es2q+@andrew.cmu.edu (Erik Warren Selberg) (12/09/90)
well, here's a follow-up to my original post, now that I've solved the
game. All in all, I was _very_ disappointed, as I thought it would
take me at least through Christmas break to solve the thing. Anyway,
more on that later.
The game: Wizardry II, sequel to the ever-popular Wizardry I. The
goal is to retreive the "Staff of Gnilda" which will make everyone
happy. To do this, you have to (a) get some characters from Wiz I,
(b) venture into the maze, (c) tromp monsters, (d) solve some puzzles,
and (e) come out with the staff.
Playing the game is very simple; for those of you who've played Wiz I
on the Mac, virtually nothing has changed, save a few new graphics.
Moving around in the maze is akin to Wiz I, Might & Magic, and the
rest: you're in a grid, and you move forward, turning right, left, or
around. Stairs are represented as stripes on either the roof or
floor, which is kinda sad compared to the rest of the maze graphics
(the best I've seen, albeit no animation like Citadel). Secret doors
are also better handled -- they're more like dim outlines not then the
obvious grey from Wiz I.
Fighting too hasn't changed - you're greeted with 3 windows, a
player status window, monster window, and instructions window. You
simply select what each character does, and then the fight proceeds.
Combat itself isn't seen -- you just say "Lord Erik: fighting" or
"Raist: avoiding", rather than something like Ultima or Citadel. The
fighting itself isn't bad, but it gets mindless after a while.
There are also a few puzzles, but they're so unbelievable easy
(most of them are riddles, and all save one where you have to read the
dippy pamphlet are obvious).
Other than fighting and riddle-solving, there isn't much else
to the game. There are only 6 levels, as compared to 10 in the
original. The maze is 20x20, so it isn't too bad.
Since the game hasn't changed much interface-wise from Wiz I, I'll
mark new (improvements) with a (*).
Pros:
The game itself is easy to play, a mark of thinking by those who made
it (kudos, Robert)
Characters are cool -- there is a list of priest/mage spells, as well
as random items that can come in handy. The classes are
well-represented, and there are enough gadgets to make them fun.
Fighting is easy to do, but not much excitement.
(*) Maze graphics now make it look like you're in a maze, although as
with M & M and Citadel, there are only a limited number of pictures,
so it may seem as if you've been somewhere before.
(*) in fighting, you have a window which shows icons of what the
monsters look like. They move now (ok, so, it's not too impressive,
but it looks cool).
(*) you can use characters from Wiz I (in my case, my Ultra-Beefy
dudes)
Cons:
(*) you HAVE to use characters from Wiz I. What this means is YOU
CANNOT BUY WIZ II WITHOUT HAVING BOUGHT WIZ I AND MADE SOME <good>
CHARACTERS! Yes folks, Wiz II is a strict sequel (to coin a phrase in
another message), and as most monsters are kinda strong (7th-level or
higher), you'll need big dudes to survive. Therefore, buy Wiz I
first.
PS - they do say this on the box
PPS - they DON'T say this when you use Mail-order.
Stair graphics are sad (stripes on the ceiling/floor? Come on...)
_Very_ few changes in the game besides a new maze. $30 for a new
scenario file is kinda steep, in my view.
(*) Bug/Annoyance: there are some magical items which allow you to choose
whether or not to use the powers when you equip the item. A lot of
the time, equipping and invoking the powers simply make the item go
away, without any message as to what happened. Having no message is a
_big_ oversight in my opinion if this is supposed to happen (something
like "You weren't powerful enough to equip this!") or a BIG bug if it
isn't.
Dark areas -- there are some areas what are dark, even with your
continual light spell. To be frank, this is a shit thing to do to
players. In order to map out the dark region, you have to run into a
lot of walls. It would be acceptable if you could see the walls
around you in one square (ie you couldn't see 2 squares out, but you
wouldn't have to see if you can move in all 4 directions every
square).
(*) Puzzles -- you're asked a bunch of riddles, and they're all pretty
mindless. Not much of a challenge there, at all.
Combat -- with my characters, who are 20-30th level, I just tromped
through the game. I was slightly impressed when I found some High
Priests casting Malikto at me, but I got bored and Tiltowait'd them
away.
(*) Crystals -- through the game, you'll get six colored crystals. I
never found a use for them, even though I solved the thing.
(*) Fuzzballs -- a particulary annoying monster which gives you next to no
experience (1/per), has 100% (or around 99%) magic resistance, takes
200 hp to kill, and cals for help consistantly, so you keep having to
fight them. These are just aggravating, and don't add fun to the
game.
---
Results:
I personally was very disappointed with the game. While it is still
Wizardry, and it still retains the flavor of the original, nothing has
changed. I'm playing the same game with bigger characters, slightly
bigger monsters, but only 6 levels deep. With powerful characters
(which I suspect a lot of people have, considering it's been 4 or 5
years since the original came out), the game isn't even worth it.
It can be fun, and will probably bring about 10 hours worth of play...
but personally, I think that my money would have been better spent
elsewhere.
Numbers:
Playability: 7 -- only for the dark areas, but otherwise it's very
easy to get to use.
Difficulty: 0 -- I walked through it.
Originality: 1 -- new mazes, icons. Ooh baby, it took 4 years for
those.
Graphics: 4 -- icons & maze was cool, but no animation. Stairs suck.
Price: $29 MacWarehouse.
total: 3, out of 10.
...they call me fluppie...
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