March 12, 2002 - Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is a strategy title, although in a way it can be seen as an RPG as many attributes are shared between them. Although I have been a heavy gamer for many years, I have never been overly fond of the RPG style of games. They rarely derive any interest from me, usually I find them somewhat boring and unentertaining. Although Disciples has both characteristics of an RPG and a strategy title, I think it has just made me change my mind.

Published and developed by Strategy First, Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is a turn-based real-time strategy game with a complex storyline and a generally good concept. Based off the original Disciples released in 1999, Disciples II takes this same style storyline, and improves on the original in nearly every way possible. Although the original was not a huge success upon its release, it slowly gained recognition as time passed, to the point that it became seen as one of the better strategy games on the market. Disciples II: Dark Prophecy will most likely follow this same trend.

Usually, I don't open a review with the graphics of a title, but in this case I feel its necessary. Disciples II: Dark Prophecy contains jaw-dropping graphics, absolutely gorgeous in virtually every way possible. Although the environments can be a little crowded at times, the detail and visual quality in each object is spectacular. Characters contain beautiful and fluent motion animation. When casting spells and engaging in combat, the character detail is remarkable, yet the performance has been optimized to run well even on low-end systems. The artists at Strategy First deserve a solid pat on the back, as they have taken Disciples II to a whole new level of visual quality.

The story begins shortly after the conclusion of the first. The same four factions as in the original are the main points of focus, these consisting of the Empire, the Legions of the Damned, the Undead Hordes, and the Mountain Clans. The Empire is a race of humanoid warriors, similar to those that would have been seen long ago in human history. The Legions of the Damned are a very interesting faction, demons from the underground world of hell. The Mountain Clans are a race of small dwarf like creatures, although carrying a human appearance. The Undead Hordes were once a proud and noble race, until Mortis unleashed a plague killing most of them off. She continued to create an army of mutilated creatures, most of which were her victims in the plague; the result is the Undead Hordes faction.

For anyone new to the RTS or Strategy genre of games, it will take much practice before you will actually understand what is happening in the game. If you have yet to play the first in any detail, the storyline can become extremely complex and confusing at times. Unfortunately, the tutorial is not overly through and difficult to find, and the manual is not much better. Although it outlines the general concepts of the game, it is lacking when it comes to explaining how everything ties together, and how to simply play the game.

As in most other strategy games, resource management plays a crucial role, and the balances in Disciples II: Dark Prophecy are very good. Several different resources can be collected, these including Mana, which is used for spells, and gold that is used for constructing buildings. Players are limited to constructing one structure per day, and this is well developed as one day spans a time period of one turn. Each addition to your kingdom will cost a prespecified amount of resources, and will allow you to develop new spells or create an army depending on the structure built.