Name: Dungeon Keeper 2
Release Date: June 1999
Developer: Bullfrog
Publisher: Electronic Arts

OVERVIEW

Dungeon Keeper 2 is the sequel to Bullfrog's excellent Dungeon Keeper. It is more or less a remake of Dungeon Keeper, as it does not really take the game in any new directions. Bullfrog more or less modified/added/removed a lot of things from the original to arrive at this game.

THE GAME

The play style is more or less the same as Dungeon Keeper, so I will concentrate on what has changed. Dungeon Keeper 2 is now totally 3D, using Direct 3D, with polygon models for all creatures, objects and rooms in the game world. The effects system was revamped and is now much more colorful and elaborate. The game now features several different game modes. There is the usual single player campaign where you build a series of dungeons, and in each one conquer either a Lord of the Land or an opposing Keeper to obtain a portal gem. Once you have conquered the various regions in the game you win. New in this game is the My Pet Dungeon mode, where you build a dungeon and fight off incoming waves of heroes to amass a certain number of points to win. And of course, there is the multiplayer mode that we all know and love.

The user interface has been revamped, and it is now easier. It is possible to see how many creatures are happy, unhappy and mad. The "computer assistance" from Dungeon Keeper 1 is now gone. One of the most important changes is that there are now two different resources, gold and mana. Gold is still obtained in the same way as before, but is now only used to build rooms, traps and pay your creatures. Mana is used to cast spells and fire traps, and is regenerated by "owning" dungeon tiles (1/turn) and mana vaults (100/turn). This is *much* better than Dungeon Keeper as you constantly ran out of gold casting spells unless you had 20 imps digging a seam of gems.

Creatures now gain experience by being in combat with the enemy. Imps gain experience by doing their normal chores of fixing walls and mining gold, so you no longer have to toss them in the training room till level 3.

Dungeon Walls are no longer the impenetrable thing they used to be. Your imps can break through enemy walls, it just takes them a long time to dig through them. You can also weaken enemy walls with the new tremor spell.

Creatures now take up actual space, and can block each other from moving down a hall or across a room. Creatures also become stunned now after you drop them, during which time they can be struck and rendered unconscious. This reduces to a great degree the "drop-fest" Dungeon Keeper was.

CREATURES

The set of evil creatures in Dungeon Keeper 2 is slightly different, as Bullfrog removed a lot of the ones from Dungeon Keeper and added a few new ones.

Gone from Dungeon Keeper are:

  • Hellhound
  • Beetle (useless)
  • Spider (was useless besides the Freeze Creature spell)
  • Demon Spawn and the Dragon. This is really a shame. The demon spawn and the dragon were great creatures and I don't understand why Bullfrog took them out. Plus, you could always train the demon spawn past level 10 ..
  • Orc
  • Ghost (good riddance)
  • Tentacle (not sure why this was in Dungeon Keeper anyway)
New in Dungeon Keeper 2 are:

Returning in Dungeon Keeper 2 are:

The Horned Reaper is now sort of an NPC in the game, and you cannot obtain him through sacrificing a set of creatures in the temple. Now there is only one, and you summon him if you have 100,000 mana and you point to where you want him to appear. He then goes on a killing spree, so be sure none of your creatures are nearby. He is virtually unstoppable, and can kill 20 or 30 heroes at a time. The drawback is he sucks down mana VERY fast and he may be around for 20 or 30 seconds before you run out of mana and he disappears again.

Bullfrog still did not provide a way of keeping the imps from roaming about and attracting attention if you didn't want them to.

ROOMS

The rooms were also changed up quite a bit, with some new and good additions. The Dungeon Heart now acts as a treasure room, holding up to 16,000 gold by itself.

Bullfrog fucked up the Training Room in Dungeon Keeper 2 by making it impossible to train your creatures past level 4. To train them any farther, you have to build a Combat Pit (new room) and manually drop your characters in there, and perform a bunch of micromanagement to make sure there are always creatures in the pit, and imps to pick up the unconscious ones. This is one of the few gripes I have about Dungeon Keeper 2.

Added rooms are:

  • Combat Pit: Necessary to train your creatures past level 4, unless they are are in combat.
  • Casino: A way to make your creatures happy, and a way to earn back your creatures wages. Nothing like seeing a Salamander : Job: Drinking ...
  • Wooden Bridge/Stone Bridge: Gone is the "bridge" from Dungeon Keeper. Wooden bridges are only good over water; Stone Bridges must be used over lava.
The Scavenger room was removed from Dungeon Keeper 1. I really hated the Scavenger Room, since you had to keep creatures in there all the time to prevent your friends from stealing them. I guess Bullfrog figured this out, too.

One of the (many) great things about this game is the number of Easter eggs it contains. These come in the form of little sentences the mentor occasionally says.

For those who haven’t played the game before, the mentor is a dark, brooding voice that instructs you on how to dominate the world with your evil ways. Generally he simply warns you of danger, “your dungeon has been breached” or domestic troubles, “a Dark Angel is angry because it has no food.” He also briefs and debriefs you in campaign mode.

These are the ones I have encountered, it is possible there are more waiting to be heard. (The reasons for their occurring may not be entirely accurate. /msg me with corrections)

Caused by your actions

"One of your imps does a great Impression of you, he can even do the ears." (Heard when creating a lot of imps)
"The drink is flowing freely in the casino." (Heard when you build a very large casino.)
"Miniature piglets are roaming your dungeon, beware." (Heard when you have a significant rat infestation, therefore a good prison.)
"Big monsters! Big prizes! I love it!" (Heard when you build a large casino.)
"Keeper, you have something unpleasant under your fingernai." (Heard when holding a creature for a long time.)
"Hello? Are you still there? The imps are about to lock up!" (Heard when you leave the computer alone for a long time without pausing.)
"Your dungeon floor is lumpy, order your minions to jump up and down." (Heard when your dungeon borders a lot of unclaimed land)

Compliments

"Your Creatures are in awe of your talents." (Heard when doing very well.)
"Your dungeon is damp, install central heating." (Heard when your dungeon backs onto a lot of water.)
"Your creatures rate you as their all time favourite keeper." (Heard when your creatures have all been happy for a while.)
"Your creatures are happy with your dungeon." (Heard when you build a nice dungeon.)
"Let’s party like it’s 1999!" (Heard when all creatures are in the casino.)
"Your creatures are pleased with your dungeon’s efficiency." (Heard when you convert a lot of heroes in a short space of time.)
"Your creatures are complementing you on your dungeon." (Heard when you build a lot of facilities.)
"Your creatures are impressed with your work." (Heard when you get a lot done quickly.)
"Your creatures like your style." (Heard when you do something brutally and ironically)
"Your dungeon smells putrid, have your imps spray Lysol." (Heard when you have a large number of dead bodies on your hands.)
(My personal favourite)"You have many Mistresses, there's a name for Keepers like you!" (Heard when you have many Mistresses in your dungeon)

Caused by time.

"The very rock yawns with anticipation of your next fascinating move." (Heard when you pause the game for a long time).
"It is the Witching Hour, curses come at half price!"(Heard at 12:00 midnight)
"Surely, even Dungeon Keepers must retire to a lair of some description." (Heard at 2:00 am)
"Your nocturnal perseverance has earned you a hidden gaming tip: go to bed!" (Heard at 3:00 am)
"You know that low, broad, downy-soft item of furniture in the next room? It has the power to cure fatigue and restore vitality." (heard 4:00 am)

Criticisms

"Your dungeon is on an incline, angry creatures cannot play marbles." (Heard when you have no casino and unhappy creatures.)
"Hungry demons cannot reach their toes." (Heard when you have a small hatchery and many Bile Demons.)
"A neutral creature sends word he cannot make it today." (Heard when a neutral creature on the map has been waiting a long time.)
"Your creatures have noticed your evil actions." (Heard when you do not hide the creature you are slapping to get your money back.)
"If you were any kind of real keeper you would’ve won by now!" (Heard when you take for ever to complete a level).

Miscellaneous (God Knows)

"Never eat anything bigger than your own head, Keeper." (Heard randomly it seems)
"Your lair has been re-carpeted." (Might have something to do with a large lair, might be random, I’m not sure.)
"Your minions demand cable." (Not sure why this is heard, could be when you have a very basic dungeon)
"A lost soul has entered your dungeon. Oh, now it’s wandered out again." (No idea, only heard it once)
"Your dungeon is full of yoghurt." (O…k…?)




Jurph says Don't forget that the casino plays "Disco Inferno" whenever a vampire hits the jackpot in the casino (IIRC, there's a way to make this happen more often).

belgand says I would mention that the "Big monster! Big prizes! I love it!" is a reference to "Big money! Big prizes! I love it!" line from Smash TV.

Getting Dungeon Keeper 2 to work with Windows XP can be a hassle, because it uses Safedisc protection, and Windows XP does not agree with Safedisc.

Various websites recommend installing the Windows XP Safedisc patch, or installing the game as an administrator. However, I found that most of these don't work, and the best bet is to use Daemon Tools to provide Safedisc Emulation, and thus allow you to play the game.

However, even after following this procedure, a friend of mine was unable to get Windows XP and Dungeon Keeper 2 to play nicely, so beware of paying full price for the game, and do what I did, buy getting a cheap bargin copy, without a full retail box or instruction manual. This isn't really much of a loss, as most game publishers are too tightarse to provide these in full priced games anyway.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.