From Psygnosis
This is a second game based on the fantasy novels of Terry Pratchett. Reading some of the Discworld novels is recommended before you try to play the game. Not necessary, but recommended because it will give you some idea of what to expect. If you have played Discworld, you will have some idea of what to expect. This game is much better supplied with hints as you try to solve the puzzles and so is much easier. Not that it is too easy, it is just easier than the first game.
You are Rincewind, a not very successful wizard of the Unseen University. Death is missing and without him, the dead are failing to stay that way and returning as zombies. You need to gather the materials so the archchancellor may use a ritual to call death. But will that be the end of your problems...
The game is in acts and you must accomplish certain goals to finish each act. Usually the goal is quite easy to determine, you are told the final goal. How to get there...that is the problem.
The main voice are by Eric Idle (Rincewind), Nigel Planer, Kate Robbins and Rob Brydon. The characters are entertaining and some very good lines are used in the game. This time around they've also thrown in a play on Eric's name, and some gratitutous Monty Python humour. Don't worry, you can't miss the latter, they tell you while the the scene is happening. Some of the game characters are new, others you've seen before.
If you have played Discworld 1, you'll notice that the graphics have improved, the sound should be better (one of the noticable bugs on my machine is real problems with the sound), and generally the game play has improved.
Pay close attention at all times to Rincewind's comments. Quite frequently, he is giving you a hint about the object you are trying to use or about the person you are talking to. In fact, you can tell one of the major complaints about the first game was the lack of hints, sometimes there's a very pointed, "Not that I'm hinting or anything," tacked on to the end of a comment..
When you don't know what to do next, try reviewing all the major locations. I couldn't finish Act 1 until I realised that there was more to Mrs. Cake's place then met the eye at first. Try talking to every character and use items from the inventory on each other or on something. Once again, Rincewind may well give you a clue as to what can be right, if you try something wrong.
As in the first game, do be sure to periodically use the cursor on Rincewind. He has a number of things to say when you 'tap' him with the cursor, most of them are interesting to say the least. Also trying to use items on Rincewind can provoke a few interesting replies.
This is exactly the same interface as the previous game. There are a number of characters in the game, and you'll need to talk with all of them. Conversations are icon-based. The standard icons are greeting, sarcasm, question, musing and goodbye. Musing is yet another place where they've loaded the game with hints. Sometimes there will be additional icons available about specific things (candles, pyramids, and other items).
There are only a few characters that you'll need to talk to more than once. If you're stuck, it is more likely that you've missed an item, or an entire room than you need to talk to a character again.
Sound keeps doing very odd things on my computer. I have found that there is a patch file that should fix the problem. In spite of the number of games that I own, this is the first time I've found the patch to be vital.
The box says that a 486 100MHz computer should be able to run this game. My computer was finding it difficult to process all the sound, movements and mouse-clicks at the same time. The patch improved the situation, but there were still times (the XXXX continent) where it was more reliable to use the keyboard rather than click a mouse button.
A worthy successor to the first game. Long term adventure game players may find this one too easy, especially if you thought the first one was reasonably difficult. For the rest of us, this is a satisfying game.
This game gets top marks for animation, sounds and puzzles. There are no critical timing puzzles, you cannot kill Rincewind, and most of the puzzles are fair. There were a few times when you might start using everything in the inventory just because you're stuck, (now why should I have guessed that those two items combined anyway?) but there are only a few of them relative to the first game. It is sometimes difficult to determine where additional rooms are but there are no pixel-hunt puzzles. Unlike the first game, I never needed a hint or walk-through file to solve any part of this game.
Thank heavens, the game designers did learn from the first game. Not only were the hints much better in this game, but you didn't keep getting Rincewind saying "That doesn't work," over and over again. Instead, he give you a bit of a reason why that doesn't work or what might work.
A much easier but equally funny adventure game is Toonstruck. Sam and Max Hit the Road may also appeal to you. Also Monkey Island though that one isn't as easy to find these days.