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Myth: The Fallen Lords is an astonishing war/strategy game. Bungie’s superb implementation of graphics and sound created a revolutionary game. With that in mind, how do you top perfection? Myth II: Soulblighter takes a crack at it. While not light years beyond it’s predecessor, it does add some nifty features.

Myth veteran’s should feel right at home, with the familiar look and play-control. Some new movement features have been added, but you can still use the good old reliable commands. The cast of your favorite characters return. The Bezerks, the Dwarfs, the Trows, and even the Fetch have returned. However, there’s a new cast of baddies to contend with… and even uglier than before.

Myth II is a deep strategy game. If you’ve ever read Sun Tzu’s Art of War, you’ll understand much of the physics and game play behind Myth I & II. Except with Myth II, there’s more emphasis on terrain. You’ll learn to think twice about attacking the high ground, or using fire based weapons in the rain.

The storyline is also rather intriguing. It picks up 60 years right after Myth: The Fallen Lords. If you’ve played the first version, you’ll see a lot of familiar places. Soulblighter shouldn’t be much of a stranger to you either. He was the last enemy of the original Myth. A sequel was destined.

Bungie.net has been improved as well. It’s a lot harder for players to cheat. Long gone are the days of jumpstarting. Host dropping also has more penalties. As before, Bungie.net is still a free place to play. The online play is what makes Myth. The sequel is no exception.

The Bottom Line: Myth II is more of a refinement on the original. There are some new weapons, new levels, as well as better use of plug-ins and 3rd party maps. If you enjoyed the original, you’ll more than likely want to get the sequel, but you could live without it.

Graphics – While Myth II has a higher system requirement than Myth I, there really isn’t too much of an improvement on graphics. As with Myth I, if you have a good video board, you’re good to go.

Sound – As with the original, the sound works to create the eerie mood. Although, I miss the sound of the original in-game announcer. The original guy sounded like Jack Nickolson

Control – If you’ve played the original, you’ll master Myth II: Soulblighter with no trouble at all! The new mouse rotation tends to annoy me. Luckly, you can turn it off.

Innovation – The sequel to Myth is nothing more than a refinement. Players were hungry for more of the action that the original possessed, and Bungie delivered.

Playability – Myth II is not the bombshell that Myth I was. While Myth II is a solid game, you could probably get the same fun-factor out of playing the original. Although, the Myth I servers just don’t see the player volume they used to.

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