By Aaron Lee
If you’ve ever wanted to be a god, Black and White 2 from Feral Interactive gives you the chance. It’s a $19.99 sequel to the real-time strategy sequel for Mac OS X 10.9.5 or higher. It’s a fun, addicting game, though not without flaws.
In Black and White 2, which cleverly combines elements of different game genres, you reprise your role as a powerful deity in search of a following. You return to the once idyllic world of Eden, where the discovery of weaponry and warfare has tainted the world. With the help of your gigantic Creature that you raise from infancy, you must earn the respect and worship of the natives.
How you choose to do that, whether through nurturing them or terrorizing them, is up to you. You can choose to restore order by building a harmonious city for your flock — or by waging war on non-believers. Heck, you can even toss your own followers at their enemies if you’re that sort of god.
Your Creature is the physical manifestation of your power. It takes the form of a vast ape, cow, lion or wolf. Your will determines whether the Creature becomes a force for good or a weapon of destruction.
As the world’s god, you influence everything. People, plants, even buildings and people morph to reflect your approach as a deity — whether it’s loving or hate-filled. You can perform miracles or wreak destruction by calling forth natural disasters including volcanoes, earthquakes and even meteors.
In Black and White 2, you expand your rule across nine distinct islands as you assimilate Greek, Norse, Japanese and Aztec tribes into your flock. Again, what you do with these locations is up to you. You can bless ’em with sparkling fountains and lush gardens, or curse ’em with spikes and torture pits.
Black & White 2 includes the Battle of the Gods expansion pack in which you fight for dominance against a rival god.
My biggest complaint with Black & White 2 is that is doesn’t have gamepad support. And I love using a gamepad.
My second biggest complaint with Black & White 2, as with the original, is that you have to be one micromanaging deity as your followers and Creature aren’t the brightest beings around. Training your “pet” is time-consuming. Just when you think he’s well trained, he’ll do something stupid — like poop on one of your followers or try and eat a rock.
The populace of your cities aren’t quite as dumb. But they’re still pretty dense, as are the enemies they battle. Example: enemy platoons just stood their ground as my followers showered them with arrows.
Also, finger “gestures,”which are used by Magic Mice and Trackpads to switch between windows and applications, can disrupt your game if used inadvertently. To disable them, follow these instructions:
- Open System Preferences ( Menu → System Preferences).
- Click on Mouse or Trackpad (depending on which you are using).
- Select the More Gestures tab.
- Uncheck all the checkboxes.
- Back To Top
You can use a trackpad for gameplay. However, you must first enable the secondary click function on your mouse or trackpad. This will enable you to perform a right-click by clicking the right-hand side of your mouse or trackpad.
To do this, follow these instructions:
- Open System Preferences ( Menu → System Preferences).
- Select Mouse or Trackpad (depending on which you are using).
- Select the Point & Click tab.
- Check the Secondary Click checkbox.
Also, you should note that Black and White 2 isn’t supported on volumes formatted as Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive). You have been warned.
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