The most twisted fun you'll ever have in an RTS.

User Rating: 8.9 | Dungeon Keeper 2 (Classic) PC
Imagine slapping your minions, torturing your enemies, and building an evil empire. Then, imagine no more. Welcome to Dungeon Keeper 2, an absolute steal of a game nowadays (if you can find it on the shelves). I got it back when it just hit the bargain bins, and patted myself on the back for getting such a good deal. Even by today's standards, DK2 is a jewel of an RTS, and here's why:

Basic Info: You are one of many minor Dungeon Keepers, building your miniature empire underground in the hopes of toppling the forces of good that occasionally make forays into your subterranean abode. Your ultimate goal is to squeeze out all other DKs and Goodly Heroes to become the single strongest contender for Evil's bid to open the heavily guarded portal to the outside world and crush Good once and for all. In order to make this quest a reality, you must dig out specialized rooms to attract evil creatures to your dungeon, where they will eat, sleep, train, and yes, *gamble* in preparation for frequent battles.

Voice Acting: Phenomenal. There was never a jarring moment when phrasing was too slow or out of place. Everything was exactly as it should be -- Evil was gleefully malevolent and sarcastic in tone, and every Good character was such a sickeningly sweet goodie-two-shoes that you positively itched to smack them down.

Graphics: For the time, quite good. Plus, comedic cutscenes interspersed amongst each campaign level helped to give you the best picture of characters that were otherwise obscured by the lower resolution of regular gameplay.

Gameplay: You have your choice of campaign mode, multiplayer, or the "My Pet Dungeon" sandbox mode. All of them have high replayability, as you can expand in as many directions as you like and each time will be a little different from the last.

Complaints: Even after patching, DK2 has been extremely buggy for me, prone to locking up at the weirdest moments. Having to hard reboot and replay an entire level 5 times gets pretty boring pretty fast, so I got into the habit of compulsive quick saves. Plus, since Bullfrog got bought by EA (and the game's so old), there sn't any support for it these days. No new patches, no new maps, and almost no one playing it online anymore...