Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3381 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sold Out Software
• Model: DUNGKEEP2
• Released on: 2003-09-23
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Me
• Format: CD-ROM
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
IT'S GOOD TO BE BAD! Discover your evil side as you build your own underground kingdom. Carve out a living, breathing world and attract a host of devilish creatures to swell the ranks of your dark hoards. Form an alliance with the Horned Reaper.

Customer Reviews

A classic that's worth revisiting
Along with the Civ and Baldur's Gate series, this counts as one of my favourite games of all time, and it's great to see it revived in its new packaging -- where it offers great value for budget-conscious gamers with less-than cutting-edge machines.

Following as it did on from the original Dungeon Keeper, DK2 didn't really break new ground (though the DK franchise certainly did) but it was more polished, more atmospheric, and more fun.

In some ways, it's a typical resource-management game, but with the twist that you take the role of an evil subterranean overlord, with the troops and structures you'll have available reflecting that fact. For example, you'll be building torture chambers and prisons, and recruiting the likes of goblins, trolls and evil wizards to do your bidding.

The game feels slightly dated now, but the graphics were gorgeous at the time and your traps and canons still gleam as brightly as ever they did -- as you'll see the first time you possess one of your creatures and wander around your dungeon looking through their eyes :-)

The music is a perfect match of the gameplay, and the in-game narrator's darkly honeyed tones are both atmospheric and amusing -- as are the cut-scene "films".

In fact, humour and atmosphere are where the game really shines: unlike many modern "commercially-driven" games, this was clearly a labour of love. It's a real shame the affair never continued with the promised Dungeon Keeper 3.

This game just has to be played to be believed
I got this game free when I resubscribed to PCZone and it is probably the most addictive game I have ever played. An odd scenario where you run a dungeon - training creatures from hell and using wizards, trolls, imps, dragons, spiders, vampires, hell hounds and numerous other weird and wonderful things to build an army strong enough to take on the Lord of the Land. The ambience immerses you in a land of power but as a strategy game you have to balance this power with brains. I say this is the most addictive game I have ever played because there is so much going on and each scenario is different everytime you play - strange things happen at different times of year, like if there is a full moon you get to play a bonus level. This game just has to be played to be believed simply because it is very hard to describe but needless to say both my wife and I have spent endless nights trying to reinforce our dungeon walls, lay gas traps, build rooms, pay wages and launching sneaky attacks on unsuspecting heroes.

the old ones are still amongst the best
The first computer game I ever had was Dungeon Keeper (which ran on Windows 95 but, unfortunately, not on any of the updated windows version). A couple of years later came Dungeon Keeper 2, and between DK, DK2, Theme Hospital and Command and Conquer I was kept happy for years. There have been a number of games since then, including the Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth games, as well as Sims 2 and new Sims 3 which I have tried and play now.

As with the original you are the evil dungeon keeper who is trying to vanquish the good of the underworld, and in the process collect the portal gems.

You build your dungeon, claim at least one portal and attract creatures to your cause and train them. You can train a creature to level 10 (up to level 4 in the training room then move them to the fighting pit or into battles for further levels), but unlike DK1 you cannot train imps in the training room, imps gain experience with the length of time they spend in the dungeon. Remember to hunt around for any hidden spells such as "raise experience of all creatures", "reveal map", "secret level", etc, they really do come in useful.

The game allows you to play the map campaign, or play pet dungeons. At the end of each campaign you get a brief CGI film as a reward for your victory. Each of the films is then stored in the "extras" vault for you to view whenever you feel like.

In Pet Dungeon you are required to reach a certain score - the first level is at 10,000 points and each level after that adds a further 10,000 points to the total required as you progress. Rooms become available on a timed released. When playing the Pet Dungeons you decide when the attacks are going to take place, and whether or not you want a single marauder (you can pick up to 10 enemies and drop them anywhere in your dungeon) or a full attack, or all-out repeating attacks.

Pet Dungeon allows you to build your dungeon and train your creatures before any attack takes place. If you're looking for a more relaxing option, then Pet Dungeon is the option for you.

It is nice to return to an old favourite every couple of months to remind you of the simplicity of things and to give you a refresher on the old strategies and techniques which comes in handy when playing some of the new strategy games.

There was meant to be a Dungeon Keeper 3 (a brief trailer can be found in the Extra section) but unfortunately Bullfrog went bust and was taken over by EA Games. It is such a shame that EA decided that the DK franchise wasn't worth continuing with.