Black & White 2 Puts You in the God Seat

New screens and details for Molyneux's deity simulator.

The best part about being a god is that you can do anything that crosses your mind. Of course, this means that making a game about being a god is a little more involved than say a platformer, but then Peter Molyneux - the man behind the much anticipated PC game Black & White 2 - has never been one to shy away from a challenge.

The soft-spoken and passionate - you have watched our video feature, haven't you? - head of Lionhead Studios and creator of Fable and Populous has teamed up with real-time strategy wizard Ron Millar - he of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo fame - to take the Black & White concept to its next logical step.

In Black & White 2, you're still a god and you can still control a building-sized creature and all your believers, but there's a much more defined RTS element thanks to Millar's involvement. Physics are much more involved too, largely due to Molyneux's distaste for the nonsensical actions - such as archers being able to bring down stone buildings - that litter current RTS games.

The world reacts to battles just as you'd expect it to, which is a good thing, since the scope of Black & White 2's skirmishes is impressively broad. While the team is still tweaking exactly how big they'll be in the final game, there is talk of armies of up to 5,000 units clashing.

But war isn't the only option, and as a god you're able to draw out more benevolent actions from your believers. Your creature, too, which in the first game was basically your physical manifestation in the game world, is now much more malleable and potentially independent.

You can use you creature purely for altruistic purposes, which allows it to develop more of a personality, while moulding it for warfare will rob the creature of its soul, making it much more a pure tool of anger. It's a sliding scale of morality though, and you'll be able to fine-tune where your creature ends up. The downside to the increased complexity is that there are now fewer creature types to choose from, though fan favourites, like the cow, ape and lion, are back.

As with Fable, Molyneux is intent on ramming home that your choices of doing good or bad deeds have real and lasting consequences in the game world. You can breed a world where civilisations either lust for blood or live peaceably side by side.

For now, though, the developers are testing the game and ironing out any wrinkles to bring gamers a worthy sequel to the acclaimed original. Lionhead is eyeing this autumn for the release of the PC version of Black & White 2. There is a chance of an updated version later in the year that will include a multiplayer component and a version for Mac has not been ruled out either.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games