71 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
71 lines
4.0 KiB
Plaintext
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MIGHT AND MAGIC II
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Any sequel has a tough job. It must maintain the novelty and thrills of its
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predecessor; moreover, it must offer improvements and new ideas that make it
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worthwhile on its own. Several computer role-playing games have succeeded at
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this task; the authors of MIGHT AND MAGIC II have now tried their hand...with
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mixed results. This review is based on the Apple IIgs version; Commodore 64/128
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version notes follow.
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Jon and Michaela Van Caneghem have designed and created a world of epic scope:
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not only the basic medieval towns and countryside that we explored in M&M I, but
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four elemental planes (earth, air, fire, and water) and a torrent of sub-quests
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that guarantee the game's freshness for months. There is a huge selection of
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spells, the more useful of which you have to work to learn. The graphics are
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double-high-res, which leads to some beautiful animation and attractive art
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work. And the technical range of options is impressive: secondary skills, an
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auto-mapping feature, myriad magic items, ranged and hand-to-hand combat,
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hirelings. Overall, M&M II offers a well-designed concept and plot.
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On the negative side, the mechanics of execution in this game are very
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disappointing. For example, the 3-D graphic window is just plain broken. The
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manual notes that you can see in front of you an area 3 squares wide and 4
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squares deep. True, but the program represents the area outside that as open air
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-- even if there are buildings there! This leads to much confusion, especially
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in towns. Additionally, there are many special locations and objects in this
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world, and they're completely _invisible_ unless you're standing on top of them.
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It appears that some programming shortcuts were taken in the graphic interface,
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and the game's playability suffers.
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Further, though combat is remarkably balanced, executing any option other than
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fighting can be tedious. Try to use an item, and the program responds: "Which
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(A-F)/(1-6)?" It's referring to your inventory, which you can view by backing
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out of the choice, selecting View, remembering the number or letter, then
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backing out, and finally selecting Use again. A definite obstacle to the flow of
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pitched battle.
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There's a huge amount of detail packed into this copy-protected program (it
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fills six disk sides), and I suspect that the designers had to make some hard
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choices to fit the program into the machine. I certainly cannot fault their
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decision to favor plot and imagination -- keys to a successful and entertaining
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CRPG -- but in terms of visual realism, MIGHT AND MAGIC II is unsatisfying. I
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give this one an 8 out of 10 and a plea for improving the interface in versions
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for other computers.
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COMMODORE 64/128 VERSION NOTES
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Initially, the appearance of the C64/128 version of MIGHT AND MAGIC II is
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almost the same as the Apple and IBM versions. The Demo option has been removed,
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but little else. Considering that both the Apple and IBM versions rely on more
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memory than the 64K allotted to the Commodore version, this is a remarkable
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feat. However, as you play the game, you'll find that the graphics and speed of
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the other versions are superior to this one, and understandably so.
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Side A is copy-protected, but copies can be made of the other disks. Side B
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definitely must be copied to be able to save games.
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If you're familiar with the C64/128 version of MIGHT AND MAGIC I, you'll be
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quite impressed by the improvements in M&MII. The sequel offers much better
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graphics (including animation), although the speed of the game is about the
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same. M&MII is much larger than M&MI, and revolves around quests less. There is
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plenty to explore in the towns and dungeons before you attempt to map the
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wilderness areas. The game has auto-mapping, which saves a considerable amount
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of time, but it's advisable that you do some mapping yourself, as well.
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MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by
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Electronic Arts.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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