Since its release, Myth has remained one of the most advanced and innovative real-time strategy games on the market, wielding some of the most impressive graphical effects that the strategy genre has ever seen. Now, about one year later, Bungie has returned with Myth II: Soulblighter, a game that is one of the best sequels to hit the market. This is what sequels are supposed to be! Set sixty years after the Great War against the Fallen Lords (the original Myth), the people have returned once again to peace and tranquillity. After responding to complaints of grave robbing in a small town called Willow Creek you must lead another struggle against the fallen, who are now led by Soulblighter, the last of the Fallen Lords. As in the original, each mission is proceeded by a diary-style monologue that reveals the plot up to that point, as well as a brief anime-style cartoon about every four missions. Myth II does an excellent job of varying all twenty-five of the missions and their settings. There is a huge variety of backdrops, from the open daytime of a castle to the stormy bows of a ship to the dark depths of a haunted dungeon. Like the original, environment has a huge effect on the game. For example, rain and snow will extinguish a dwarf's explosions, and upper ground gives advantages over those below. In the end Myth II offers some of the most creative and realistic environments in the industry. Bungie made a few important adjustments when designing the control system in the sequel, but kept the overall idea the same. As a result, fans of the original Myth should feel extremely at ease with the controls of Myth II. While the keyboard can still be used to move, rotate and zoom the camera, players can now perform these tasks with the mouse. A control bar at the bottom provides easy access to "commonly used features," the most important being troop formations. Movement orders can now be given at both the overhead map and the battlefield. And lastly, the two most important changes since the original are the use of the keyboard arrows to rotate characters (replacing the gesture click) and the availability of clear mission objectives at anytime during the mission. Bungie also made a few tweaks to the game's 3D engine. There are more polygons and more frames of animation, an impressive feat given the low minimum system requirements. The amazing landscape design, smooth and detailed texture maps and great terrain effects are all still there, but with larger variation. The terrain has many more highs and lows meaning deeper canyons and higher plateaus. In addition, improved water, shadow, and particle-based fire effects all help lead to the overall sense of awe that you experience when playing the game. Probably the most aggravating aspect of the original Myth was the complete lack of unit intelligence. Dwarves were quick to throw explosives into a crowd of their own allies, just to kill one unit, and archers would shoot their own warriors in the back. Most of these annoyances have been removed from the sequel and, as a result, the game is much easier and more enjoyable. One of the most stressed aspects of the original Myth was extensive multiplayer support, and the sequel is no exception. Bungie's Myth network, Bungie.net, offers unlimited free Myth and Myth II network play with an user friendly interface. Like Myth, there are a huge number of different multiplayer modes, including Steal the Bacon, Assassins, and King of the Hill. In the end, whether playing single player or multiplayer, Myth II offers the best real-time strategy experience in the industry. It has everything that made Myth one of the best games of 1997, plus a free set of steak knives. Like The Empire Strikes Back and Fallout 2, Myth II is simply one of the best sequels ever designed. Back to Cry Havoc #27 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com