An interesting take on the trusty "Heroes of Might and Magic" formula. I came across Disciples 2 for $10 in the bargain bin, and I saw that it was being compared to one of my favorite computer games "Heroes of Might and Magic IV", and so I decided to give it a try. After spending quite some time with it now, I can say that while it looks great, and it definitely has that special "Just-One-More-Turn" addicting behavior of HOMM4, the major problem that becomes clear only after spending some hours with it, is the underlying game mechanics are just too frustratingly difficult (even on Easy) with too much micro-management time, and this ultimately becomes very boring and like work, instead of being the fun game I want to spend some time with. I play these type of games for the fun of searching the map to find new and interesting things to explore and do, and not to care too much about the accounting of spells and resouces and characters. The Good: The graphics and animations are terrific (a little low-res), the sounds are good if not very memorable. Has the just-one-more-turn addiction. The Bad: The interface is a mess with buttons and groupings made seemingly at random. Very hard to make out units and items on the map, everything blurs together sometimes. (I like the colorful HOMM4 maps much more than these dark ones). The Manual is not very good and doesn't really tell you how to play or what you should be doing to win. The Ugly: The underlying gameplay of trying not to get your starting units killed thru the whole game because even after you have upgraded structures, your units still always start off as beginners, which does make sense, but also makes for boring gameplay as you constantly have to rush home to be cured and many re-loading saves after you die. Also the "auto-save" feature saves your game at the END of your turn, not the beginning, which makes no sense. Just way too many things to micro-manage during each turn. Also once you give a mouse-click order to your unit, there is no way to cancel your order (at least I could find it), even if you made it in error which is VERY FRUSTRATING and leads to re-loading saved games a LOT! Suggestion: I hate to say it, but the game was a LOT more fun for me after I started using the cheats for 9,999 gold/resources, and I didn't have to waste my time micro-managing the way too generic resources. Summary: If you can find it for $10, then check it out if you like HOMM type turn based games because it offers some interesting ideas to the HOMM formula. I definitly got my money's worth and will continue playing it alongside HOMM4 even with all the issues mentioned.
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Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is a marvelous strategy game that follows the gameplay of games like Age of Wonders and Heroes of Might and Magic. The Graphics and Sound are great. The overview map has a great landscap... Read Full Review
Disciples delivers an obviously well-planned, complex, atmospheric turn-based RPG that hits the sweet spot. The game manages to avoid some of the pitfalls and chore-work of games in the genre, and is extremely addicting,... Read Full Review
