High: More of Black & White 2's unique gameplay; the creature remains one of the best virtual pets around; new challenges and minigames to enjoy.
Low: Handful of levels and new content, though each level can easily consume hours; annoying graphical glitch from black & white 2 still around.


Released to a mixed reaction towards the end of 2005, Lionhead Studios has returned to its once talismanic god-sim series in the hope of addressing some of the issues raised with Black & White 2, and re-establishing confidence in the series with the release of Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods.

An expansion pack that promises a darker, more involving, more godly experience then before, Battle of the Gods attempts to rekindle some of the success from the series origins, pitting the player's God against an evil deity whose legion of undead warriors are assisting the fallen Aztec's during their time of need.

For an expansion pack Battle of the Gods feels more like a stand-alone than one that requires the original (though that's not the case), presenting the sole option to import your character from B&W2 as the only tenuous link between the games. Initially presented with a creature select screen from which to choose from the six available icons of your power, Battle of the Gods throws you into the action immediately by choosing your initial alignment before the game has even begun, which in turn grants varying bonuses such as starting tribute, miracles and buildings. Although it's slightly odd to see some of the ambiguity, with which the series is based upon, diminished somewhat, be thankful you no longer have to sit through a plodding introduction and tutorial sequence before getting into the game.

The promise of a revamped AI system is perhaps the most significant modification, but sadly one that falls short of the mark. Although confrontations within Battle of the Gods feel far less scripted and staged then battles in B&W2, opponent platoons will still stand in place on the map waiting for you to trigger them into action and the tactics of the rival God rarely feel natural. The general level of intelligence exhibited during battles also remains questionable; picture a platoon scurrying away from a boulder being dropped from above, only to gather back in formation at exactly the same spot (minus a few of their colleagues), only to have the same boulder drop on their heads again - rinse and repeat this process over and over again, and you have one attack from the enemy handled with hilarious simplicity.

On the plus side Battle of the Gods manages to feel more worthy of a divine deity's time than Black & White 2, with less emphasis on harvesting a certain number of crops or collecting a certain amount of wood; these type of tasks are still present and there's still a grind to get going, however the pacing and variety of the game is certainly an improvement from before and feels infinitely more entertaining and less like a chore as a result. Silver scrolls provide more enjoyable diversions with a wider range of tasks, ranging from typical B&W tests of logic, to hurtling lightning bolts from on high in an attempt to crush skeletons marauding after witless villagers. Ultimately it's the constant threat of dealing with an opponent that improves the experience, there's a greater sense of urgency to the proceedings and a much more unpredictable nature to the game.

Toying with flawed concepts obviously isn't the only thing that Battle of the Gods sets out to do, there's also fresh new content in the shape of islands, miracles, buildings and the reappearance of a popular creature. As an expansion pack it doesn't significantly stretch the metaphorical barrel, but it's nonetheless more then welcome and extends the original storyline competently. The four islands (excluding the first intro) are larger then before and pack a challenge because of the rival god and the relentless attack of the undead armies.

It's the four new miracles however that are the game's best implemented of the new introductions. At considerable expense, the four new miracles bring tricks that truly define the word and add various new strategies to the overall gameplay. Verdant grants you the power to transform the enemy into a harmless pack of animals; ideal for dealing with an enemy attack and even better when your denizens choose to eat them via the new disciple butchers and abattoir! Lava is perhaps the most diverse, granting a flow of boiling hot magma to throw around or pour into a congealing blob when you need to shore up your defences . Being able to resurrect recently deceased followers with the Life miracle cements your position as a saviour, however it's the ability to take the "un" out of the undead and leave them as dead, that highlights some of the typical Lionhead humour we come to expect. Conversely, Death raises your own legion of undead warriors from newly deceased corpses, providing a powerful but brief boost to a defence or attack you're currently waging. Generally the miracles are slanted towards the slightly more sinister end of the scale, however this is a direction the game seems to take in general, though that's not to say you can't get by, by being benevolent, it just takes considerably longer.
Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods: Click for screenshots
Although Battle of the Gods doesn't ease any confusion the series has when it comes to blending the strategy of RTS action and the finer subtleties of a god-sim, the signature creature remains a highlight of the game and the series in general. Highly effective and slickly implemented, you're often left wandering why other areas of the game can't exhibit the same level of intelligence. Of course the reappearance of the turtle also helps and will certainly become a popular addition; diminishingly adorable with a not-entirely there expression and attitude to match, the only question is why Lionhead left him out before. As an added bonus Lionhead have also included the Tiger for those that didn't purchase the Collector's Edition of B&W2.

Perhaps with ambitions as lofty as those set by Peter Molyneux and his B&W crew, it's somewhat inevitable that glitches continue to surface in Battle of the Gods, much like Black & White 2 before it. People will often walk through walls and the AI can be picked to pieces, as described above; these you can live with, it's the ones that unceremoniously throw you back to the desktop, having forgotten to recently save, that really hurt. It's likely many of these will be addressed in a future patch, though whether we'll ever see the fabled multiplayer patch remains less likely.

If you can look past the glitches and the fact that Black & White is still a flawed experience, Battle of the Gods manages to provide an entertaining and unique experience. Your overall sense of immersion with the game is broken occasionally by the tempo of the game, however Battle of the Gods seems to be played at a much faster rate that should please anybody turned off by the occasionally pedestrian pace of its predecessors.

Whether or not the Battle of the Gods attracts the audiences and attention to cement the series future remains a doubt, although we'd very much expect Microsoft's newly appointed focus towards "Games for PC" should ensure the chances of seeing a Black & White 3.

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Reviewed By:Godboko Reviewed On: Tue, 16 May 2006 14:28:12 Read:

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