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)

Brilliant idea, massive potential, flawed but fun result.

The Good
Dungeon Keeper 2 is all about being the bad guy-- instead of being a hero on a quest to kill the evil Hoozabugub, be the evil Hoozabugub and torture, slay, and corrupt those pesky heroes that keep invading your domain!

The game begins with controlling your Imps, little magical fiends, to build and dig tunnels. When you find magical portals, troops will start arriving, like Goblins and Warlocks. Build them places to sleep, train, practice their magic, etc, and they'll get happier; more and more powerful minions will come to do your bidding, and your domain grows...

This game is brimming with humor and style. Every creature has a unique resting palce it makes for itself-- it's hilarious seeing the Mistresses lock themselves up in an Iron Maiden for the first time. (That's not all, those girls will torture themselves and each other when they have nothing else to do). You can torture hapless heroes, control an army of Bile Demons, and lead attacks on heroic citadels. When you build a casino and one of your creatures wins the jackpot, everyone in the casino will start dancing along to a tune that comes out of nowhere-- each creature has a unique dance animation. Any game that makes goblins disco gets points from me! On top of it all, you can slap your minions when they misbehave, and the results are just hilarious. You never run out of slap points either-- you're the boss here!

An interesting feature is taking possession of your troops. When you do this, you can control them from a first person perspective. This feels like a first person action game in itself (albiet a sub-par one, as the graphics were designed for viewing from a distance). Other fun spells add interesting touches to the game, all with funny results.

The Bad
While the game had loads of potential, it really didn't utilize it all the way. The campagins feel rather bland and the mutliplayer map selection is incredibly limited. This, unfortunatly, stifles the replay value and quite sadly stops it from becoming a classic in my book.

The AI is also incredibly, nightmarishly hard. While this may be viewed as a good thing, I have yet to win a single deathmatch against the computer (the default campaigns are mostly scripted, you're not fighting other dungeon keepers, so this dosen't come into play). Ouch!

The Bottom Line
Dungeon Keeper II, while falling short of being a classic, is still a wonderful game that'll keep you playing for a good few weeks. Keep it on your hard drive, and return to it every now and then for a fun play and a good laugh.

Windows · by ShadowShrike (277) · 2003

It's GOOD to be BAD!

The Good
Oh no! Another 3D game! I hate 3D games! Uh...hey wait a minute...this one's actually playable...hmm and no bugs either. Wow, if they managed to make a 3D game without bugs...then boy it's worth a try!

For some stupid reason, I thought Dungeon Keeper had to do with Dungeons and Dragons...which is why I bought it in the first place. Although I should've known from all the hints and clues starting from those 2 idiots on the cover art...ah...some mistakes turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

This is the first kind 3D RTS I've played. Some idiot on another review said this is a C&C clone? Either he's never played C&C or didn't pay close attention, or I'm the one who's blind. Either way, unlike C&C, in this game you actually welcome any additional difficulty or additional enemies that come knocking on your door - Bring it on!

A lot of RTS games are quite irritating when if comes to difficulty. To them (C&C, AOE, etc.), difficulty has to do with the enemies starting with additional resources, but less on actually difficult AI. In Dungeon Keeper 2, you don't have to worry about sudden sneak attacks early on the game that suddenly flattens your empire.

This game is all about tactics and strategy in the pure sense. In this game, your more of a "governor" than a military chief. Like other RTS, its a combination of building prowess and military might. Most RTS's focus on military might where buildings are just a means to an end. In Dungeon Keeper 2, its the other way around. Military might is mediocre compared to the importance of buildings. Your survival practically depends on your analytical mind of arcitectual engineering. You have to plan and place rooms as if your were a city planner. You have to maintain a balance of the various different rooms (buildings) you build that will eventually support your hellish armies. You can create various traps and defenses to defend your domain from enemy attack, while commanding your own troops to do what they were payed to do. The good thing about attacking in this game, you don't have to watch your troops 100% of the time. For some strange reason, I'm not complaining that I don't have full control over my troops...this coming from a military control freak. They must've done something good.

Another thing is that in relation to the story line (which isn't bad but needs work), I've discovered that there are bonus units you can have. Like priests and Dark Angels. Unfortunately for my IQ level, I failed to get them, but the game continues. So I had it a little difficult compared to those who followed the plot.

Last but not least, the game has a positive...er evil sense of humor. I really love that torture chamber. The cut scenes are so funny! My favorite is the monster using chickens as a double stick.

The Bad
Well, once in a while, I would wish for smoother graphics as those goblins and imps look kinda weird sometimes. But that would mean an introduction to whole hell of bugs, so I'm happy regardless.

I think the tutorial or certain special abilities need further explanation. It took me forever to find out you could actually convert enemies without killing them in the torture chamber. No one told me you had to heal them! Why would anyone want to heal a prisoner while he's being tortured? Little things like that would be nice to know.

The FPS (Possessed Mode) is kinda awful, playable but if you don't have to, don't use it. That's probably what the developers had in mind in the first place...wouldn't want to change the game more exiting as a FPS than an RTS.

The Bottom Line
You know, having horns may not be a bad idea...

Windows · by Indra was here (20756) · 2004

More Chicken Slappin' Goodness

The Good
The Missions are extremely well varied...No more wipe off every single enemy on the map every level anymore...now there are infiltrations, blockades, assaults you name it...

The first person mode has been very much improved in this game...the controls are good. From the fly's multi-faceted eyes, to the slit in the helmet in a black knight, DKIII never lets off any detail. You can have groups!!!, although grouping is kinda tedious...

The new units are more balanced than the old ones...no more flooding your opponents w/ hell hounds and demon spawns...There is also much more unit variety...and each of them are required to maintain the dungeon (w/ the exception of the goblin...)...and the bile demon is back!!!

The cutscenes are hilarious...

Chicken slapping!!!...call the animal rights foundation if you want...but chicken slapping is an essential part to good DK gaming...

Dark mistress...mmmm...Scantily dressed women w/ whips...mmmm...slurp...

The Bad
The multiplayer aspect of the game leaves much to be desired...but its the single player game + my pet dungeon should last you quite a long time...

Maybe the dark mistress should wear even less...hehehe :-)

The Bottom Line
DKII stands out as one of the best RTS every made...much better than the sea of C&C clones out there...remember, its good to be evil...

Windows · by MadCat (53) · 2000

[ 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.