Magic Carpet 2 Review

Developed by: Bullfrog Productions

Published by: Electronic Arts

Reviewed by: Haralds Jass

Game category: commercial/full version
Game type: "real" 3D shooter/adventure + a bit of puzzles
Price: ~ US $50

Hardware/software requirements/recommended:

                         CPU           Graphics	   RAM     Disk Space
Minimum			486 DX/66     320X240X8bpp       8MB         8MB
Recommended		Pentium         640X480X8bpp      16MB        10MB

Control: keyboard, and/or joystick, and/or mouse
Support: DOS, all major sound cards, joystick, VFX-1 headset, i-Glasses, and Gravis Gamepad.

Reviewed version: 1.0
Reviewed on: Pentium 90, 16MB RAM, ATI WinTurbo (mach64, 2MB VRAM), S.B. AWE 32, 2X CD-ROM, and Windows 95.
Reviewer recommends: Pentium 75 for 320X240, Pentium 120+ for 640X480, 4X CD-ROM, 64-bit 1MB VRAM graphics card, supported wavetable sound card.

Why?

Deciding to review Magic Carpet 2 (MC2) was an easy decision - MC was thought by many to be one of the best games in a while and MC2, in my opinion, is truly an excellent 3D game and a worthy sequel to the original MC. With the current trend in PC and video games I have learned to expect very little from new games, but I usually get even less than I expect for the vast majority of the games I play! MC2 is one of the few games which is better than I expected.

The idea behind MC2

To create a 3D game which makes you feel like you really are in the Netherworlds, plus have challenging, yet not too hard gameplay, and...Well, just to make a great "real" 3D action/adventure/puzzle game. Unlike most other games, MC2 actually succeeds in creating what it should for most of game players (but if you have slow PC, sorry, then it doesn't even come close to being realistic because of the slow graphics).

The story so far...

Unlike MC (of which I only played the demo - so I could be wrong on some points!), MC2 has short 3D animation "movies" as the intro, the end, and in-between the levels. They are supposed to tell the story and the intro tells something too...but we all know that games like this are played for the gameplay and not the story.

Anyway, MC2 has the usual story - some one evil (Vissuluth) has taken over a place (the Netherworlds) and you must play through, defeat his servants in the end himself. Not overly creative, but since in MC2 you don't really play for the story it doesn't make much of a difference (but the story could have been more creative, thought).

The gameplay

What makes up a game mainly is the gameplay and today most of the games seem to "forget" about it. Luckily, MC2 is not one of them. The gameplay in MC2 is one of the best to come along in PC games in a while.

The game is in "real" 3D (that is, you are flying and can go up and down, not just to the front, back, or to one of the sides like in the 3D games of the past [e.g. Doom]) and the play control is quite easy too since it can be adjusted to your preferences (I prefer to use the mouse for all of movements and the keyboard for spells, shooting, etc.).

In MC2, unlike in MC, you actually now have objectives in each of the areas you are in and they are told to you. Sometimes it might be to gain mana, sometimes to kill the other "players", sometimes to find something, etc. While much of the game is reflexes and shooting, you also must plan and think well - build your castle in a good place, approach an enemy at the right time and from the right angle, use the right spells, etc. So while MC2 is about 80% action, 20% of it is a bit puzzle like.

One thing what MC2 has and much of other games don't is that it is fun to play. Unless your castle is all destroyed and you killed at the same time (but you have to do the same when killing the opponent "players" [AI], so that makes that process more interesting and hard), you can always come back after you are killed and continue the current game (I was never killed - some levels too 20 minutes and some over 2 hours, but I played through all 25 of them at the first try). The game is very fun to play and that is mainly because the close to perfect combination of sound effects, music, graphics, speed and the gameplay. The gameplay is one of the best balanced around - the game will never have enemies which you are unable to defeat at that time defeating you and ending a game (true, if you are not a good player it will be harder for you, but never impossible).

Volcano and lightning: just two of the many spells in MC2.

Another plus the wide variety of enemies and that each of the kinds has a distinct AI. Also, you usually have to kill them in a good place, as some, when shot, may burst into a lot of small and VERY annoying enemies who can easily and fastly damage your castle.

The castle: at night and in action (notice the realistic reflections in the water!).

For those of you who have never played MC or MC2 before (or a demo of it), the basic gameplay is as follows (I would, however, recommend that you get the MC2 demo and not trust me on everything here). First, you build a castle in the current level, then you should just follow the objectives, but along the way make sure to collect lots of mana (the "money" in MC2; you have to mark it and then a balloon from you castle comes, collects it and stores it). You also should expand your castle once you have more mana to do it, protect your castle well (if it is destroyed the opponents can steal the mana that was stored in it). The aspect of the castle is very good in the game, in my opinion, as you have a "home base". You can also, of course, kill more enemies than required by the current objective to gain more mana. As you gain more mana you will get more power and will be able to use the more powerful spells (and all of those come in 3 powers - once you have used one a lot you will gain the next power, but it will also require more power [mana] to use)... All of that must sound a bit too complicated to you (and it is just a half of the gameplay in MC2!), but believe me, it isn't. The gameplay is very easy to get into MC2 (especially because there is a help mode which helps you in the beginning - it points out some items, tells you how to play the game, etc.).

The caves: not all of MC2 is above the ground - 1/3 of it is underground in the caves as shown in the picture above (and the other two thirds are above the ground - 1/3 during day and 1/3 during night).

Of course, nothing is perfect and the gameplay in MC2 is not perfect too. I found the gameplay to be too easy - I played through all of the 25-level game in less than 30 hours (in one week) and never had a real challenge. There should be a way to adjust the difficulty. Also, some of the enemies must be shoot at for SO long (the end boss or the dragons, for example) that it can become boring and it is too easy (you just lure him/here away from your castle and shoot at him/here for 30 minutes with your most powerful weapon - not what I would call a lot of fun). The end boss is probably the worst of all. You shoot him, he release enemies, you retrieve, kill them, get their mana and shoot him again, It is VERY easy (there is no chance that you could loose or you caste be destroyed) and it takes way too long (I believe it took me at lest 30 boring minutes finish Vissuluth).

Hydra: one of the annoying, long-to-kill and boring-to-kill enemies.

Graphics

The graphics in MC2 are very good and quite realistic (seeming to be the last largely thanks to the good sound effects and appropriate music). The game can be played in low-res (320X240) and high-res (640X480) modes, but the last one is only for super-powerful PCs (on my P90 with 16MB RAM and 2MB VRAM 64-bit graphics card I could run the high-res mode without ALL of the options at barely 2fps, so you would probably need at P120+ with 32MB RAM, 128-bit 4MB VRAM graphics card to run it at a normal speed with all of the options). Luckily, because of the speed at low-res the graphics still look good (better than at high-res, if you ask me, as they are more realistic moving) and very realistic. One thing what I don't understand is how can Bullfrog/EA say that the graphics are optimized for speed - I can run almost all other 3D games I have at 640X480 at a perfect speed (seems to me like the high-res graphics in MC2 could be at least 2X faster to even come close to the other games).

The night and the castle: notice the realistic reflections in the water and the gouard shading of the polygons.

Overall, the graphics are good and will be even better on the PCs of the future!

The worm: one the simplest and easiest to kill enemies in MC2. Notice how realistic the dry terrain looks and how the horizon can not be seen to speed the game graphics up.

Sounds

The sound effects are very good and natural for all of the game! From the night sounds, to the cave sounds, to the day water sounds! You would have to look hard to find sound effects much better than those in MC2!

The music is also very appropriate all of the time. It is not too loud and it is just there and seems right most of the time. It also adjusts if you are in a battle to a more dramatic tone. I would have to say that MC2 is an excellent example of how music should be integrated in the game (so that it is there to make the game better, not just so that there would be some noise).

Control

The controls are adjustable in MC2 and, once you adjust them to your preferences, they are just the way they should be!

Game 'evaluation'

Story/plot.........................30% (as generic as it gets!)
Graphics..........................88% (good, but not optimized for 640X480)
Sound effects...................96% (superb!)
Music...............................92% (excellent and very appropriate most of the time...but can get a bit annoying at times)
Control.............................88% (good)
Extras..............................93% (quite innovative, but no huge changes from the original MC)
Replay value....................76% (not many secrets and if there are any they're too easy to find; gameplay too much the same the next time on the same level)
Gameplay.........................94% (for most of it, a dream come true...but the game could be bigger and with more replay value)

Overall............................91% (overall a very good game with some minor quirks)

Technical notes

As for most other 'advanced' games today, the requirements are pretty steep and the 640X480 graphics are not very optimized, but if you have the hardware to run the game you should have very little problems!

Overall, has some 'things' which could be done better technically, but the great gameplay makes you forget them and the game is relatively bug free.

Other 'stuff' (just a few mumblings and quick thoughts)

Great game! ... Why are the 640X480 graphics so slow (something must be wrong with the software as I know my PC can handle them and I tried from 'pure' DOS too, not just Win95)?! ... Sounds and music are SUPERB (although the music can get a bit annoying at times)! ... Why the long-to-kill and boring enemies? Better give me more of 'em, not just one of which I have to waste 30 minutes! ... Why do I have to kill innocent goats? What did they do why I have to kill them?? ... Yes! Finally I get to kill bees and not run away from them (bees are the only 'animal' I am really afraid of)! ... Overall, GOOD game with some minor annoyances.

Tips and Tricks

I am currently unaware of any cheats for MC2 (which is good - the game will not be spoiled), so as some tips I would recommend that you THINK In MC2 a bit before building your castle anywhere and make sure that it is always as large and as safe as it can be. If all is OK with the castle, the game itself should be a lot easier for you. For the rest of game, as in most action games, you just have to be fast and have good reflexes. Good luck!

Conclusion

MC2 is, in my opinion, one of the best action games to come to the PC in a while (my best of game of 1995!) and while it has some minor quirks, it is still easily the best action game of 1995!

If you like 3D action and a bit of exercise for your brains (and even if you do not like either!), then MC2 is the game for you, as it has a close to perfect mix of sounds, music, graphics, speed and gameplay (the only thing really lacking is good and creative story). Get it. Believe me, you won't regret it!