Shadow of the Beast II

A sequel to Shadow of the Beast, that creepy game you know and love. The evil beast Mage Zelek has kidnapped your baby sister in order that she might be trained for the position of Beast Messenger. You find you way to Kara-Moon, Zelek's stronghold. You have to extract information from Kara-Moon's residents as well as watch out for Zelek's minions and the traps they've laid for you. Collect gold, weapons and food. The animated movie sequences are interesting and will give you clues. This is a game into which you can really sink your teeth into.

The first Beast game was a bit of a disappointment but the sequel has been tarted up and the Amiga intro has been retained. It's a pity that the graphics are slightly dodgy and the scrolling a bit suspect as otherwise this would be quite a respectable little beat'em-up. The interactive puzzle-solving element prevents the game from becoming just another regular product but even so it could have been better than this. Shadow of the Beast II still suffers from some of the problems of the original, i.e. frustrating gameplay and very little to do. Fans of the first will lap it up, but it's not that different.

The plight of your family makes the Simpsons look cosy. I mean first there was that unfortunate incident where you were kidnapped and turned into a beast-messenger by Maletoth, the Beast Lord. Years of mindless servitude ended only when you saw your father sarificed to Meltoth. This broke the spell which had controlled you, freeing you to confront the forces of darkness. Using your beast powers you fought through dozens of monsters and traps to defeat Zelek, the Beast Mage. Your victory returned you to humanoid form and calmed your blood rage.

Shadow of the Beast 2 features some cool background effects and nice music. The only real drawback is that the game get repetitive and the six worlds seem to go by pretty quickly.

Granted, this game isn't the greatest thing to come around since Pamela Anderson. Because it is hard to control and the graphics aren't all that good, the average player may shut this game off after about ten minutes, but it's a solid effort that makes you think, pisses you off and when you finally finish it, gives you a great deal of satisfaction. That's not bad for a game idea that's as old as, well, your shadow.

In the final analysis it has to be said that the faults of Beast 2 severely outweigh its good points. It's a complete mystery to me why it's been so highly praised elsewhere. Either the game was reviewed on the basis of someone playing it for them or with the aid of a cheat. Or maybe they just like impossible challenges. I don't. I admire the technical achievement this program represents, but I would have admired a good game even more.

Die Erwartungen waren hoch: Wird die Grafik tatsächlich so schön sein, wie es die ersten Screenshots versprachen? Wurde dismal auf eine preistreibende Luxusausstattung verzichtet? Und vor allem: Ist die Spielbarkeit besser als beim ersten Teil? Kurz und schmerzlos: Beast II ist eine herbe Enttäuschung. Dabei fängt alles so wunderbar an – zum Einstieg gibt es einen fantastischen Trickfilm voll herlicher Sounds und Animationen. Tief beeindruckt sieht man zu, wie ein Fledermaus-Monster zu einer einsamen Hütte fliegt, und dort ein schreiendes Baby aus seiner Wiege zu entführen. Die „verfilmte“ Vorgeschichte hat bloß einen Haken: Sie läßt sich nicht abstellen, bei jedem Neustart ist das volle Kidnappung-Programm angesagt. Zudem beansprucht die aufwendige Eröffnungssequenz eine ganze Disk für sich alleine.

Einst warst Du der Sklave der furchtbaren Bestie, doch Du besiegtest nach langem Kampf die unheilvolle Kreatur, die dich geknechtet hatte. Aber die bösen Mächte ruhen nicht, sondern sinnen auf Rache - man könnte auch sagen: Die Programmierer ruhen nicht und sinnen auf die Fortsetzung eines erfolgreichen Spiels. Nach dem Aufsehen, das Psygnosis' Grafikspektakel "Shadow of the Beast" erregte, war es nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis der Nachfolger erscheinen würde.

Die Atari-Version ist ein schwacher Abklatsch des Amiga-Vorbildes. Die Farbpracht ist einfallsloser, bei der Musik ist auch nicht viel los. Daß das T-Shirt (Packungsbeilage der Amiga-Version) nicht vorhanden ist, kann man verschmerzen, die lahme Steuerung jedoch nicht.

Jaw-dropping graphics, and, er, um... that's it. Your first few goes will be shorter than the accessing pauses between them. The Roger Dean T-shirt is nauseous. £34.95? Get out of here!