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City-builder, RTS, and pet sim, all rolled into one enjoyable package.

User Rating: 8.5 | Black & White 2 PC

By Koldewyse | Review Date: July 31, 2007

Black and White 2, by EA games and Lionhead studios, is a fun simulation-strategy game for the PC. The premise is simple: you are God, summoned by the Greeks to help them rebuild their civilization and combat the Aztecs, Norse, and Japanese. You can be good or evil--hence the title of the game--in order to achieve your aims. For instance, it is good to build walls and temples and schools, whereas it is evil to build armaments and armies and torture pits. You can win the game either way; it is up to you. It is your job to build up their cities, control their industries and hold off the enemy's forces. The gameplay is surprisingly smooth; one would expect such tasks to be difficult and take a lot of planning, but B&W2's RTS engine is much more simplistic than the average PC-simulation game's, sacrificing depth for easier gameplay and other elements, such as the pet simulation.

Your "pet," is a giant creature of your choice, be it ape, lion, cow or wolf. They grow up to huge sizes and do your bidding on Earth. They can harvest grain, build buildings, and wage war. All of these tasks can also be assigned to your villagers, but your creature can do them faster and more efficiently. You can raise your pet to be good or evil, both effective ways of furthering yourself in the game. For example, an evil lion will look maniacal and intimidating, and will be war-ready, a powerful asset in armies. A good lion will be golden-white, and will build you temples and raise money and food for the villagers by sowing and harvesting fields.

Do not forget that you are God; you yourself have many powers. You yourself can do all of the aforementioned tasks if you are so inclined. In addition, you're able to cast a number of miracles, good and evil. You have normal miracles such as fireball and heal, then you have powerful miracles, such as meteors and volcanoes. Finally, by placing a Wonder you're able to cast one of the special epic miracles. The graphics in B&W2 are superb. Even on a mediocre machine set at the lowest graphics level, the visuals are something to be admired. Islands are wonderfully created, and villagers are realistic and alive. The physics engine is also good: for example, if you throw a boulder at an object, it will crumble and flatten. If you wish to be evil, you can pick up villagers and throw them around, or feed them to your animal for your amusement. The dynamic zoom allows you freedom in viewing your environment. On the smaller scale, you can zoom in to see individual blades of grass in fields, and individual villagers, but on the larger scale, you can see giant wars played out, the entire field's action within your screen. The sounds in this game are fitting, if a bit minimal. There are several ambient tunes that rotate as you manage your towns, and are at first mild and smooth, but get to be a bit repetitive and annoying. The SFX are a nice touch as well, if you near a temple, you can hear calm hymns, and zoom near a tavern to hear boisterous laughter.

This game is a good one, playable on most PCs, and although a bit rough around the edges, is fun for what it is. Rent it, try it at a friend's house, and if you like it, buy it.

Pros:
+ Great graphics
+ Good physics engine
+ Overall, a good concept
+ Compelling story

Cons:
+ Repetitive soundtrack
+ A bit short for my tastes
+ Not as open-ended as the original

Black & White 2

City-builder, RTS, and pet sim, all rolled into one enjoyable package.

Not a Michael Jackson song.

Somewhat mixed reactions.