Schwert und Magie 2: Der unheimliche Tempel

Maker:
German Design Group
Year:
1989
System:
C64
Genre:
RPG
Tags:
Fighting / Horror / Sword & Sorcery / Myths and Mythology
Language:
German
Median Rating:
2/5

Thoughts by Mr Creosote (21 Jul 2018) – C64

Der unheimliche Tempel is located right in the heart of the same floppy disk which already housed the predecessor. Not a lot could possibly have changed then, right? Conceptually maybe not, but that wouldn’t have been in the concept of the series anyway. So it is just additional fodder for veteran adventurers of the first part? Indeed, but nevertheless, second parts of such series are usually of particular interest. Why? Because the first game can be seen as a kind of concept study demonstrating the game mechanics for a player trial. Making the second one the real “first” game.

Within the constraints of the fantasy genre, the gloomy temple’s plot can even be seen as quite a turnaround. Instead of fairy tale romanticism, the player is met with heavy Lovecraftian horror. Searching for life-saving water for his caravan lost in a sand storm, our adventurer stumbles across a deserted, unknown temple where unspeakable things have happened – although it may not even be over yet. The water MacGuffin quickly taking the backseat (which the game even comments at the end in self-conscious irony).

The player character can be imported from the first adventure which can be worth it due to small stat gains from there. This is particularly promising as the difficulty level has made a significant jump upwards. Especially when it comes to fighting (often more than one enemy at a time), things have become much tougher. This, unfortunately, emphasizes the random factors more strongly and it also shows the ugly side of those fights: being hardly interactive at all (the only choice the player has each round is whom to attack next), they tend to take much too long.

In spite of everything, the temple easily surpasses its predecessor. First, this is due to the much more atmospheric scenario. Second, it is due to increased variety. There are small puzzles, once using a text parser and one needs to be solved under real time pressure. Simple line-based graphics illustrate a couple of rooms. And even though fight mechanics can be criticised for sure, rolling the climactic confrontation with the demon (who isn’t even the real “boss”) can make your heart beat a little faster for sure. A nice one!

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