~Dark Sun II
2
DSUN01.PCX
DSUN02.PCX

DARK SUN II:  WAKE OF THE RAVAGER

RPG by SSI

Reviewed By Lu Richardson


I am afraid I did not take to Dark Sun I, but nevertheless I took a 
look at part II.

Well, after taking ages to install (that's nothing, though - some 
games take even longer, these days), I waited to see what was new.  
I used the ready-made party and got started straightaway.  

The graphics looked exactly like the ones for Dark Sun I, and the 
interface was just as complicated.  Immediately the action started, 
a female addresses the party and, after a brief interchange, she 
gets squashed.  The party then gets attacked and anhilated.  Game 
over.

Wait a minute, I said.  I didn't get that right.  Let's start 
again.  Exactly the same thing happened.  I gave it one more try and 
began to feel I knew the lady personally. 

So I gave up and carefully made up my own party.  I started once 
more, and guess what.  Biff, bang, game over.  I tried manual 
combat, which was terribly slow, and then I tried computer-controlled 
combat, which was just as slow.  Same results.

I sat back and pondered on all the people who have forked out good 
money to play this game, and what they get is five minutes action.  
So, taking a big breath, I made up another party consisting mainly 
of half-giants.  This time I made it, since some of my characters 
survived.

Picking up the spoils of the battle was a bit of a nightmare, but 
having done so, I started to explore.  Well, you have to hold long 
conversations with all an sundry before you can get anywhere, and in 
no time I lost all patience and all interest.  I simply found the 
gameplay unendurably slow.

Whatever happened to all those exciting RPGs we used to get, with 
plenty of action and sensible interfaces?  Why go back to the 
overhead view when everyone just loved the first-person 3-D stuff?  
Beats me.  

At any rate, this game will only appeal to those who enjoy advancing 
slowly and also a complicated story which builds up as one converses 
with very many NPCs.  Good luck to them, that's all I can say.