Cheap Disciples II: Rise Of The Elves (Software) (Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Me) Price

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Customer Reviews of Disciples II: Rise Of The Elves

Beautiful Game!
This game has absolutely beautiful graphics. The graphics are 2D on the map-screen but combat uses gorgeous 3D pre-rendered characters. <
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> The game's replay-value is high because there are now 5 races to choose from: The Undead Hordes, The Legions of the Damned (Demons), The Empire (Human), The Mountain Clans (Dwarves) and the new Elven Alliance (Elves). Each race has its own unique units, goals and story. The enemies are the other races you are not playing as well as thugs, bandits, monsters and even an Undersea Race (if I remember correctly). <
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> This game is turn-based but this is good because it helps to plan your attacks between rounds. Usually I hate turn-based games but I loved this one. The only problem is that the publishers, Strategy First, opted to put the full 64-page manual on disc (as a PDF file) while providing only a 20-page PRINTED manual. Strategy First, manual second! <
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> You lead parties of a variety of units into battle for supremacy. Each race has missile-units, magical-units, fighter-units, leader-units and guardians (for your fortress). The units of each race have different types of attacks that are a lot of fun.

Best for Beginners
I am a newcomer to this series, having (finally) heard of it by recommendation of some acquaintances. Seeing as how this 'expansion pack' also includes the entire original Disciples 2, it was pretty clear that this is the one to get.

The game in itself is very well designed, engaging, and exciting. The latter observation is quite significant, since I'm not overly fond of turn based games due to the fact that many of them lack this trait. Despite the fact that you can take all day to make your decisions, Disciples 2 does make the action seem like... well... action. This is at least partly due to the nifty animated battle movements and the surprisingly nice 2-D graphics, but is largely a result of an excellent interface and compelling story.

The game basics are very easy to pick up, and after the tutorial and a brief glance at the manual, it's not a problem to just dive in. You start by choosing a 'lord,' which grants you a set of capabilities (e.g. the warrior lord's units regenerate health). You create parties by buying a leader (first one is free) and hiring units to join them. Aside from the usual moving of groups and securing resources, you have to make critical choices in unit upgrades and spell research. These can easily make or break a mission (termed 'quests' in Disciples) and result in a rather lengthy spate of replaying (or cheating).

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Disciples is the various races' units, which have significantly different capabilities. This isn't Alpha Centauri or Imperialism, where everyone can deploy the same stuff. The Undead, for example, have several units that are immune to weapon attacks but are expensive and very susceptible to magic attack. The Empire has superior healers, the Mountain Clans are generally tougher, and all of the Legion's leaders can fly. The balance is excellent despite these differences, and it adds replay value to scenarios since you must employ significantly different strategies with each race.

The single play campaign includes a saga of about 8 missions for each of the four races, plus several scenarios that tie into the plot. Aside from a few briefing movies, most of the story takes place via dialogue popups ingame. This might seem a bit dull compared to cinematic-packed games like Warcraft 3, but it gets the point across nonetheless. Multiplay capabilities include 'hotseat,' which lets you take turns on the same PC, internet, and LAN games.

Now, about that expansion. The new elven race includes several units from the original game, plus a slew of new ones (including, of course, new leaders and a thief). The elven strength is in its archers and superior leader move points. Elven healers are also nearly as capable as the Imperial ones, and have the ability to ward the party. The elves use a new type of mana- grove- to power their spells.

The campaign is longer than any of the original ones, but not as well done. Some of the maps are enormous, and two missions in particular are extremely long. The story is somewhat perplexing, and a bit less imaginative and believable than the original quest line. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I won't go into any further details. The written dialogue is also full of grammatical errors. Someone seems to have fired the editor.

Despite its flaws, I enjoyed the expansion. It was quite challenging at times, and the new race certainly adds flavor to the game. It really is a great game at that, and an immensely good value. Any RPG fan can appreciate Disciples 2, even if they aren't particularly engaged by turn-based games.