Ebony and Ivory living in perfect harmony? Not this time. by Cole Smith

Everyone wants to play God. But when there are other Gods to contend with that are of equal omnipotence, it kind of takes the fun out of things. I don't know about you (unless you're an ancient Roman or Greek) but I was raised to believe that there was only one God. I thought I was going to be the big cheese in this game but the other Gods involved reduced me to the status of a single slice of pepperoni on a combination pizza.

Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods is an expansion pack to the relatively recent Black & White 2, which was released just a little over half-a-year ago. It features more of the same content with some new additions including new levels, characters and powers, but overall the gameplay remains the same. In many ways Battle of the Gods feels more like unlockable bonus content than a true expansion pack.

Black & White 2 (the original) can be perceived as a very deep game but that doesn't mean that it's complex. It's actually very user-friendly with a tutorial that is so comprehensive it almost plays the game for you. To be honest, it's so helpful that it's almost condescending. It could easily have been cut in half. It will teach you how to move the camera, indicate what keys access what moves and how to communicate with the interface. It's a bit of a learning curve but you can ride most of it out while you attempt to play the game, learning from your mistakes one ass-kicking at a time.

Taking on the role of a God, and there are a few of them, you will oversee a civilization as you basically babysit it. Expect a lot of micromanagement as you help the population feed itself, build structures, find jobs, recruit and train an army and influence other civilizations directly and/or indirectly. You have ultimate control, but you have to contend with some other God-sized egos in this world.

As a God you can choose to be good or evil or a combination of both. Whatever best suits your needs. You're not necessarily punished for your bad choices, nor are you rewarded simply because you've chosen the path of righteousness. Instead, specific situations will occur as a result of your choices. For instance, you can attempt to increase your population by enticing people from other civilizations to join you by creating beautiful buildings and taking very good care of your own people. Conversely, you can build a strong army and simply invade other civilizations, essentially increasing your population through force. What's good about the game is that no matter how benevolent you may be to your subjects, you can always put the fear of God into them every now and then. At the same time, if you're a real devil, you can still treat your people nice and have them respect as well as fear you.

The maps are bigger and you can expect each campaign to take several hours, depending on how you choose to play it. The entire level can be shorter and more intense if you choose to fight your way to supremacy. Should you attempt to persuade the civilizations to unite through diplomatic efforts, each match will last considerably longer. Considering that this expansion pack isn't very long it's recommended that you try both approaches to get your money's worth.

A new God is featured in this expansion pack. He has been created by the Aztecs after countless human sacrifices, and he's really pissed. This new God is trouble. He's evil and has new powers that we haven't seen before. There are new powers that you can access and once again they can be unlocked by playing a decent variety of mini-games. You will also be able to unlock new buildings and other goodies. As usual the mini-games are a nice diversion but they seem to be too prominently featured here as though the developers ran out of content for the core gameplay.

Aside from the new God and some new spells and powers, there are two new creatures. You can also import your own creature that you spent so much time on in the original game. And not to worry, it will still look the same since there are no noticeable improvements in the graphics. Everything looks and sounds identical to the original, which wasn't exactly an award-winner to begin with. The creatures display a range of personalities but are less refined and nuanced in favor of cliché stereotypes. It's an average looking game but at least the interface is clean and clear.

If you haven't played the original, it's difficult to recommend this expansion pack since you need a copy of the original to play it. If you acquire a copy and want more of the same then you'll find this expansion pack accommodating, just don't expect it to take you to heaven.

Features:

• New ultimate foe in the form of a rival god
  
• Choose and mould a creature select from old favourites like the Ape, Cow, Lion, Wolf and Tiger or use the brand new creature included in Battle of The Gods. Alternatively import an existing creature from Black & White 2
  
• Battle with the enemy god over three lands including two hitherto undiscovered ones
  
• Battles are more satisfying thanks to an all new enemy unit AI system but watch out for two new enemy army units and their ultimate weapon their own new enemy creature!
  
• Four new miracles boost the players choice of miracles
  
• Three new player buildings all of which affect the simulation and the player's alignment

By Cole Smith
CCC Senior Writer

Rating out of 5 Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods (PC) 3.2 Graphics Same old, dated looking graphics. The interface is clean and easy to access. 4.4 Control As complex as the game seems at first, it's fairly easy once you get used to playing it. There tutorial is comprehensive - perhaps a little too comprehensive. 2.8 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting As with the graphics there has been little added to the aural component. In other words, we've heard it all before. 3.4 Play Value It's a short game but you can replay it with good, bad or a combination of both, characteristics. 3.4 Overall Rating - Fair Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.