Dungeon Keeper 2

aka: DK2
Moby ID: 533

Description official descriptions

Dungeon Keeper 2 is a "god game" which introduces the series to an entirely 3D engine (as opposed to the original's engine with 3D environments and 2D unit sprites). As before, the player is tasked with the construction, expansion and maintenance of dungeons, as well as attracting, managing, and utilizing various evil creatures to fight the forces of good. Several creatures, spells, traps, and rooms are new to the series, while others received a visual redesign at most, and some were even replaced. The series' trademark unit, the Horned Reaper, is now only called through a special support power and only one can be found on the map at a given moment. Spells are now cast using mana (an auto-generating resource proportional to the size of the dungeon) instead of gold, and can be upgraded once there are no new spells to research. Dropping creatures now stuns them (unless thrown into the new Combat Pit room).

The game's campaign has the player enter the land of good and conquer it region by region while staying in the underworld. Enemies either stay in fixed, protected areas, or execute sneak attacks from inopportune directions. The boss of each level holds a portal gem which is used to access the overworld (off-screen) and claim the region. The game also features skirmish and multiplayer modes, as well as a sandbox mode titled "My Pet Dungeon", where enemies only attack if the player wishes them to.

As of patch 1.61, the player can attract elite creatures, which are statistically more powerful than their standard counterparts and have a slightly different appearance, if rooms are built in specific layouts. Patch 1.7 also added another new unit, the Maiden of the Nest.

Spellings

  • ผู้พิทักษ์แดนอสูร 2 - Thai spelling
  • ダンジョンキーパー 2 - Japanese spelling
  • 地下城守护者 2 - Simplified Chinese spelling
  • 地城守護者2 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

164 People (160 developers, 4 thanks) · View all

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Reviews

Critics

Average score: 87% (based on 37 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 99 ratings with 11 reviews)

Fun for awhile, but not the game it purports to be

The Good
Excellent graphics, animations, sound, acting. Gameplay is fun for awhile, but gets repetitive. The ability to "possess" any of your creatures and run around in their bodies FPS-style is by far the best aspect of the game.

The Bad
Doesn't seem true at all to the original premise, which was for DK to be sort of an anti-D&D game. It was supposed to be dungeon-crawling from the point of view of the dungeon, but it comes off more like C&C, or any other your-army-against-mine RTS game. For me, it's totally lacking in the kind of atmosphere usually associated with Tolkienesque dungeon-crawling. Instead, you've got the devil (in the main character, Horny) and various lesser manifestations of evil inhabiting a hell-like world of fire and brimstone--almost a "builder" version of Diablo. It just doesn't jibe with my expectations of what the game should be.

The Bottom Line
A cross between Diablo and C&C. If you've always wanted to pit an army of nether-dwellers against an army of goody-goodies (though the actual differences between them are less than dramatic in practice), here's your chance.

Windows · by Jim Newland (56) · 2001

One of the only RTS games I ever liked.

The Good
I haven't played the original, so I can't make a comparison, but I can say that I am not, as a rule, a fan of RTS games. This one made me forget that. Every once in a while a game comes along that addicts me, usurping all my attention for several days or weeks. This is one such game.

The graphics, the sounds, the music, the cut-scenes - all deserve high praise.

I love the theme, though I was a little disappointed to be so often fighting fellow evil "Keepers" instead of good guys from above. I understood the game was to be about play evil vs. good, but more often it was evil vs. evil.

The campaign was great, with each mission growing progressively harder. Some levels took me several attempts to beat, building on what I had learned the previous time, and bringing me back more eager than ever each time anew. The campaign doesn't overwhelm you, though, since each new level introduces a new monster, room-type, trap, etc. Your knowledge base grows as you play.

The first-person aspect was well handled, I must admit, and sometimes quite important to victory. But contrary to all the other praise, it was my least favourite aspect of the game, and something I avoided as often as possible. I hated the inability to command the rest of my troops, monitor my torture victims and cast spells when I was in 1st person mode.

The Bad
I already mentioned the evil vs. evil aspect in the above section.

While the My Pet Dungeon concept really appealed to me, you have to build your own challenges in (I made up a random table using dice to determine when heroes would appear). Also, in the My Pet Dungeon mode, if you torture and convert an enemy, that enemy type is no longer available to come rampaging through your dungeon. Somebody messed up an "if-then" clause in the C code there.

I hated that mana was limited to 200,000. With the size of my dungeons, my mana was usually at that level, and it became almost pointless capturing enemy mana vaults or converting their tiles to yours (though I guess it does limit their mana).

The campaign was huge, but I wish it was even huger.

The Bottom Line
A wonderful and unique concept very well executed.

Windows · by Jeff Sinasac (391) · 2001

Technically a hands-OFF RTS, this is a true genre-bender

The Good
The multiple aspects of play, as you have to mix resource planning (manage both gold and mana), construction (all the different places), creature management, and even some occasionally first-person shooting. Playing EVIL is also a lot of fun, as you play the "good guy" in just too many games. Laying out traps and defenses is also a lot of fun. The multiple ways to gain a larger army are really cool.

The Bad
The hands-off aspect of the game can sometimes be very frustrating, until you get the "Call to Arms" spell, which calls EVERY one of your creatures to rally at the flag, even if it's in enemy territory. Then you realize this calls EVERY creature, leaving you NO defense at all... You also can't control what creatures to get, at least not directly. It also requires a lot of personal micro-management for optimum efficiency, when you really just want to play.

The Bottom Line
Dungeon Keeper 2 IS a very unique real-time game. In some way, it's like an RTS game, as you build structures and get units. On the other hand, a limit on the number of creatures you can get per "portal" means you may have to "recruit" other units via other means, such as torture/conversion. Rushing is not really an option when you can train your creatures to higher experience levels. You also only build the structures, and hopefully attract the creatures you want, as different creatures like different structures. Building a good defensible dungeon is important as trap laying becomes very important when most of your creatures are off fighting.

Resource management is crucial, as gold is a limited resource, while mana regenerates over time. As you must pay your creatures, you do not have unlmited time to build up a huge army (nor can you, as portals are limited). Mana can be used up in many different ways, from creating imps and throwing thunderbolts to call your creatures to battle and recon the surrounding terrain.

However, the game is much more than just an RTS with a 3D engine. You can actually possess one of your creatures, thus gaining all of its abilities, including special talents and even some creature spells. Possess a warlock, and you can cast fireballs. Possess a dark elf, and you can use the "sniper" bow. This is the only "true" way to "lead" an army, and is actually a LOT of fun. You CAN win without doing this, but it's a lot easier to win by doing so.

The game also rewards micromanagement. Cast heal spells during the battle can turn the tide. Move the imps from one area to another will "reschedule" their priority. Slap a creature and it'll get a temporary increase in speed/morale (at the expense of a little health). Converting enemy units are not easy as they often die in your torture chamber if you don't keep an eye on their health.

You can play DK2 like a regular RTS, but you'll be sorely disappointed. Better enjoy it for what it is: a true multi-genre cross-over product that is worth getting to see what kind of creativity game designers have when they go for the games.

Windows · by Kasey Chang (4598) · 2001

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
DK3 Indra was here (20756) Aug 20, 2010

Trivia

Dungeon Keeper 3 trailer

A game trailer for Dungeon Keeper 3 is available for viewing from the Main Menu-->Extras page. An official Dungeon Keeper 3 has never been released.

Gags

  • Dungeon Keeper 2 can keep tabs on the system time. Play too late into the night, and the advisor will tell the player (out of the blue and with no warning): "Your nocturnal presence has prompted the following secret hint: GO TO BED!"
  • If the player doesn't do anything for a while, the game will say: "The very rock yawns in expectation of your next, fascinating move."
  • If a dungeon attracts almost exclusively Dark Mistresses, the advisor will say: "You have an excess of Mistresses... There's a word for Keepers like you..."

German version

In the German version the blood around corpses was removed and the torture animations were changed so that the torturing itself can't be seen. This is normally

Horny

Unlike in the original Dungeon Keeper, the Horned Reaper in this game, Horny, cannot be summoned in every level where the player has the right ingredients. In Dungeon Keeper 2, Horny is a unique character who must be specially summoned, and cannot appear more than once at a time.

References

Whenever the player selects a spell, an eerie voice says the spell's name in Latin. The Latin name for the Create Gold spell read by the advisor is Expressus Americanus. This is an obvious joke referring to the American Express credit cards.

Secrets

Build a casino and set the bar at "generous". When one of the monsters wins the jackpot, the advisor loudly announces: "Jackpot winner!" and Disco Inferno begins playing throughout the dungeon. In addition, all monsters inside the casino will begin disco-dancing, each with their own style and moves. This little moment of evil frivolity lasts a couple of minutes.

Playstation version

At the end of the 1998 reveal trailer (Horny's Interview, [https://youtu.be/ZVVa84gacqY mirror available here]), Dungeon Keeper 2 was announced to be "Soon available for PC, Playstation and TV. The PlayStation version was eventually cancelled, and so was the TV version (whatever it was intended to be).

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • March 2000 (Issue #188) – Best Voice Acting of the Year (for The Keeper)

Information also contributed by Bhatara Dewa Indra I, DreamWeaver, Jake Beasley, Jason Musgrave and Kasey Chang.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tony Van.

Additional contributors: Yeah No, Michael Dionne, analoguedragon, Paulus18950, SGruber, Barbarian_bros, Patrick Bregger, Plok, Abhisit Chanmana.

Game added December 5, 1999. Last modified March 7, 2024.