Every once in a while, I get bored being the hero in games so when given the opportunity to be bad or downright evil I jump at the chance. Games like the recently released Dungeons 2 for PC not only focuses on being evil but puts you directly in the role of the Ultimate Evil for the first few minutes of gameplay before you are banished back underground after you decide to deal with the fortress of King’s Ending and the Alliance that protects it and the realm.
So, while the world above flourishes again with its unicorns, fairies and happy citizens you are confined deep underground to build your dungeon back up to its former glory and recruit an array of minions to serve you. The one good thing about being the Ultimate Evil is that you’re the boss so you can sit back on your throne and tell your underlings what to do. Unfortunately, in this dungeon management game your lackeys don’t work for free so a lot of your time will be spent tending to keep the coffers or mead flowing to make the army you’re trying to amass happy.
If you’re building a dungeon, then why do you need an army you ask? For starters every once in a while, heroes like to invade your home to be pests, so you need to have ogres and the like to protect everything you’ve lifted a floating hand to build. You can build good old-fashioned staples of dungeons such as traps to deal with meddlers which are really effective most of the time but sometimes you want a more offensive force to deal with them. You can enlist the aid of other creatures to aid your end game such as Goblins to research traps and reinforced doors and Nagas to increase your Mana resources and overall population of your dungeon.
The other reason for amassing an army in Dungeons 2 is for its RTS elements when you send troops above ground to attach the happy inhabitants and its heroes. So not only are you managing your dungeons underground you have to divert your attention to your troops as they claim land in your name Warcraft style. Yes, I mean the first one. There isn’t much to this part of the game.
Sending your troops on their way and hope they actually attack the enemy instead of standing there like deer in headlights as they get cut down is the only way to initiate combat. You can’t directly control your minions you see but only give them a loving smash upside the head to encourage them that you want something done. Taking over enemy lands when successful though strengthens your foothold on the surface world and allows you to bring magic to aid your forces as your progress.
Dungeons 2 does feature largely solid mechanics though it does take a little while to figure out some if its features, as neither the tutorial nor the usually helpful narrator are clear on exactly how to do some things like training troops. This is small hindrance when you’re trying to figure things out while tending to the other things like keeping your snotlings in check to make sure that you’re balancing them between building rooms, mining gold and maintaining the breweries.
One of things that doesn’t take a while to figure out is Dungeons 2’s graphics. The game has nicely detailed environments and highly animated characters while featuring a vibrant fantasy world. I really liked the lighting effects underground and the transformation of the overworld as your forces turn it from sunshine and bunnies to lava and rocky terrain. The music is pretty decent, but the narration is the best. There are plenty of references to popular shows, games between the narrator’s chiding you for being slow at your tasks. It’s hard not to laugh at the many lines no matter how hard I tried.
The single-player campaign isn’t the only fun to be had in Dungeons 2 though as fun as it is. Players can team up or go head-to-head in Multiplayer combat in 5 different sized maps in 1v1, 2v2, 1v1v1, and 1v1v1v1 variations. Up to 4 players can enjoy everything from Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Domination, King of the Hill and Team Domination. The maps are all well balanced and one of favorite maps pits three players against each other around a human city. The nice part about Dungeons 2’s multiplayer is that it can be played via LAN and online for ultimate enjoyment.
While I did like this mix of dungeon building and RTS in Dungeons 2, I felt like the overworld experience ultimately subtracted from building my evil empire à la mode tower defense experience. That said I would still sink a lot more time into this game again thanks to the funny narration and solid dungeon building mechanics. If you want to play a dungeon management game that hasn’t succumbed to a higher evil then check out Dungeons 2 available now for PC.
