Myth 2: Soulblighter
Jackson Knopfler

Myth 2: Soulblighter is a fantasy game packed full of action. The Myth 2 single player missions follow an epic story of conflict between the Light, basically human kind (the good guys) and the Dark (mainly undead zombies and other evil things) who are attempting to destroy each other. You play as the Light, progressing through about 25 detailed missions, along with a few special extra levels, completing objectives, picking up new allies and trying to fend off the dark, whilst simultaneously trying to save the world from the diabolical Soulblighter. 

 













The storyline in Myth 2 follows on from the previous release Myth the Fallen Lords, only it is now set 60 years later. The plot is both entertaining and interesting, if a little hard to follow and the levels play extremely well, although several of the missions are probably too easy if already an accomplished Myth player. There are however a few that are very hard where you will have to devise the perfect strategy to beat it and progress to the next one on.

There are some strong characters that you meet during the one player scenario, each different one has his own unique power and special ability. All the standard units in the game have their strengths and weaknesses forcing you to develop better strategies. Overall the single player scenario is really quite brilliant! This is nowhere near the end of the games coolness, however once you start to play it in multiplayer mode! 

 




In mutiplayer mode you can play over an existing Appletalk or ethernet network with your friends, or you can compete on the Internet taking out players from all over the world. There is a free internet server provided by Bungie, who originated Myth 2 and in my opinion the best place to play this game network is on Bungie.net. The first few times you try be prepared for a beating. My advice is to not play ranked games until you have got a grip on how to play. There are loads of multiplayer maps and game types and a whole load of people to play (and hopefully win against) as well as about ten chatrooms so you can find other games and other players that you have made friends with. There is a thing called the buddy system which allows you to find players that have been selected as your buddies. Similarly with the Order system you can find existing players in your Myth 2 Order. Making Buddies is always a good idea, especially if they are good at the game. They can help you get started and teach you how to improve your technique. 

 











A word of warning: The online ranking system, which can advance you all the way from a lowly foot soldier with only one dagger, to the rank of Emporer, doesn't always work quite as expected. Several of the games I won didn't show up on my score. But don't let that discourage you. Bungie.net is great fun and I use it every weekend because it is just so cool. If you decide to buy this game (which I strongly recommend), you may well find me there. Everyone that plays on Bungie.net has their own nickname. Most people have thought of their own individual names. Mine happens to be Enigman. It's both fun and functional to pick a nickname and colour and to stick with them.
 
Myth 2 is available for purchase either direct from
Bungie.net or at your local PC store. The same CD
is cross platform. It works on both the Mac or Windows
platform - so if you're lucky enough to have a choice
of hardware, pick the computer with the best 3DFX
card as the CD works equally well on both. 
 
Until next time ...
Jackson Knopfler