Myth II: Worlds
Score: 70% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Take 2 Interactive Developer: Bungie Software Media: CD/3 Players: 1 - 16 Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Graphics & Sound: Myth II uses sprite-based graphics on top of a real-time rendered 3D landscape. It looks quite nice, despite the game's age, and while the animation of the various units could definitely be nicer, it's nothing to really knock. The various conversions available in the Myth II: Worlds package add a variety of new locations and units to the experience, making for even more graphical glitz. It's not, say, Myth III, but it looks nice. And, as always, the Myth games sound excellent. The voice acting is solid, the music is good, and the ambient sounds are done well. The world feels alive and vibrant, mainly because of the sound, and it works quite well. The subtle and not-so-subtle humour scattered throughout the game only adds to the charm, and it all ties in quite well.
Gameplay: It's rather difficult to review a product like this. What Myth II: Worlds comprises is a collection of the original release of Myth II: Soulblighter (well, minus the OS-erasing problems) and a number of freely-available expansion packs from the Internet. Now, I understand that many people out there don't have a broadband connection, and so they cannot download two CDs worth of add-on stuff to add to their Myth II experience. For those people, Myth II: Worlds may be an excellent purchase, if a bit pricey. But I can't help feeling that Myth: The Total Codex is a better deal, with the original game, Myth II, and some add-ons all thrown in for ten dollars cheaper. For those of you who have never played any of the Myth games, they involve a decidedly different style of real-time strategy gaming. Instead of micromanaging your resources to make sure that you can produce units, Myth II gives you a number of units and expects you to survive with what you're given. This requires careful management of your units, use of formations and strategic locations (hills and the like), and a lot more strategy than most RTSes. It's a pleasant change from the standard, and I thoroughly enjoyed Myth II when it was originally released. Unfortunately, the game is getting on in age--a few days after receiving this, we received our copy of Myth III: The Wolf Age, which astute readers will realize is the sequel. This isn't intended to be a AAA package, though, instead providing an older game and a number of addiitions to it for value-added gameplay. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that many gamers, especially Windows gamers, are going to become very frustrated with their experiences when it comes to getting past the (admittedly excellent) Myth II: Soulblighter. Installing any of the major total conversions requires patching major parts of the original game, which means you have to make backups, and the setup is definitely not geared towards the PC world. I had worlds of trouble getting some of the new scenarios to install, much less work properly. It's frustrating, really, and one wishes for a nicer 'automagic' install system instead of simply a lot of stuff thrown onto some CDs. In the end, though, there are a number of extra total conversions, ranging from military to high fantasy, and there's sure to be something to appeal to any gamer. Of course, most of these can be grabbed in a matter of minutes off of their Internet websites . . .
Difficulty: The Myth games have never been easy, and this is no exception. The core game is quite difficult, and they all support sliding difficulty settings that let you set it to as hard or as easy as you like it. Don't assume that because you set it to a lower difficulty you'll have a simple time of it, though; the opponent AI is quite astute, and will be happy to wipe the floor with you if it's necessary.
Game Mechanics: Perhaps the most difficult thing about getting into the Myth universe is learning the control scheme. It's a complex mixture of mouse and keyboard, and getting the hang of it is required if you're going to get very far at all in any of the games. It's not too bad once you learn it, but it's decidedly different from most RTS games, and it takes a while to get used to. Myth II itself is a very solid game, and as such has no major problems. I've already commented on the vagaries of getting the add-ons to work in a Windows environment; as this is the main draw of this collection, it's really a shame that a cleaner implementation wasn't done. On one hand, there are people who would like to immerse themselves in fan-created additions for Myth II and don't have a broadband connection; for those people, Myth II: Worlds is perfect. For those of us with good connections, or even for people just looking to get into the series, I have to recommend Myth: The Total Codex instead--with the original game along with the sequel, not to mention a lower price, it's a better deal if you don't need media with free expansions. While I can understand the market for this sort of thing, I doubt it's particularly large, and I have a feeling that Myth II: Worlds isn't what most people are looking for in a package of an older, classic game.
-Sunfall to-Ennien, GameVortex Communications AKA Phil Bordelon
Minimum System Requirements: Windows: Win9x/Me, P2 200, 64MB RAM, 500MB HD space, 4x CD-ROM, 16-bit video card w/ 4 MB VRAM, mouse, keyboard; Mac: PPC 601, 120MHz, System 7.5+, 64 MB RAM, 500MB HD space, 4x CD-ROM   Test System: Athlon 1.1GHz running Win98 SE, 512MB RAM, GeForce 2 GTS w/ 32MB RAM, SoundBlaster Live!, 8x DVD-ROM
Myst III: Exile Myth III: The Wolf Age