Each tribe, like the player, owns creatures at some stage. Since the player trains the creature, their personality can become whatever the player makes of it. The player's creature can do most things the player can do, such as cast miracles. The player can choose between several creatures, including the ape, lion, wolf, cow and tiger, although the tiger is not available in the base game. For example, if the player needs to lead an invasion, they can set villagers, and even their creature to farm for them while they lead an invasion. Other tribes include Egypt, Norse, Aztec, and Japanese.Īs in Black & White, players can create disciples to do the player's job in certain areas of the game while the player tends to other business. Both of these require ore and wood, of which there is a limited amount. Good involves benevolence, more positive city building, and looking after the populace, particularly defending it from attacks. Evil involves the use of fear, torture, conquest and destruction using armies along with the creation of building such as a pit of torture. There are six ordinary miracles: fire, lightning, water, shield, heal, and meteor, (each of which can be thrown or poured), and four epic wonders : siren, hurricane, earthquake, and volcano.īlack & White 2 can be played in three ways: Good, Evil, or combination of the two. Miracles have a variety of different uses. This activates the miracle, and if the player has enough Prayer Power, it appears in the player's hand ready to cast. To do things such as cast miracles, the player moves the hand in such a way to make a symbol on the ground, referred to as a gesture. Two creatures battling in the Greek city. The player can also cast miracles for a certain amount of " Prayer Power" (in essence, " Mana"), which comes from the player's believers. The only way the player can directly interact with this world is through the player's hand, which can be used to pick up people, trees, food, and influence the ground. The player sees little else on the screen but the world, the player's hand, and toolbars which the player can make disappear.
The user interface is almost button-less. Rather than the experimental HUD-less gameplay seen in the original game, Black & White 2 features HUD notifications that inform players of their creature's state of mind, the effects of their actions on their creature, the status of villages, etc.
In addition to the god simulation and city-building elements introduced in the original Black & White, Black & White 2 also features elements of real-time strategy gameplay, with the addition of controllable warfare and fighting units.īlack & White 2 features a more conventional heads-up display (HUD) system than its predecessor. The creature can grow to an immense size, and adopt a good or evil persona based on how the player rewards or punishes their actions. The player is physically represented in the world as an avatar-like creature, which takes the form of a giant anthropomorphic ape, lion, wolf, turtle, cow, or tiger. The player must help develop their nature according to their good or evil desires.
The player takes the role of a god called from the void (nothingness) to help the villagers who invoked them.