Black & White 2 review

I've a long history with the Black & White series. Back in 2000 I was the editor of IGN's Black & White Vault, and even today I still get the occasional email from people who think I actually worked on the game's development due to that role. When your job entails spending a lot of time looking at one game you do hope that it's going to be a good one.

By the time Black & White was released I had moved on to pastures new, but still looked forward to the game with some excitement. And initially the game seemed like something very special, but as I got further into the levels it became clear to me that B&W was something of a sham, it was smoke and mirrors, the Emperor's new clothes.

Thankfully this time around the hype machine for Black & White 2 has not been as shrill. I've been looking forward to tackling this game, but at the same time my interest has been tempered with the knowledge of all that was wrong with the first game.

Angel on My Shoulder

Things do not begin well, upon starting the game the player is greeted with the same annoying angel and demon that infuriated many a gamer in the original game. Thanks to the first patch released for B&W2, some of the long winded early tutorial can be skipped, but in the earlier levels it feels like the game is trying to hold your hand to much.

This is meant to be a world we can explore and play around with, but every time you try to do something the gruesome duo turn up again and begin another patronising tutorial sequence. Even some hours into the game you'll find your enjoyment interrupted by the angel and the demon.

There's really no need for tutorial elements of a game to be so obtrusive. Most strategy games seem to manage quite well by placing some tutorial information in one corner explained with a voiceover. But not B&W2.

You Must Choose Wisely

During the first tutorial session you must choose your creature and it's then on into the game's main plot. Here you see your people attacked by the warlike Aztecs and some short mini-games introduce you to the physics and controls of the game while you save your people and take them to a new peaceful land.

Here the principles of the game are introduced. The idea is become a stronger god and the main way of doing this is to increase your supplicant population. Strategies vary but there are two main strands to growing a population. The first is to make good use of resources to increase the population of your first city on a map, providing food, shelter and other amenities.

The second strand is to bring in new worshippers under your banner. One approach to this is being aggressive, sending out armies to capture rival towns and bringing them under your control. The other option is to create such an impressive happy society that villagers across the land migrate to your city.

Black or White?

The problem is that these strategies belie a gameplay model that is seriously broken. Take for example your choice to do good. Yes you build a wonderful model city that is the envy of the land. But other cities do not join your community; instead its occupants migrate to your city.

This brings two problems. Firstly that if they walk close to your city walls you can't pick up their flag and move them into the city, meaning they wander around pointlessly thanks to your clumsy oversized mouse pointer.

The real problem though is that it still means you haven't captured their city. It now lies empty somewhere on the map and still allied to an enemy AI player. So how do you capture it? Well you send out one of your armies. But I want to be good. Well you can't be. No matter how good you want to be, sooner or later the broken gameplay logic will get in the way and make you raise and use armies.

And it's at this point you discover that B&W2 doesn't work very well when it comes to combat. Enemy armies wander around aimlessly and the control of your own troops is difficult. Battles become an effort as two sides try to fight each other but are hampered by strange gameplay mechanics that'll have them making camp nearby each other without getting aggressive. But don't worry, the size of the army doesn't seem to bear any resemblance to the time it takes to take over an empty enemy town.

Creature Time

The ability to tutor and teach a creature that will grow into a giant was one of the main selling points of the first game. Extended play though revealed that it was a giant annoying gameplay mechanic that made you feel less like a god and more like a baby-sitter.

It's easier to teach lessons to your creature this time around. Their thoughts appear as speech bubbles that make it easy, through smacking or stroking, to show how you feel about that thought. Ultimately though it feels like you're flicking a bunch of switches. Hitting until it knows not to ever do something, stroking until it knows something is very good and helpful. It's completely unsatisfying and feels very artificial.

Thanks to the terrible use of armies most of my play with B&W2 has had me playing the good guy, building up my cities, providing for my people - and in all that I never found the creature that useful. Yes he will help to build houses, but the player can do that just as easily and with less fuss.

And There Was Light

Black & White 2 is a great looking game full of details on great artistic touches. The general design continues from the first game but adds lots of modern DX9 sparkle to the proceedings. The land looks superb, and one of the few aspects of the game that make you feel godlike is the ability to zoom right in to blades of grass then right out to look down on the land.

The sound effects are wonderfully atmospheric too, complementing a world that that delights in its design. The day/night cycle is particularly well implemented and the cities and towns look positively charming as it grows dark and lamps begin to light up the city. Though a powerful God might feel a bit miffed that he had to build something as simple as a street lamp himself.

Revelations

Black & White 2 is just as wasted opportunity as the first game. The gameplay mechanics are broken - not allowing for full good behaviour. This is the most fun direction for gameplay I found, yet at the same time the game limited my ability to act in this way. Equally trying to be warlike just led to frustration as the control of military units was such a pain.

There's been so much love given to the way the game looks and feels it's such a shame the same care and attention hasn't been leant to the gameplay. Terrible mini-games and quests such as throwing barrels around for musical Norse drunks is not inspiring gameplay - nor is it what you expect to have to do as a deity. Look at past Bullfrog/Lionhead games such as Populous and Powermonger and you'll find games that made you feel godlike because you didn't have to do everything yourself.

The basic problem with B&W2 is that once again you're micromanaging a world for people who are too lazy and stupid to be able to do the simplest of tasks, such as build a house or find someone to mate with, for themselves. It's a real shame. I enjoyed B&W2 for the first few hours but the more I played the more I became aware of what a disappointing game it is.