 is much worse, it removes a lot of the interesting unique things like enemy scouts; replaces the race monuments by something less interesting; turns the food resource into a typical boring Build More Supply Depots; avatar customization is based on one of those tedious tree systems that requires spending x points in lower levels to reach the higher levels so your wizards always end up with a hodge podge of spells rather than a coherent theme; gives you permanent heroes some of which you can't choose how to customize much that aren't much less powerful than the avatar so no matter what you want your party will be roughly the same instead of the single highly-focused avatar from SF1 with vastly inferior hero followers...

And while they were messing around with all of those things, they forgot to deal with the biggest flaws of SF1, which were a) the best army is almost always made up completely of the most efficient ranged unit you have available and b) there is rarely ever any reason not to turtle up until you have the biggest army possible.

Oh, and boringly the AI camps now have workers and rebuild buildings and if you destroy them some of the workers run off and tediously build another camp, just like any other RTS instead of trying to work with the unique system they had in SF1 and make it better and more interesting.

Basically for me SF2 removed all of the interesting things and replaced them with typical Warcraft mechanics, and didn't implement them particularly well.

The unit graphics are a bit better though (the building graphics are mostly worse) and the voices are better. The story is quite fun and makes way more sense than the first game. You also get to rule your own island which is pretty cool but frequently tedious. Free play mode is better balanced than the corresponding mode in SF1. Killing harpies is very satisfying. The Twiddle side quest is lots of fun.

[frightlever]

Dungeon Lords is getting a makeover? I wanted to like it and I played for maybe 6-8 hours but cheeses it was bad in so many ways - and the difficulty curve made the Gothics look care bear.

FWIW I bought Dungeon Lords for about two quid off Amazon - I doubt many of those million sales were full price.

[Wizardry]

While gathering information about that new expansion, I found out there is also a new Dungeon Lords game on the way, which is actually just an updated re-release called Dungeon Lords MMXII. For those of you who don't remember, Dungeon Lords was an action-RPG released in 2005, not unlike the Gothics, made by the man behind the Wizardry titles 5, 6 and 7, D.W. Bradley. It was supposed to be huge but it was a buggy mess and got loads of 50% reviews and yet it still managed to sell very well, proving once again that there is no justice in the world. Apparently it's going to improve just about everything. We will see about that.

Dungeon Lords was terrible, and effectively destroyed D. W. Bradley's reputation. He should have remade Wizards & Warriors instead, fixing all its numerous problems in the process. At least that game was built on decent foundations and wasn't a shitty action game.

[Moraven]

I enjoyed Spellforce 2. Unfortunately the cover art was turn off for the lady for any chance at co op.

[KauhuK]

So, the stand-alone expansion Faith in Destiny is now available on steam. Has some one tried it already? It supports widescreen resolutions? (should be a no brainer)

[sabrage]

While on the subject of D. W. Bradley.... Anyone play CyberMage? Any good?

Also, skimmed IGN's review of Dungeon Lords, had a good laugh (I was looking for a video review, I'm lazy):

Dungeon Lords is a disaster. It's an unfinished, unpolished, and un-fun game that I thankfully never have to play again. My plan now involves placing it in a paper sack, lighting said sack on fire, placing it on old man Jocob's doorstep, ringing the bell, and watch him get the dirty thing all over his shoes when he tries to stamp it out. Finally I'll get some entertainment out of this ill begotten RPG. There are so many problems that it's hard to know where to begin.

Final score: 4.5

[Subatomic]

Also, skimmed IGN's review of Dungeon Lords, had a good laugh (I was looking for a video review, I'm lazy):

Final score: 4.5

A 4.5 on IGN is like a -2 on a sensible rating scale.

[sabrage]

I'm familiar with the inherant flaws of a numbered rating system, but that's the kind of intro I reserve for reviews of IGN articles. 4.5 seems downright charitable after that.

[Necroscope]

I'm looking forward to Spellforce 2: Faith in Destiny as soon as I've got a cash flow for games again beyond mega-reductions on steam, gamersgate etc. The one professional review over on gamingxp gives me a good impression that'll I'll get some joy out of it.
Dungeon Lords any good?
I spent a penny on it