The sequel leaves us with much the same impressions, both good and bad, that we got from the original. The action and strategy mix offers rich rewards that can't be found in any other game, but unfortunately the complexity presents a considerable barrier to entry here and the developers simply haven't done nearly enough to orient players towards the delights that can be found here.
Savage 2 follows the settings and characters of the first game very closely. The Legion of Men and the Hordes of Beasts find themselves on opposite sides in a battle. Fighting against each other with a variety of low-tech weapons and colorful spells, the Men and Beasts are ultimately trying to demolish each other's main fortresses or lairs. Also on the field of battle are indigenous creatures to clash with, gold mines to be taken, and even a jagged scar in the earth that can be captured to summon massive demons to fight on your side.As with the original, there's a definite story behind the game, but unless you decide to seek it outside of the game, you'll never really notice. All that you really need to know will be apparent once you see a 35-foot-tall Behemoth come marching into your base and start smashing your buildings with the giant tree-trunk he wields like a club. While it would have been nice to see a bit more of the story within the context of playing the game, the focus here really is on the action. The origin of the conflict between Men and Beasts is incidental and it doesn't hurt the game that much that it never really comes up.
In the previous game, players had the opportunity to really customize their characters to optimize them for sniping, close combat, or a number of other combat roles. This time around, the developers have simply offered up a number of different classes based loosely around very general qualities -- builder, ranged scout, melee fighter, heavy melee as well as siege and support classes. Players can use their experience points to add to their general abilities, giving them faster or stronger attacks, more mana, etc. and commanders can construct new buildings that unlock high-level classes and new abilities for lower classes. It cuts down on the variety a bit to have less individual customization, but it definitely makes for a more balanced game and makes it easier to see at a glance which roles are being filled by your other teammates.
When you first jump in to Savage 2, you'll probably play it like a standard action game, swinging swords and slinging spells just like you would in games like Oblivion or Hellgate. The melee combat system utilizes three different moves and it takes a while to get used to the rhythm of it all. Basically, you have a fast attack, a block to counter the fast attack, and a block-breaking move to counter the block, which is countered by the fast attack. After the first half hour or so, we were ready to pronounce it terrible, but given time we learned some of the nuances of using one move to lure the enemy into trying a counter and then responding with our own counter. It still sometimes just devolves into a mad circle-strafing click-fest, but there are finer points to be explored if you've got the temperament for it. The only real complaint we still have is that block is bound to the middle mouse button and in the heat of battle we still sometimes move the mouse-wheel when we're clicking and wind up equipping a totally useless weapon or power. Those of you who are smart enough to rebind your keys aren't likely to have the same problems.
Every class is a combat class, but there's still plenty of room to find a unique role on the battlefield, either by healing or buffing units, sneaking in to enemy bases to plant bombs, or simply lobbing massive projectiles at enemy buildings. The NPC builders of the original game are gone now, and have been replaced with a playable builder class who can hurry the construction of buildings that the commander has ordered or even take over building creation if the team has no commander. As we said before, some of the buildings open up new class options or add interesting powers to the core classes, so the combat focused classes have a vested interest in protecting their structures and builders, as well as gaining more gold that can be spent on future improvements.
Unfortunately, there are many finer points of play that you can really only glean from trial and error in your own matches or from watching replays of other matches online. The game's tutorial, once we got it to work properly, spends too much time focusing on the very things that people who are attracted to this game probably already know. Teaching us how to snipe and how to use hotbar abilities feels like a waste of time, particularly given the fact that the tutorial says almost nothing about such important issues as building infrastructure and utilizing map resources. Basically you're given a tiresome primer on tactics and then thrown to the wolves as far as actual strategy is concerned.
The same is true of the practice mode, which is basically just a place for you to pit your chosen character class against a variety of enemies. The only practice you'll get with building construction or overall command of teams is during live games, and by then the stakes are just too high for trial and error learning. The developers did a great job by offering viewable replays of every match played, but it still leaves a bit to be desired in terms of overall orientation.These replays are offered for each and every match played and are part of a very ambitious and comprehensive game tracking system that S2 Games uses for balancing, cheat investigation and, presumably, a hilarious blooper reel at the company Christmas party. The tracking of stats is remarkable and seems to update almost in real time. Using these stats and player levels, commanders can make intelligent decisions about who to put in control of their individual squads. Our only gripe here is that the game doesn't hand out personal assist info to you when it comes time to award Karma at the end of each match.
We've made attempts to try out the commander mode during many of our matches, and it really can make the difference between a win and a loss for evenly matched teams. A good leader benefits from better overall awareness of what's going on across the entire battlefield and can direct the players under him to the places they're most needed. Naturally, a lot of the success of this system depends on the cooperation of the players on your side. On that score, it's really hit or miss as to whether you'll feel like you can be effective. On the other hand, the developers have included options for squad control and a number of high-level buffs and debuffs that the commander can use to increase his or her effectiveness.
As with any of these team-based multiplayer games -- from Tribes to Battlefield to Team Fortress -- so much of your enjoyment depends on that indefinable and unpredictable feeling of teamwork. Sometimes you get in a match where you find yourself sharing the same priorities and pace of nearby players. Tackling objectives as a group really brings the game to life in a way that you can't necessarily predict or plan for. Just as often, you'll find yourself venturing out alone or, worse yet, abandoned and facing groups of enemies. The squad system rewards coordinated efforts to the extent that it proves there's strength in numbers but we almost wish the game had some other visible encouragement for players to stick together.One of the current frustrations with the game is that the player population is still a bit light. Sure, you can talk about the thousands of players who have registered, downloaded or bought the game, but we're still not seeing as much activity on the servers as we'd like. On the other hand, there always seem to be at least a few games going at any time, so our complaint here is more about the lack of selection than the lack of opportunity altogether. There are plenty of servers (all of which are controlled by S2, thankfully) but not as many players as we'd like to see. We're not sure whether it's the relatively low visibility of the game or its intimidating nature that seem to be keeping players away but hopefully we'll see more people jumping on as word of mouth spreads. It's true that S2 can't leverage the marketing muscle of companies like EA or Ubisoft but the game nevertheless deserves more awareness than it's received.
The maps are few in number but each offers interesting areas to fight over. There's an abundance of valleys and chokepoints that funnel the action in specific direction, and usually a number of interesting resource points to fight over. The seasonal variation of the different maps is nice but we're hoping for a lot more variety from future maps. We've noticed a few tricky collision problems with some areas of the maps. At best they merely spoil a sprint but at worst they can get you caught up in a completely defenseless position.
The graphics are generally quite good. Most of the units and animations are very well done. We particularly like the slither of the Beast Summoner and the lumbering gait of the giant Behemoth. By far, the most impressive visual is the sight of the sword swinging Hellbourne demon when he comes rising over the hill. What's especially nice is the blood-tinged sky and rain of fire that suddenly appears once the Hell units make their appearance in the world. On the downside, the human siege units are blocky and weird.Soundwise, Savage 2 sports a satisfying range of grunts, clangs, thwacks and booms that definitely add to the overall atmosphere of the game. There's a real sense of weight and menace behind the sounds that the larger things make in this game, and it goes a long way towards getting your nerves up when you hear booming noises off in the distance.
Verdict
Ultimately, we feel that Savage 2 is an enjoyable game that offers a satisfying alternative to the genre-bound tunnel vision of most other games. In combining the team-based action of games like Tribes and Battlefield with an original fantasy setting and a ground-level RTS mechanic, they've come up with something that's unlike anything else on the market right now...except the original Savage, of course. If you're looking for something different and don't mind hanging your fate on the skills and abilities of your fellow online gamers, then you'll find plenty of rewards in Savage 2.
Then again, it's been five years since the original game came out, and that's plenty of time for the designers to have done more to improve on the original model. We like most of the changes that they've made but this still feels more like an update (although a very substantial one) than a full on sequel. The one thing we can't get over is the lack of orientation within the game shell. There are games that don't have half the complexity here and yet spend twice as much time explaining how things work. S2 Games definitely needs to do more to help players get over that first hurdle so they can start to appreciate the unique design here.
