Like Diablo? Like Warcraft? Then get excited for Dungeons II

Remember how Azmodan kept appearing to taunt you all through Act III of Diablo III but instead ended up telling you all of his plans?  His bravado and overconfidence were a big part of his undoing, and he's not alone.  Your standard villain will almost always trip themselves up at the finish line and the hero capitalizes on it to save the day.  When you're on the verge of completing your grand plan for world domination or ultimate power, one would think you would be damn careful at such a critical juncture.  There will be plenty of time to gloat later when they're all your  unwilling minions.  Did you ever catch yourself thinking "if it had been me things would have gone differently..."  Well, developer Realmforge Studios is giving you your chance to prove it with Dungeons II.

The original Dungeons came out early 2011 and with a follow-up (but not quite a sequel) to The Dark Lord a few months later.  The gameplay felt a little unrefined in places but the concept had me sold. You play as a Dungeon Lord, a semi-demonic entity who (unsurprisingly) controls a dungeon filled with monsters and loot with which to lure heroes to their doom.  The more heroes you snag, the stronger you get so you can improve your dungeon to catch more heroes.  As for the story, imagine if Terry Pratchett had written Diablo and you'll have a fairly good idea.

The Dungeon Lord as he appears in Dungeons II

 The sequel takes this even further.  If the original put you in the shoes of Diablo or Ba'al - waiting at the end of a dungeon for some do-gooder - in this one the player takes on the role of Sauron or Azmodan.  You still construct a dark lair with a suitably violent welcome for would-be heroes but now with the ultimate purpose of having your minions spill forth to wage war with the surface dwellers.

The age-old feud of orcs and humans continues.

In classic evil overlord fashion, your primary army will consist largely of orcs in the beginning.  In preparing an army to enslave the world of man, however, the play will have to first enslave some new minions.  Each type of monster brings a unique attribute to your dungeon - goblins build traps, naga cast spells, etc.

The naga as they appear in Dungeons II.

There will be many other objectives to consider as well, according to the IGN preview.  I mentioned how villains get tripped up - apparently this game will provide plenty of pitfalls to avoid and prove yourself the superior evil mastermind.  Conquering the overworld is no easy task - all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing and we can safely assume the heroes in Dungeons II will take this to heart, specifically to yours.  With a sword, spear or other terminally pointy object.

Classic monsters need classic heroes - elves are required.

As some of my earlier posts may have indicated, I have a nostalgic streak a mile wide.  The colorful art style of the medieval setting immediately brought me back to Warcraft III.  The user-interface hearkens back to classic RTS as well.  The addition of the fantasy staples probably helped too.

A battalion of orcs invade a bastion of good.

Almost any modern PC strategy game will have to allow a viable form of multi-player.  Half the fun of coming up with new strategies and tweaking old ones is knowing that they're better than someone else's.  Up to four players will each have their own dungeon and share a single overworld map for which they will vie for control.

The game is slated for release in the first part of 2015, and considering it's late January now, barring any of the game development delays, Dungeons II should be in stores (and likely Steam as well) soon.  Take a look at the gameplay preview from IGN here: