Privateer 2: The Darkening

aka: The Darkening
Moby ID: 363
DOS Specs

Description official descriptions

Privateer 2: The Darkening is a follow-up to Wing Commander: Privateer. The player takes control of Ser Lev Arris, who is searching to regain his identity and memory. Like its predecessors, the game combines space combat simulation with exploration and trading. Along the way, the player can trade commodities, go on missions, attack strange mutants, rescue damsels in distress, meet weird characters, and visit unusual planets. It is possible to hire wingmen and cargo ships, as well as upgrade the current ship or buy new ones. Live-action movies advance the story.

Spellings

  • 银河私掠者2:黑暗之渊 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

262 People (253 developers, 9 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 82% (based on 17 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 65 ratings with 10 reviews)

For you to like this game you have to forget that this is a sequel and treat it as a totaly different product.

The Good
Great plot, large universe to play in and easy controls. I didnt like the idea of cargo ships at first but after a while it grows on you. Now i doubt that I would want to go back to the old way.

The Bad
The bad parts of this game are all well covered by the other reviews. And mostly I agree with the many problems that Privateer II has. However I do not think it is fair to totaly hate this game. Yes the designers went way off track with this title and yes they made parts of the game that were so great in the other game, terrible in this one. But for me when I started to play this game I fell in love with the story line. So what I did was treat this as a brand new title and didnt compare it to Privateer. At first I was angry that this had little to do with the orginal. But after you spend your allotment of cash (for single guys when you are married you go back to the allowence system again) you try to make do with what you got. (note: I could not return it) When the game was over I didnt think it was a great great game, but I though it had a place in my top 50 of all time. However I can totaly understand why Privateer fans hate this game with a passion. I can because I am a avid Privateer fan and when I started this game, like I said before I was ticked off.

The Bottom Line
To non privateer players give it a try just remember that the orginal is TOTALY different. To privateer fans if you cant seperate the two games dont bother.

DOS · by William Shawn McDonie (1131) · 2001

Goodish

The Good
This was actually quite good - a campy space opera crossed with 'Elite', although for more of that see the next section. Starring the deadpan Clive Owen, the FMV sequences seemed to understand that they were rubbish, and were therefore amusing in a cheesy way - and anything that has Mathilda May in it can't be all bad. The game itself is a simplified space trading game, with attractive, non-3D accelerated graphics produced by Argonaut's 'bRender' system. It's fun for a while, the presentation works with the game instead of against it, and although you'll skip through the FMV the second time you see it, it's not bad at all.

The Bad
That said, it's a bit too restrictive to be a proper space trader. There are only a few planets to visit, not much to do, and skipping back and forth becomes quite tedious after a while. Some of the space battles are almost-unfairly hard to start with, although once you realise that you can hire giant, armoured transporters it becomes a lot easier. Apart from that, it's not particularly offensive.

The Bottom Line
A decent modern arcadey space-trader, not particularly special but not awful either.

DOS · by Ashley Pomeroy (225) · 2000

This one was just "different" from Privateer; better in some areas, worse in others.

The Good
I thought the graphics were awesome, the plot was fun to watch, and the battles were great. The missions were a little tougher, but a little creativity could give you success.

The Bad
I hate the fact you have to clear a system of enemies before you could jump. It would just be annoying when you'd clear it, then another bad guy would jump in just as you would get ready to leave. In a couple of cases when this happened repeatedly, I'd find myself in a damaged ship and losing my fighting capability and it would turn into a lost cause. This was frustrating. While it's not always noble, it would be nice to have the OPTION to run away when you needed to.

The Bottom Line
Go read the Privateer script, then improve the graphics and add movie clips to describe the story-line. It's a fun game which has a few quirks.

DOS · by Spectre (126) · 2000

[ View all 10 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Will editing money make you skip side quests? Kreshna Aryaguna Aug 15, 2012

Trivia

For as much of a new game as it is, there is at least one nod to the original Privateer in the sequel. There's a random mission in which you have to approach and identify a derelict starfighter. Nothing major, but upon contact with the ship you'll see that it's a 3d-rendered version of the Talon, the singlemost common ship in the original Privateer. Look for it in the manual also.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Raphael.

Windows added by Reptil3.

Additional contributors: Zovni, Silverblade, CaesarZX, SGruber.

Game added November 2, 1999. Last modified March 26, 2024.