Impire Review - Hellish in Every Way

[infohippie]

So disappointing. I have been waiting for a worthy successor to Dungeon Keeper for so long now. Quite apart from all the bugs, I don't understand why developers keep trying but failing in this genre. Dungeon Keeper got the formula pretty much right; I would be delighted with little more than a simple remake of that with modern graphics, some new creatures and rooms, and a bunch of new levels to slaughter.

 

[Abomination]

That's a shame, I was actually looking forward to to this one. Maybe I'll pick it up in 6 months when the worst of the bugs are ironed out.

same unfortunately. ill wait before i pick it up if i do at all.

not a defence but its made by paradox interactive. as a smaller publisher/developer their games are very buggy to the point of being unplayable in some cases at release but they have always kept up with making sure the games they release are fixed.

while it may sometimes take upwards of a year to iron out the worst bugs with paradox games they do eventually fix them thats something you can count on.

That is the faith I have in Paradox. They do have a great track record of sorting out certain issues.

In the first patch for the game they already addressed the camera scrolling issue and a bug I encountered in one of the missions that delayed (not prevented, just took a long while to trigger than it should) progression.

Unfortunately the core mechanics need things added to them such as more automated commands for minions and their squads.

I do like how you can have your 5 'special' squads that work together and gain special bonuses depending on their composition but the fact you can't hotkey your 'swarm' of minions and just use them as a brute force group is disappointing. Adding some automation to troops heading back for food would also be nice, allowing specific patrol routes and attack ladders on demand commands would be another thing to consider.

Essentially, with polish the game could be a really good experience (the story is a snarky bag of laughs), there's a lot of areas that require small additions or tweaks that I hope Paradox - in their historical manner - will get around to addressing.

 

[WilddoggX]

I've played the game and had a few technical issues but the reviewer is making a mountain out of a molehill. And since the patch it has worked perfectly fine. The gameplay isn't quite right and the DEC points are stupid but the game still has some charm during cut scenes. I think this reviewer gave up too early and the 1/5 was FAR too punishing.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Ya so far its not that bad, it load fast as hell for me, whats grueling is the unintuitive control system And deep learning curve.

I myself the crazy game nazi and modern game hater give it a 4-5 out of 10, I put Dungeons around a 7, I know it has issues and can be easy....I just loves it.

 

[NortherWolf]

I've played the game and had a few technical issues but the reviewer is making a mountain out of a molehill. And since the patch it has worked perfectly fine. The gameplay isn't quite right and the DEC points are stupid but the game still has some charm during cut scenes. I think this reviewer gave up too early and the 1/5 was FAR too punishing.

Erhm, it's Paradox, a company known for these kinds of things. So I think I'll take the reviewer's opinion over yours here chum. At least for a few months until they patch it.

 

[Kahani]

Recommendation: Dungeon Keeper 2 is available on Gog.com for $5.99.

Ouch.

I think this reviewer gave up too early and the 1/5 was FAR too punishing.

I haven't played it, but this is definitely the impression I get from reading other reviews. Flawed and rather boring, but not even close to as bad as claimed here. Considering how much other reviews here rip apart a game before giving it 3/5, this seems incredibly harsh.

Erhm, it's Paradox

Except that it isn't, it's Cyanide Studios. Mount and Blade was TaleWorlds and Magicka was Arrowhead. While the publisher should have at least some oversight, it's pretty silly to claim that a bunch of completely different games made by completely different people are somehow indicative of yet another different group of people having a particular problem.

 

[Nasrin]

I think this reviewer gave up too early and the 1/5 was FAR too punishing.

I have no doubt that they're continuing to fix things every day, and the more time that goes by the better the game will likely be. Hopefully eventually to a point that's thoroughly functional. I'd really like that, since I'm a fan of the genre myself and hope to see more well made games of this kind released in the future.

However, for our purposes a 1/5 is a game that doesn't play. A quick glance around the web will confirm that many other folks have had this issue as well, even if everyone hasn't. Considering the game has been out for weeks at this point, everyone that hands them the full purchase price should feel confident that they will at least get to access the content.

 

[Bolt-206]

I've gotten to chapter 3 so far, I might've enjoyed a lot more of this game if there wasn't a load of little annoyances everywhere;
*once you get far enough in the game, it actually becomes impossible to research everything on your 'tech tree', often leaving a lot of things unused after you've first unlocked them (like the prision; I can get treasures myself without much problem and would rather spend the 3 DEC points required for it elsewhere).
*Speaking of unused, traps are pretty worthless too, and not just because you need spen DEC points to lock half of them, but because it's much easier to just slaughter the heroes with your minions. "But what if your minions are halfway across the map? You'd need some defence back home right?" Heroes deploy ladders before they enter, and since these are always near your rooms there's a chance the heroes enter right next door to one of your treasuries, lose a treasury and it's game over. So no, traps aren't even useful in that regard (there probably is a good use for them, but it'd take way more DEC points than I'm willing to spend).
*SPEAKING OF HEROES, they really have a nack for appearing at the worst of times; all your squads off raiding? "NEW LADDERS HAVE APPEARED". Busy fighting the boss of the level which often makes quick work of your minions? "HEROES HAVE ENTERED YOUR DUNGEON". Saving frequently is your only defence against this kind of disaster.
*Priests have a habit of not doing what they're SUPPOSED TO DO THERE'S A GUY SITTING AT 20 HEALTH AND WHY ARE YOU NOT HEALING HIM HE'S ABOUT TO DIE YOU LAZY ARSE.
*The courser prioritizes friendly units over almost everything else, it might not seem like a big thing but it does make dealing with ladders a bit of a pain when you teleport a group right next to one.

I'm gonna keep playing it though, I've got a few reasons to stick with it 'till the end, one being that it shares the same world as 'Warlock: Master of the Arcane', giving some opportunities to flesh the lore out a bit.
Another reason is that with the Ratmen and Minotaurs and such showing up, I'm hoping I'll encounter a Court Werewolf at some point. Court Werewolves are Dapper as ****.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Well, the game itself seems interesting...
I hope they fix the bugs.

 

[synobal]

So disappointing. I have been waiting for a worthy successor to Dungeon Keeper for so long now. Quite apart from all the bugs, I don't understand why developers keep trying but failing in this genre. Dungeon Keeper got the formula pretty much right; I would be delighted with little more than a simple remake of that with modern graphics, some new creatures and rooms, and a bunch of new levels to slaughter.

This pretty much sums up my feelings as well.

 

[Uratoh]

Part of what's annoying about this game is that the bugs seem to be almost literally random. They're not, obviously, but people with sub-par gaming rigs have played the entire game with nary a problem, while others manage to be unable to pass level 1-2 or 1-3 due to constant game crashing bugs.

 

[cerebus23]

and the idea that dk can have "living" creatures with likes and dislikes, eating, sleeping, arguing this "spiritual" successor has no critter ai at all. your dungeon is a collection of lifeless rooms that are premade, with no real reason to build more than one of most things, no reason to try and lay out your dungeon efficiently so your minions can heap glorious praise on your style, no reason to have multiple lairs to try and keep the bile demons away from the knights, no reason to have multiple hatcheries because your minions are incredibly lazy and need a good slap on occasion before tossed into the mega chicken pit.

none of the soul charm and life of dk, buy dk1 and or two 10x the game this is, even with patches too much it does wrong and not enough it does right.

and traps mot only work in dungeon keeper they are almost a must to get past most maps, play the game that makes use of all your skills to win, and that would be dungeon keeper.

still waiting for someone to make a real spiritual sucessor to dk, or hell just fricking remake dungeon keeper, how hard can it be?

 

[Eri]

A shame. I was really looking forward to this.

 

[Darth_Payn]

This review made it sound like an inferior version of Evil Genius, and all these bugs don't fill me with confidence. Fail.

 

[lacktheknack]

Ouch ouch ouch ouch!

Man, I haven't read a burn like that Final Recommendation in a LONG time. Nasrin, remind me not to piss you off.

 

[lacktheknack]

and the idea that dk can have "living" creatures with likes and dislikes, eating, sleeping, arguing this "spiritual" successor has no critter ai at all. your dungeon is a collection of lifeless rooms that are premade, with no real reason to build more than one of most things, no reason to try and lay out your dungeon efficiently so your minions can heap glorious praise on your style, no reason to have multiple lairs to try and keep the bile demons away from the knights, no reason to have multiple hatcheries because your minions are incredibly lazy and need a good slap on occasion before tossed into the mega chicken pit.

none of the soul charm and life of dk, buy dk1 and or two 10x the game this is, even with patches too much it does wrong and not enough it does right.

and traps mot only work in dungeon keeper they are almost a must to get past most maps, play the game that makes use of all your skills to win, and that would be dungeon keeper.

still waiting for someone to make a real spiritual sucessor to dk, or hell just fricking remake dungeon keeper, how hard can it be?

They already did, it was called "Evil Genius". Despite a couple minor annoyances, it's probably the third best thing Peter Molyneux has ever made (after The Movies and Theme Hospital).

 

[thiosk]

I'm a little annoyed that the preview didn't even hint at possible problems. I purchased after release based on The Escapists preview. Mistake.

I played for a few sessions. While the tone is fun, and the missions are neat, evil genius it is not. Its a weird mashup of styles that doesn't really work and simply leads to annoyance.

However, guys, kerbal space program

you need to be playing this. Same price, im hopelessly addicted.

 

[trouble_gum]

Keeper, your dungeon is buggy. Order your minions to release some patches.