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Black And White 2 Preview

Posted by Zonk on from the more-molyneux-for-your-money dept.

Eurogamer has up a preview of the sequel to Black and White, imaginatively named Black and White 2. In the article Peter Molyneux, the game's designer, admits to some faults with the original title: "'It had really, really really terrible, awful tutorials,' he admits. 'The creature itself was broken, you couldn't really build things and people really wanted to build things, there weren't enough objectives in the game, the story couldn't reflect what you'd like. The list goes on.' As designer, programmer, co-founder of Lionhead Studios and even now OBE, Molyneux can afford this sort of candid admission, especially when there have been several years of retrospection. But that doesn't stop it from being a surprising admission, smiling openly as he talks to us about his newest foray into the god/strategy genre, Black & White 2. And it's clear that for this sequel, he isn't prepared to make the same mistakes twice."

3 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Problems with the first game? Heres a few.. by MooseMuffin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Level 1 and 2 were tutorial, and not really fun until toward the end of level 2. In level 3, in a ridiculous game design decision, your creature is stolen, taking the best part of the game away right as it gets fun. Level 4 is just hell, with fire raining from the sky and everything dying. At this point, the game goes from not fun, to just frustrating, and I stopped playing. Its unfortunate, somewhere between level 2 and 3 you got the hint that there was a really great game here.

  2. Sounds dishonest by Linus+Torvaalds · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sure, he's admitting it was deeply flawed now, with a sequel on the way, but back then, he was telling everybody that it was the dog's danglies. Now he's telling everybody that the sequel is great. What's the betting he's going to be admitting that B&W2 is deeply flawed when he's selling B&W3?

  3. It may have been broken, BUT... by defkkon · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Black & White was an awesome game. Despite its flaws - lack of missions, creature AI sometimes unable to control/predict, and lack of options with the villagers - it was an awesome game.

    Peter Molyneux has a reputation for promsing features and concepts that he can't deliver. Personally, I don't mind. He's not doing it because he's a sleezy salesman - he does it because he's a gaming visionary.

    B&W had the same effect that Fable had on me - you almost feel like you're playing something magical. Sounds lame, I know, but its true. Despite all the broken promises of Fable, the game truly sucked you in.

    Same thing happened with B&W. The entire time I played it, you almost feel like you're intruding on a whole other universe. It had a mystical feeling to it. As you you explored your island, you always had the feeling that anything could happen.

    I'm looking forward to Black and White 2, but I would still like to give props to the original.