King's Bounty II

King's Bounty 2 is a classic turn-based strategy enriched with RPG elements, which is set in a fantasy world. The title is produced by the Russian studio 1C Entertainment, which was also responsible for the first part of the series. It was released in 2008 on a PC and was fully inspired by the legendary Heroes of Might & Magic series and the original King's Bounty from 1990. It's worth mentioning that the title has received numerous spin-offs and independent additions, which appeared regularly for six years since its debut.

Plot

King's Bounty 2 takes us to the new fantastic world called Antara. During its construction, its creators were inspired by more realistic fantasy universes, such as those found in the popular novel series Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. On the outskirts of Antara, a mysterious plague slowly spreads, killing or distorting people, plants and animals. The miserables fleeing from the consequences of the war are heading for the kingdom of Nostria, which after many years of prosperity is now on the brink of civil war. During the game we play the role of three different heroes who, through their actions, will influence the shape and future of the kingdom.

Mechanics

King's Bounty 2 is divided into two segments. In the first one, we travel through the three-dimensional world, observing it from the third person perspective, as in many classic RPG productions. As mentioned above, players control one of the three pre-assigned heroes. Each of them has its own history and character. When we make decisions and perform certain actions during the campaign, we influence the ideas they hold (strength, art, order and anarchy). They change the way NPCs react to us and shape the world around us. The campaign puts a lot of emphasis on the player's choices. Some of them will influence the course of the plot and will have serious repercussions. During the game there will be no shortage of difficult moral problems, but more down-to-earth concerns will also be important, such as building friendly relations with the inhabitants of the visited cities.

The second segment of the game consists of turn-based battles, in which dozens of different opponents stand against our warrior team, which consists of many different units (people, elves, trolls, etc.). Hexagonal maps are more interesting than the first one. King's Bounty offering many previously inaccessible tactical options such as terrain. The combat system has been developed in a similar way, players have more types of orders and options to manage their troops.

Technical aspects

King's Bounty 2 is the debut of the brand on consoles and has been enriched with numerous features facilitating gameplay on these platforms (modified interface and support for controllers), which are also available on PCs. The audiovisual setting is very good. The three-dimensional models of characters and surroundings were made with attention to detail. The soundtrack of the title is at an equally high level.