Name of game:

Myth II: Soulblighter

Version:

1.2.1

Company:

Bungie

Date reviewed:

May 23, 1999

Date updated:

N/A

Playability:

78% (47/60)

Fun:

16/20

Myth II is a fun game to play because you really get to test your strategic skills. You have a limited number of units that you have to preserve in order to complete the scenarios and campaigns. Sending a unit to attract a group of enemies in an ambush can be well implemented and carried out. Dwarves are fun to play with since they have a powerful attack.

Beginner:

9/10

There are overall game hints and specific mission hints to help you throughout the game as well as a tutorial to introduce the different unit types. First couple of missions are also easy to complete.

Advanced:

7/10

The AI performs ok most of the time but keyboard and mouse camera control sometimes overlap making it difficult to give order to your units in a hurry

Average play time:

4/5

You can play this game for as long as you like since there is always something you could have done differently.

Pace:

11/15

Myth II does a good job of maintaining a manageable pace but when you have your units split up it's quite possible to lose control of some of your troops. That is not always a problem since the units can also take care of themselves except that when they are under your control they perform a lot better.

Comments:

Coordinate your units, look for the best strategy to employ for a particular mission, enjoy the graphics and the nice environment� yes, I'd say that Myth II is fun to play. If you like strategy games where all your units count then this game is for you. On the other hand, if you'd rather have 300 units moving around all over the place and resource management, then maybe you should try something along those lines.

Graphics:

88% (35/40)

3dfx:

2/0

The environment is really well made and the terrain looks really good.

Resolution:

6/8

1024x768 works only on D3D which doesn't work properly with a Banshee but 800x640 is good with 3dfx.

Speed:

8/10

The pace is ok and there is enough time to react to changes but it does become a little annoying if you split up your units into too many groups. Also, recalling a particular group is at times problematic.

Colors:

4/5

The terrain in this game excels and it sports great use of colors.

Details:

7/7

The detail is usually related to the resolution. But in Myth II, even on 800x640 the details are very good . You can clearly see the units and the atmosphere as well as the terrain really makes it look like a battlefield. There are limbs of dead soldiers and their weapons scattered throughout the field.

Interface:

8/10

All the options available can be easily accessed, troops can be moved with a simple mouse click, you can split up your armies any way you like� The only minor annoyance is that the mouse and the keyboard can be used to move the camera and when decisions have to be made fast, things can get a little bit confusing.

Comments:

Myth II is a rare accomplishment graphically and it is evident throughout the game. The units are very well detailed, arrows fly along parabolic paths, some of them don't hit their target but rather bounce softly off the ground due to the great physics engine. The explosions caused by dwarves and other units are displayed with cool special effects such as ground shaking locally and the explosions sending wave shocks in the immediate neighborhood.

Options:

83% (25/30)

Save:

3/3

The save function works really well, as it should in this type of game.

Load:

4/7

The loading times are rather long which might impede strategists in the making from trying some of their less conventional combat techniques.

Play options:

9/10

You can play the campaign, standalone scenarios, multiplayer games, or build your own using the included mission editors. Also there are some maps you can download from the internet on Bungie's download page.

Multiplayer:

9/10

It is very easy to get a game going and there are many challenges when playing against another human player, especially since most of those you will find on the servers are veterans at the game.

Details:

0/0

I didn't find the mission editors very easy to use.

Comments:

All the options that you might need are here, some of them better implemented than others. I wish that the loading times would be a little shorter but other than that, Bungie did a good job with Myth II

Sound:

77% (23/30)

Voice:

6/7

Good voice acting during the introduction of each mission, the unit voice response was decent as well.

Ambient:

7/8

The sounds of war are here and they blend with environment sounds rather well

Music:

3/5

Average

Effects:

7/10

Sound effects are good

Comments:

Above average sound effects combined with good voice acting for the missions make this title appealing. The music is nothing to write home about.

Longevity:

83% (25/30)

Now:

9/10

The game is well made and visually appealing so be prepared to spent quite some time playing it.

Later:

16/20

Trying different kinds of strategies to see the outcome greatly improves on the longevity of Myth II

Long time:

0/0

N/A

Comments:

This game is very playable and the missions vary in length and difficulty. Also, it's really fun to play against the human opponents that you can easily find using the build in lobby.

Overall:

90% (9/10)

Highs:

9/10

Very fun employing different strategies, great graphics, good sound, decent replayability and easy to find human opponents.

Lows:

-1/5

Camera controls are sometimes annoying, higher resolutions would be preferred

Others:

1/0

Good terrain details

Comments:

A very solid title, I really enjoyed playing Myth II

Score:

82% (164/200) Grade: A-

Overall

Comments:

Myth II is a very good strategy game. It puts emphasis on a couple of units that you can improve throughout the campaign as well as on the strategies you employ to complete your objectives. The missions vary in length and difficulty and there is a good tutorial presenting the units to novice players. The graphics are rather good, although 1024x768 resolution for 3dfx would be an welcome addition. There are few minor problems with the game but nothing that affects gameplay considerably. The biggest problem I found was that the mouse as well as the keyboard can be used to move the camera. As you move the camera with the keyboard, movement of the mouse makes the actual camera movement impredictable at times. Other than that, this is a very good game that I enjoyed playing.