 Overview
In the second interactive game foray into Terry
Pratchett's Discworld, Rincewind, the deputy Librarian at the Unseen University and
second-rate wizard, is once again drawn into trouble. While stumbling home with his
drinking buddy (the University Librarian who was long ago changed into an ape as a result
of working around magical tomes), Rincewind happens upon a large bomb strapped to a donkey
cart. Despite his ale-addled condition, he decides he is perfectly capable of defusing the
explosive. Unfortunately, his bomb-defusing skills are not up to par, and although he and
the Librarian are able to dash out of the way in time, Death was not so lucky. So, instead
of snatching away a soon-to-be deceased soul, he's blasted to a sandy beach where he
decides to take a holiday from his job. With the Grim Reaper out of action, the recently
deceased have no place to go, so they begin to roam the streets, irritating the living
inhabitants of the city of Ankh-Morpork.
Accompanied by his luggage (a multilegged, temperamental,
bottomless suitcase), Rincewind must solve this horrible problem by first discovering what
has gone wrong and then figuring out what to do about it.
Controls & Gameplay
The controls in Discworld II are essentially the same as
any other graphical adventure game. You control Rincewind, moving him around and
interacting with the environment by moving the mouse cursor (which drips sparkles across
the screen). One problem is that it can be difficult to figure out which way you can go.
There is no indication at the sides of the screen (such as an arrow) whether a direction
is accessible, so it can be easy to miss an entire section of the landscape.
Objects and characters with which you can
interact are indicated by words which appear next to the cursor -- for example, if you
put the cursor over the candles the word "Candles" will appear -- very simple
and easy to use. Items that you pick up can be placed either in Rincewind's pockets or
into the luggage for use later.
To talk to other characters, double-click on them. You will be
presented with a series of icons indicating a variety of forms of discussion (e.g.
greeting, question, sarcasm, or specific items you can ask the character about). Try
everything each time you meet someone; you can gain clues that way and the responses you
get are hilarious.
 Graphics
The cartoonish graphics in Discworld II are consistent
with the zany gameplay and comedic dialogue. Interspersed throughout are brief (and
sometimes not so brief) animated video sequences. The animation and backgrounds are
wonderfully drawn and the motion runs relatively smoothly (there was some choppiness on my
system, especially during the introductory animation, but I was running it on a machine
with the minimum requirements).
Audio
The music and sound effects in Discworld II
are fantastic. The soundtrack blends hilarious songs with a top-notch score that adds to
the whole experience, and the sound effects are also done well. In addition to the usual
cartoon-like booms, bonks, and whistles, Discworld II includes the vocal talents of
Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame) reprising his role from the original Discworld game as
the voice for the cynical (and cowardly) Rincewind. Every character (and there are many)
is distinctive, and most of the voice-overs are easy to understand, if occasionally
annoying. This is important, as dialogue is a huge part of the game.
System Requirements
Required: 486DX/4 100 or faster, 256-color SVGA display,
2X CD-ROM drive, 16 MB RAM, MS-DOS 6.0 or higher or Windows 95, mouse, sound
card
Recommended: Pentium 75 or faster, 4X CD-ROM
drive
Documentation
The documentation is hilarious and worth the read, especially if
you have never read the Discworld books. It does a wonderful job of outlining the basic
mythology behind Terry Pratchett's series, giving the reader a brief overview of
everything from the diverse population to a description of the Discworld itself. Do not
ignore the footnotes, as they are the funniest part. The manual also lists the complete
instructions for maneuvering the character and other options within the game.
 Bottom Line
With enhanced graphics, a humorous storyline and a similar style
of gameplay, Discworld II: Mortality Bytes is a must-have for fans of the original.
If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett's work, you should already own this game; if you do
not, go buy it now. It is a fun romp into the funny, quirky, familiar world of Rincewind
and the Discworld universe. If you have never tried the original or do not like the
Pratchett novels, you may not enjoy the long-winded conversations and quirky puzzles.
Being a fan of the books, I liked this game quite a bit, even though I actually did become
frustrated once or twice by the obscurity of some of the solutions.
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