There has been an attack on the village and it is up to the remaining warriors to rise to the occasion and throw back the invading horde.

In addition to the invaders, though, these heroes will also have to battle a script that is just plain bad at times. Countering the overwritten dialog with overacting in the voice department is a one-two punch that detracts from an otherwise sound game.

Etherlords II, a turn-based PC combat exercise from Strategy First and Nival Interactive, features very good graphical elements. This is a game fills the screen with detailed environments and creatures that mesh the known and imaginary rather well.

Players receive skills at random and must wisely control their ether, which is akin to mana and is used to cast all spells. Failure to do so, will result in bypassing a turn to gain more, and risk losing a battle because of it. This is not so much the case in the early going against the initial mobs, or monsters, one encounters, for they are fairly weak and allow players to test their abilities before the game gets hard.

Players can choose one of two avatars to play: the Vital hero (a lovely maiden imbued with the power of nature) or the gruff, Viking-esque Chaot, which adheres to the Ether of Flame.

There are several single player modes - tutorial, duel and campaign. The campaign is a series of missions which build on the premise of an invading army that must be repelled. While you are scurrying about, on your various tasks, you will find your way blocked by creatures that you must defeat in order to get past. In this regard, the game is somewhat linear. If you try to go any direction other than the one you are supposed to go in, your character will mention honor and duty (not directly, mind you, but in general) and you will be turned back. The path to your destination does not allow you to wander through the surrounding terrain.

But back to the story ... The Chaot hero, Konnar, from Fire Valley, discovers that an invading army of Kinets have crossed the lake and attacked his kingdom while the leader of the village, Hellvard, "was happily carousing with this men." Caught unawares, Hellvard and many of his warriors were killed. When informed of this, Konnar proclaims:

"Those Airheads coming over here? May I be mountain Orc fodder if I heard you right. I’d just as soon believe rivers flowing backward or the flame in the bowels of the mountains snuffed out as believe Kinets invading our lands."

Thus the journey begins.

The game does allow for 360-degree camera movement, allowing players to rotate and note what may lay ahead of them. Move along the directed path and come upon a mob, and you will be given the choice between combat and sitting there staring at it. So move into the combat phase. After a quick load, you are in a mini-arena setting, facing your opponent. This is not melee combat, per se. Konnar will summon creatures that will attack in melee form, and the opponent may actually do likewise, but your avatar is about controlling the ether of magic, and thus spell casts. What you conjure may be a weak creature, but you can play cards, which allow you to give it more strength/life and do more damage.

You can partake of the combat in two ways - manually, through each round, or you can put the combat into auto mode, and it will play out turn-by-turn without you having to do a thing except watch. The latter may suit those uncertain of the controls or combat style, but quite honestly, it is not much fun. It basically reduces the game to a mindless jaunt through the lands.

The game’s controls are intuitive and easily managed. The game’s sound, aside from the character voice acting, is average.

Etherlords II is a delight for the eyes, but it suffers from the scripting. The gameplay goes from intriguing and challenging, when you are actually trying to work through the combat yourself, to boring in the auto combat mode. This is a game that seemingly jumps from one extreme to the other. Turn off the sound, ignore the dialogue pop-ups except to collect mission information, and you are left with a linear game that looks good. This is not enough to recommend what could have been a very good title.

This game is rated Teen.

Gameplay: 6.5
There is little in load times, and the maps have interesting points scattered throughout them. The course through the game, though, is somewhat linear.

Graphics: 8.5
This game features great graphical elements. The rotating camera, the detailed environments and special effects make this a real treat for the eyes.

Sound: 5
Take a badly overwritten script and apply vocal acting that tries to put life into it and you end up with a mix that will make any fan of good writing and/or acting cringe. The rest of the sound elements are merely average.

Difficulty: Medium
The real challenge of this game lays in the use of ether and turn-based combat. The rest is seemingly just fluff to provide a reason for fighting. If you put this game into auto-combat mode, it will eliminate the entertainment value while rushing you through the game. However, if you take the time to slow down and enjoy the combat, this is a game that is challenging and intriguing.

Concept: 7
Though this is a linear game, credit must be given for the intuitive player interface. This is a game that is easy to get into and play.

Multiplayer: 7
This game features multiplayer modes through TCP/IP and LAN connections. The modes of play are quite standard for the turn-based strategy game. Expect a lot of dueling.

Overall: 6.8
Though the not-so-good elements outweigh the good elements, Etherlords II does remain a wonderful treat for the eyes. Dueling and head-to-head play overrides some of the sticking points and makes this adventure more enjoyable.