Myth 2: Soulblighter

DEVELOPER : Bungie
PUBLISHER : Bungie

 

System Requirements Pentium 166MHz, 32MB RAM

Recommended Pentium 200MHz, 64+ MB RAM, Voodoo 2 video card

Summary
Pros: Adjustable difficulty levels. Nice 3D graphics. Sounds are cool. Great cut scenes. Improved Interface. Increased need for strategy and formation. Cons: Many quiet moments without action. No music during missions.
Interface : 9	Gameplay : 9	Graphics : 9
Audio : 7.5	Multiplayer : 8	Overall : 8.8

The past few years have been quite good to the gaming industry. New technologies have risen that enhance every gamer’s experience. Games have come and gone. But there are a few games who just don’t seem to fade away and hence, become labeled « classics ». I think that Myth II: Soulblighter has what it takes to be this kind of game.

Strategy games as of late have been notorious with regards to the "expansion" syndrome. That is, when a game is somewhat successful, an expansion set inevitably hits the shelves. This applies even more to real-time strategy based games. Consequently, when Myth: The Fallen Lords’ success was obvious, it was only natural to expect an expansion. I was the first one to be surprised (and pleased) to hear that Bungie Software was bypassing the expansion stage and heading into a full-fledged sequel.

Skeptics were abundant. Their arguments were for the most part, logical. How could Bungie improve so much on the original Myth that it would necessitate a sequel? Don’t ask me how they did it, but the results are amazing. The interface and all round gaming controls have been improved to be more "user-friendly". Furthermore, I was amazed with the drastic improvements with regards to graphics. Bungie seems to understand that by greatly improving the look of a game, you can really inspire awe in the avid gamer. The new lighting and shading technologies complement well the smoother graphics and terrain features. This is not to say that the game is "all flash no cash" however. The AI has been completely rewritten for improved gameplay and the new pathing code renders unit movements that much less frustrating. Despite all these new and improved changes, the sequel has retained the core of its predecessor.

The story takes place 60 years later. All is well and peaceful in the land and the peasants, despite tortuous nights during the "great war" with the dark are now talking of these times with a certain nostalgia. Yet, when a team of soldiers investigate reports of brigands in the area, they are surprised by the macabre howl of the walking dead. Soulblighter, the "UN"fallen lord is back. And he’s here to finish off what eluded the dark 60 years ago.

Although the basic plot to the game is very interesting, the story in itself is somewhat somber and slow paced. It also sometimes leads into a new mission without really knowing what the purpose of the new mission is in relation to the story. Even if a slow story has its drawbacks, it still has certain advantages, which I think Bungie wanted to focus on. In fact, a slower paced story gives you the time to really entrench yourself in the life of its characters. You become part of the story and really involved in the fate of its characters.

Myth: The Fallen Lords was a pioneer in the industry when it was introduced. The game brought us to a new level of strategy and tactics but it also took us away from the classic economic model seen in the blockbuster hits of the time Warcraft 2 and Command & Conquer. This was revolutionary in that unit maximisation was introduced. No longer were you able to simply over-power your opponent by grossly out-ressourcing him. Unit control and formations were the key to any victory. This has not changed with Myth II: Soulblighter. Formations, strategies and unit control are still as important as in the original Myth. The comparison today can be made with Starcraft. In fact, the only common characteristic for these games is that they are both labeled strategies.

There is currently a debate in the gaming community with regards to real-time based strategy games. The debate is as follows: Are 3D strategy games just a feeble attempt to cash in on the glamour of new 3D technologies, or are they simply the continuum of the gaming industry in general? The answer is still up for grabs, but what I looked at particularly for Myth II, was to see if the 3d floating POV (point of view) enhanced or reduced the overall gameplay. To my surprise, the 3D perspective and the ability to view wherever and at which angle you wanted was a plus. Understanding your opponent’s unit formations and strategies is easier when you can manipulate the camera to see what you wanted to see. The only drawback is probably that the micro-management of troops (unit control) is probably harder optimise since they represent ever-changing targets with respect to their environment. This is why unit formations are key to any player’s success be it multi-player or single player. Positioning your army correctly, choosing the right unit mix and just plain trying to out smart your opponent are all essential in the world of the dark.

To help you in your quest to superior unit control is the new toolbar on the bottom of the screen. On the toolbar are different buttons that help you use the most basic commands in Myth: II. You can tell your selected units to hold ground, retreat, stop or even scatter. The use of hotkeys to achieve these commands greatly increases your efficiency but when you don’t have time to scramble for the right key you just click on the button and its done. Right next to these commands on the same toolbar are controls that you can use to set formations for your troops. Once again, the use of formations is crucial and being able to place your bowmen and dwarves correctly can undoubtedly swing a battle in your favour. All these buttons are easy to find and the tasks that they represent don’t take long to accomplish. However, advanced players have the option to completely remove the toolbar from the screen making way for a larger viewable screen (not that the toolbar takes up too much space).

This feature shows a trend on how Bungie has experienced players in mind as well as beginners. Many software companies are intent on catering to the mass market of average to sub-average players given the fact that by doing this they can probably generate more sales. To this, Bungie has implemented a feature in the game that lets the user select the difficulty level. In general, the learning curve is approximately 45 minutes to an hour and a half. But to really start to understand the game, it takes at least 6 hours of play. To help you learn the game as quickly as possible, the tutorial incorporated in the game is an easy way to begin. The tutorial focuses on the very basic functions of the game. At first, I thought the tutorial to be a little too basic but it’s understandable that tutorials are meant to teach those who need to learn the game and it does this well.

Sounds in the game are very well chosen and very realistic. An improvement over the original Myth regarding sounds is that the ambient sounds around the game give it a more realistic feel. Chickens pecking and peasants wondering give it the feel of an authentic medieval era. The voices in the game are also amazing. They really bring the characters in the game to life. The mission briefings are also lively and the cut scene dialogs quite amusing. All in all, the only thing missing is the music during the missions. But I guess that without the music, players can probably focus more on the important features in the game.

The movies between missions are also quite impressive. I liked the movies but I was surprised at the way they are presented. The movies are like Akira cartoons. They are well done and usually on topic with the story but I don’t understand why they did them in cartoon format. Myth: The Fallen Lords was a precursor with regards to 3D graphics and yet they chose to make the movies for Myth 2 in 2D. Huh? It seems to me that I would have enjoyed seeing movies like those in Starcraft. Nonetheless, they still give a gratifying moment after a hard won battle.

But, what would a sequel be without the new units? Of course, Myth II has all the new units you could possibly expect, and more! Dwarven mortars and Heron Guards will lend you a hand. The neutral Trow will also be there when need be. The forces of the Dark also have new units to be reckoned with. The Myrkridia (looks like a dog with rabies to me), the oh-so-cool warlock with its blazing fireballs, the Maul, and the black-armored Stygian Knights round up the new forces of the evil Soulblighter.

There are 25 single player missions and 20 multi-player maps included with the game. The quantity of multi-player maps might be disappointing for some at first. But when you start playing them, you start to get the feeling that learning every single map would be practically impossible. That’s why, I think, that Bungie has put its efforts on the maps that are there. They decided to make less maps, but tried to balance them the best they could and I think that they’ve done a good job at that. For those who are in search of a fun multi-player experience, Bungie.net, the company’s on-line service, has everything to cater to the multi-player enthusiast.

In conclusion, the success of Myth II: Soulblighter is almost already a sure thing. Once you start playing the game and getting involved in the story you’ll understand why this success is inevitable. Bungie has seriously expanded the game in all of the most important areas. The interface has been improved. The gameplay has been rethought by increasing the use for spellcasters and landscape management. Finally the graphics and sound have been improved dramatically with the 3D mesh now being 4 times finer and the newfound support for 3D sounds. A great game, worth a shot if you’re looking for a new experience.

Reviewed by Jeff "Toothpaste" Hattem