Castle of the Winds 2 (PC) review "Castle of the Winds 2 best serves as a time killer. It's very easy to pick up and play. You can save at any point in the game, and as many times as you want. The game itself is less then one megabyte to download."

Castle of the Winds 2 was an ancient game originally released for *gasp* Windows 3.0. Even for it's time, the graphics were very simple, and the gameplay likewise simple. However, that's what makes this game very entertaining. Almost anybody can pick it up, learn it, and play it as a time killer.

Castle of the Winds 2 picks up shortly where the first one left you. You play the role of an adventurer who is trying to avenge his grandfather's death. You must journey deep into a 25 level dungeon in an attempt to solve the mysteries surrounding his death. Along the way, you'll have the support of a town, which supplies you with the equipment you'll need. The story in the game is not very deep. However, an attempt is made, which is commendable for such an old game.

The game has one constant viewpoint. You are placed on a grid map, where all the fighting is done. It is very ho-hum, but it gets the job done quite well. You represent one square on the grid, as do most enemies. The viewpoint changes only in two occurances: inventory and map. These changes are both easily picked up, though.

You attack the enemy by ''moving'' into them. This automatically launches an attack with your weapon. A status box tells whether you did damage or not, and whether the enemy did damage towards you. Right-clicking on an enemy will tell you its name and current condition.

Health and mana points make up the essence of your life. They can be recovered at any time by using potions, or by resting. However, if you rest, you are suspectible to enemy attacks.

Anyone looking for a frantic, non-stop swash-buckling adventure need not apply. Enemies take a decent amount of time to defeat, and you'll spend a lot of time resting to recover mana and health. However, it has a strange addictiveness to it. You'll find yourself driven to dwelve further and further into the dungeon, for no really explainable reason, besides that ''it's fun!''

The amount of equipment in Castle of the Winds 2 is impressive. You can equip over 8 parts of your body, ranging from rings, to weapons, to armor, to cloaks, to boots, to anything else you can imagine. You also carry a pack, where all excess equipment that you find in the dungeon is put. The power of equipment varies, depending on whether it is enchanted, strongly enchanted, or a dagger or a long sword.

As previously stated, the graphics in Castle of the Winds 2 are nothing to write home about. They're very clean. That's the only positive. However, any amateur computer artist would be able to easily recreate them. There are no original sounds in the game; it uses Windows' system sounds when alerts are provided.

The dungeon is randomly generated, so each new trek into it will provide a new experience. Hence, there's oddles of replay value. Also, characters from the first game can be imported, another added benefit. You can also use icon files to customize your character.

Castle of the Winds 2 best serves as a time killer. It's very easy to pick up and play. You can save at any point in the game, and as many times as you want. The game itself is less then one megabyte to download. Any computer with a color monoitor, a keyboard, and Windows 3.0+ can run it, making it a popular choice for older systems. It's freely available for download in many spots, or you can buy a $20 bundle pack from Epic Games, which includes the original game. Either way, you can't go wrong with this tasty little morsel.

Community review by sgreenwell (Date unavailable) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.