Rincewind to the rescue once more!
Written: Aug 30 '06 (Updated Jan 31 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice graphics, good gameplay, lots of humour...
Cons: ... repetitive dialogue, couldn't get sound to work
The Bottom Line: If you're a fan of Discworld or adventure games, you'll probably like it. If you're a fan of both, there's no question that you'll enjoy this game.
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| captaind's Full Review: Discworld 2 |
Discworld 2: Mortality Bytes is the second of the (so far) three computer games by Perfect Entertainment based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. Like the first game it has you playing the part of extremely put-upon wizard Rincewind, who must find out why people are dying and then… sort of getting up and walking around, and not dying in the traditional way. (Fans of the novels will recognise this as the basic plot from Reaper Man.) In a 2D point and click adventure game, where you must travel around various locations, solving puzzles, talking to the various characters that populate the game, and try to work out just what you’re meant to do with that rubber chicken with a pulley in it. (Sorry, wrong game.)
The fantasy world of the Disc is lovingly recreated here, the graphics aren’t amazing by today’s standards but still look pretty good. They are detailed, beautifully coloured, and well animated (not smoothly animated perhaps, but there is plenty of detail in the animation and they are often quite amusing). Unfortunately I couldn’t get the sound to work at all, even with the little freeware program I usually use with these older games. I know that Rincewind is voiced by Eric Idle, who I think is an ideal choice to do it – sadly I’ll have to go on thinking rather than knowing. Still, the lack of sound doesn’t stop this from being a very playable and enjoyable game.
The point and click interface is very intuitive and the conversation chooser is based on icons representing different topics or, for instance, questions, sarcasm, inspiration (or attempts at inspiration). This works very well although the characters often repeat whole dialogues if you try them again, which is a little sloppy. On the whole the game is rather easier than the first Discworld game, which is just as well since the first was nearly impossible. The puzzles can still be a bit obscure but at least there is some identifiable logic to them, always a plus with this sort of game.
The game features many of the Discworld characters we’ve come to know and love, including:
Arch-Chancellor Ridcully – who of course sends you off on the thankless task of gathering the materials needed for the rite of Ashe Kente to summon Death, who’s obviously off on holiday or something.
Foul ole Ron – the beggar and his stench, which has a life of its own, lurking down in the Shades with his mates Henry Coffin (who gets paid not to turn up at social events) and the Duck Man, who wears a Duck on his head but won’t admit it.
Cassanunda – the world’s second greatest lover – and probably the shortest
Reg Shoe – equal rights for zombies!
Granny Weatherwax – she aintn’t dead…
The Librarian – who’s been turned into an ape, and has consistently refused attempts to turn him back.
Cut My Own Throat Dibbler – the man who’d sell you his own Grandmother (even if she were still alive and protesting), who’s now gone into the movie business (inspired by Moving Pictures
And many more…
The characters and humour are authentically Discworld, meaning you’ll either love it or hate it. There are plenty of sideswipes at pop culture too, and overall it’s an enjoyable game to play for the humour alone. It’s a good adventure game in its own right, however, with few drawbacks really apart from the rather repetitive nature of the conversations.
Overall I really enjoyed Discworld 2. It’s perhaps not one of the very best adventure games I’ve played, but it will keep adventure gamers happy for quite some time. Pity about the sound, it may just be a quirk with my system (XP with SP 2 installed). Other than the sound I didn’t have any problems with it at all and experienced no crashes. (Oh, don’t try to install it inside a folder – use the root directory or it’s not happy.)
Links
OTHER DISCWORLD GAMES
Discworld
Discworld Noir
OTHER ADVENTURE GAMES
The Monkey Island Archives (MI1-3)
Escape from Monkey Island (MI4)
Bladerunner
Grim Fandango
Law & Order 2: Double or Nothing
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars
Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror
Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon
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My Top Ten Commercial Graphical Adventure Games
Recommended:
Yes
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