Black & White 2 Preview

When life has you down, and you feel like you have no control over your life, there's nothing better than playing God every now and then to lift your spirits. Peter Molyneux, quite a reputable mind in the contemporary gaming world, has assembled the folks at Lionhead to make the sequel to their popular God-sim, Black & White. As work on Black & White 2 began, the developers have been quite busy throughout the entire project, redesigning every single aspect of the game - redrawing every in-game model and completely renovating the gameplay mechanics. Much of the game is still being worked on, and we still don't know how far Black & White 2 is from its completion. Initial demonstrations at this year's E3 showed us that all the enhancements of the old B&W engine appear to work just fine, providing ample opportunity both for visual improvements as well as gameplay innovations.

The dance of the giant killer-ape!

All is calm, all is not so bright!

In Black & White 2 players will once again be given the opportunity to build and look after their own populace, helping them thrive, achieve great deeds, and cope with countless challenges - both earthly and from above. As Lionhead puts it, Black & White 2 is all about moral choices. Creating a world is a difficult and time-consuming effort, so you're obliged to take care with each step along the road of creation. Since you are pretty much playing as "the big boss" all the time, the game gives you the freedom to choose between a moral and righteous path, or an unjust and brutal one. Therefore, you can be an evil or benevolent God; it's completely up to you. Basically, you'll be entering a world that's overwhelmed by war, with a purpose to make all the tribes coexist peacefully within their lands. Of course, if you want to take a more destructive and vicious approach, you are always welcome to do so (I have no doubt that this will be the path of our editor, SixShooter) (Why, however did you guess? - Six).

Essentially, B&W 2 puts a simple choice to the player. You can either be good or bad. The challenges come equally on both paths, so whatever you may choose the game will require a lot of patience and wise judgment. With a clear-cut aim of making things easier for gamers, the developers worked hard on improving the gameplay mechanics. For instance, creatures, which have been an integral part of the game back in the original, are now smaller in numbers. This is not a bad thing however, because these creatures will be considerably modifiable, which leaves room for more distinguishable personalities. In other words, the number of morph stages was increased - aside from the option of adding tattoos and carving words in the fur of the poor beasties. (You mean I get to CARVE? YES! - Six) Morph stages will vary according to your choice of actions, making the creature look presentable and brighter (for good) or ugly with less hair and crooked teeth (for evil).

One of the most important steps in making the combat more straightforward and intuitive, was to streamline the control system. Battles have a slightly more significant role than in the original game; hence the combat model was re-done with a degree of flexibility. Players can issue out orders to their armies by setting up rally flags - every time you assemble soldiers on the field, control flags will begin to pop up. These flags can quite simply be attached to an object which you desire to protect or attack. The cool thing is that you can bring flags together thereby mixing some of your troops together and forming larger armies. Another important point is that this flag system is sensitive to things in the background; thus, players can easily attach their armies to rocks, buildings, or hills. In certain battle situations, this can be quite useful: if your units are attached to a huge boulder, which then breaks through the enemy wall, you can just sit back and observe your army following the boulder through the wall and attacking the enemy. Your creatures are also of great help in this matter. Just attach a flag to a creature and it will be able to carry out commands to a particular army, using battle tactics like assault and flanking operations.

War can cause many different consequences in Black & White. As many of you have probably guessed, the more aggressive you are in war, the more you move your alignment to evil. Luckily, this scheme is also flexible and clear-cut, so players don't have to worry about their every action during conflicts on the battlefield. To offer an example: if you are assaulted, you will be able to retaliate and even attack an enemy town without becoming evil. The best indicator of your good and evil deeds is the range of alterations and reflections that go on in the surroundings. Those who choose to be honorable and good can enjoy watching their realm thrive and literarily blossom into prosperity (small flowers will start growing everywhere and your people will be at ease). On the other hand, those who prefer the evil path will observe dark weeds cropping up and choking unfortunate bystanders. Nice touch...

Not a very peaceful city.

Just a peck - no tongues.

Experienced B&W gamers are aware that wood and food are the main resources in the game. Things are almost the same in B&W 2, only this time around, the developers have incorporated ore as an additional necessity to your nation's growth. Food and wood are the basic items that ensure the survival of your people, while ore is an essential element for forging armies and great defensive structures such as walls.

An interesting element of gameplay in the Black & White series is the use of supernatural forces, which are called the Wonders. The Wonders can be exploited to cast everyday and epic spells. Quite logically, most epic spells denote some rather destructive consequences that can alter the shape of the landscape - such is the Earthquake. There are also very effective everyday spells that can be used as you see fit. For instance, there's a certain lava spell, which, once issued, starts to pour all over the hilltops and plains until it makes a big hole in an oncoming wave of enemy troops. Another nice touch...

Black & White 2 uses an improved version of the engine employed in the original game. We still haven't seen how this enhanced engine works, but we were told that it allowed for numerous changes that made the game significantly prettier from its predecessor. Also, now the designers have increased the level of detail in the environment. Thanks to these enhancements the grass has some realistic features to boot. If someone walks over the field, the grass will bend and sway in that way, returning to its upright position after a certain amount of time. Moreover, should a large army pass across the plain, the grass will turn into a mudpit as it has been burdened from many footsteps. Considerable work was also done on the interface. The new upgraded version of the interface received an addition to the multi-hand pick up (a feature that allows players to pick up objects or people in the environment by using an animated hand; you could also slap your creature around with it). A very effective new element was implemented into this system, allowing players to scoop up objects or worshippers that possess distinguishing features. You can assemble, say, men who are capable of joining an army, or, adequately enough, this system can be used for promptly collecting resources.

There's still plenty we don't know about Black & White 2 - hm, wouldn't mind testing a beta before the final version hits the shelves (hint, hint). And, we are impatient to hear some of the new sounds and music themes (some of you might recollect the brilliant sound design of the previous title). Anyhow, until we get our hands on a playable version, we'll keep you posted on any updates and media that come along, so keep your eyes peeled.