The Magic Candle 2, subtitled The Four and Forty, is the second of a long and interesting Magic Candle franchise. The series features a prequel in Bloodstone) An Epic Dwarven Tale, one spin-off in The Keys to Maramon, as well as three actual editions to the series. A second series: Seige and its sequel, Ambush at Sorinor, was also inspired by the Magic Candle trilogy. The Magic Candle 2 was created by Mindcraft Software Incorporated and was published by Electronic Arts in the early nineties, with the sequels following immediately.
It was created only for play as a computer video game for the DOS operating system, although it does seem to run on many more modern machines.
Like all of the games in the series, the Magic Candle 2 is a turn-based role playing game. It plays from the top down perspective and offers the player a great medieval or fantasy theme. The gaming world of Gurtex is enormous and a user can play for countless hours and still find new and entertaining features. There are towers, towns, and castles, as well as underground mines and more fanciful places. The supply of non-playing characters seems to be endless, but what is even more fun
is the fact that you can accept so many of them into your party, making the game very fresh and exciting with each replay. It never has to be the same game twice. Along with the numerous non-playing characters are a host of weapons and armor, as well as interesting spells. Plus there is a great twist at the end…no spoilers here…that will give the gamer a lot more to think about.
The premise of the tale sees the user formulating a variable party and exploring the land in search of the forty-four mages that had vanished several years earlier. With their help, you will vanquish the evil demon lord, Zakhad.
The level of the artificial intelligence has greatly improved in this second installment, and the gamer familiar with the first Magic Candle issue will likely find this one significantly more challenging. The fights are harder, there are more enemies, and there is just so much to do that the head will swim. Fortunately, important events are recorded automatically in a character notebook, helping the user to keep track of his quests.
This is a fun game with simplistic controls and a very basic approach to the role playing game. The plot is not overly well developed, but there are just so many quests and adventures that the user forgets to ask “why?” and just keeps adventuring. It is a solid and enjoyable RPG.
