..Dungeon Hunter 2..

REVIEW |

Author: Scott Vanderheyden  

I don’t quite understand how one can hunt a dungeon, but Gameloft seems to have done so a second time with Dungeon Hunter 2. Offering a larger world to explore, a lengthier campaign, more items and classes to acquire, more enemies to dispatch, and introducing a new multiplayer mode, Dungeon Hunter 2 is basically the same game as its predecessor, but bigger and better. Unfortunately, the shallow combat returns, making for a polished and content-heavy role-playing game that lacks depth and welcomes repetition.

At first glance, Dungeon Hunter 2 appears almost identical to its forerunner. The bright colors, clear designs, and simple, but well modeled environments and characters look straight out of the original Dungeon Hunter. Even the user interface and menus look reused to some extent, and the amateurish fairy character portraits return. However, Dungeon Hunter 2 looks better than its predecessor with enhanced lighting and shadows as well as detailed effects, particularly in regards to the astonishing water effects. The variety of locales features sludgy swamps with bubbling goo, green forests with beautiful God beams shining through the trees, dank dungeons with trickling waters, and many more. From an environment standpoint, the visuals are top notch and rely more on a well-implemented art design than sheer amount of polygons.

- Combat is fairly mindless stuff -

Character models are similarly clear and colorful, but not as inspiring. Objects have the potential to block your view and the menus are cluttered, making it difficult to read and navigate. The cinematics are uninteresting and cut too close to the action, revealing low-resolution textures and mechanical animation. The sound design has an extensive library ensuring that no sound effect or music track becomes repetitious, and the music sets the mood for every setting and battle effectively. Some tracks aren’t very enjoyable to listen to, but overall the soundtrack is memorable and appropriately epic.

Dungeon Hunter 2 offers a focused but limited gameplay experience in regards to what the user can do.  Although there are almost too many side quests and optional dungeons to complete, the game focuses on basically two components: fighting and exploring, mixed in with item collection and stat tracking. If you are expecting Zelda-style puzzles or mini-games, Dungeon Hunter 2 does not provide. In that regard, the two gameplay parts of which Dungeon Hunter 2 is composed have to be really good, but unfortunately the combat isn’t particularly entertaining. Player control is very automatic and the limited abilities and battle actions leave little room for strategy. Defeating your enemies requires little thought, and most of the combat dissolves into normal attacks from both sides. Boss battles are merely bigger standard enemies with more health points.

Although there are three classes to choose from and a myriad number of equipment load outs, the game will play pretty much the same for everyone until you hit the later levels and learn class-specific abilities that alter the gameplay to a small degree.  If you enjoy mindless battles, stat allocation, and item drops a la Diablo, especially with a friend or three in the online multiplayer mode, Dungeon Hunter 2 is definitely your portable role-playing experience.  Players looking for depth should seek it elsewhere.

- The addition of multiplayer is a big improvement -

Dungeon Hunter 2 is an expansive role-playing game that is an improvement over the first.  The mindless combat and uninteresting story bring down the ultimately fun experience in a big way that will leave many players looking for something with more substance, hopefully in the improved Dungeon Hunter 3.

GameDynamo's Score for Dungeon Hunter 2 (Mobile)

Scott Vanderheyden He's always enjoyed the artistic craft of video games and received a Bachelor in Fine Arts for Animation. He also creates his own games!

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