just read the stupid review ok i don't have to impress you do I?
Cons: Your creature is now irrelevant; everything is too easy to tweak to your advantage; battle AI is brain-dead
If anyone ever needed proof that game developers probably shouldn’t be listening to whiny fanboys and fickle critics, one need look no further than Black & White 2. The release of the original Black & White spawned an avalanche of impossibly positive reviews followed by an equal amount of venomous backlash from players and critics alike.
The luster of the game’s daring new ideas and gorgeous presentation gave way to a growing realization that much of the gameplay wasn’t quite as groundbreaking as the first few reviews led us to believe. But in hindsight, the hyperbole of the criticism far outweighed the reality of what Black & White had managed to achieve. And the crew at Lionhead clearly took all of this silly drama to heart.
Ebony and Ivory
So now, here we are with Black & White 2, a game that honestly attempts to please the groupthink of fussy gamers and critics who hated the first game. Lionhead has pretty much addressed every single criticism leveled against Black & White. In this way, Black & White 2 is a monstrous success. Unfortunately the game has lost nearly everything that made the first Black & White such a compelling title to begin with.
You still play a god and you still have this cute little creature to boss around as you go about conquering the people of several different islands. But how you interact with the world has radically changed.
Creature Comforts
Lack of feedback was probably the biggest problem with the first game--it's very hard to interpret just what your creature was doing and why. Sure you could teach him stuff, but you could never exactly tell how your rewards and punishments were working, or if they were working at all. Black and White 2 completely fixes this.
Your creature very clearly communicates exactly what he’s thinking through little thought bubbles that appear above his head, such as when he ponders over the potential tastiness of a local villager. At this point, you can step in and slap him around to discourage him, or give him a friendly scratch to encourage him. While doing these things, a little meter appears that shows how much you’ve modified his behavior.
Gaming the System
Every action your creature does can be monitored and modified in this way, making it extremely easy to create the exact kind of creature you want within the first few hours of play. It’s definitely easier to understand, but at the same time, the things that made your creature seem like a real free-thinking being have been removed.
In the first game, it takes time and patience to get your creature in line, and there's still no guarantee he will always behave the way you’d like. It's a tad frustrating, but it certainly gives you an incentive to spend time with your creature. In Black & White 2, the creature feels like an afterthought, an unwanted vestige from the previous game. Even the teaching aspect has been culled to the point of irrelevance. You no longer teach your creature how to perform miracles; you just buy them from a list.
In fact, you buy pretty much everything in the game. Buildings, miracles, and levels of expertise for your creature are all bought using tribute. Tribute is generally gained by completing side quests and various objectives on each level, but most of these objectives are either dull or tedious. Creating 20 farmers just feels like busy work, and in the end, has little impact on your performance in the game.
It Doesn’t Matter if You’re Black or White
Once you get around trying to win the level you’ll discover that there are two ways to go about it. The “good” way involves building up your city so that it looks impressive. This causes enemies to abandon their leaders and immigrate to your city. The mechanics of designing and building your city is the strongest element of Black & White 2. Placing roads and buildings has a very organic feel to it and there’s lots of room for creativity in how you design the layout.
But the “good” path really boils down to placing a ton of buildings on the map and waiting for your population to grow. Outside of running out of materials (ore being the hard one to procure) you simply can’t screw it up.
I’m Not Bad; I’m Just Drawn That Way
The “evil” way to win is to build an army and send it (along with your creature if you desire) to take over the enemy towns by force. Again, the basic mechanics of combat are solid. It feels a lot like a real-time strategy game, but the friendly AI is brain-dead and requires a ridiculous amount of babysitting in order to be effective. The enemy AI is no better as they’ll happily hang around on a hillside while you lob fireballs at them until they’re all destroyed.
Your godly actions are also hampered by what the game considers to be good or evil. If you’re trying to be a good god, under no circumstances should you build an army, even if you plan on only using it for defense. Armies are “evil” no matter the context. Even more curious is the fact that houses are “evil” but villas are not.
Shades of Gray
And that’s really the biggest problem with Black & White 2. Everything in the game is too clear and too consistent. There’s no room for ambiguity or context. You’re either a goody two-shoes or a complete jerk. For all the problems the original had in providing the player with enough feedback, at least the incentive to experiment with different methods of interacting with your people and your creature is there. In Black & White 2, it’s just too easy to take the path of least resistance.