by Peter von Kleinsmid

Myth: The Fallen Lords included essentially all of the elements that make Myth the great classic game series that it continues to be. The foundation of the game's success is a powerful and detailed 3D physics engine and display system. This is fleshed out with interesting, original, colorful and well-balanced unit types. The compelling story ties together a wealth of attractive and expertly designed levels for single- and multi-player play. The masterstroke that completes the design is perhaps the healthy dose of dark humor and self-parody which adds a uniquely amusing flavor to the whole game. The desperate battle against endless hordes of undead minions just would not be the same without a clumsy dwarf accidentally bouncing his makeshift bomb off the shoulder of his taller comrade, sparking off a chain-reaction of dropped unexploded munitions that sends battlefield debris flying and rebounding in all directions, wreaking havoc and turning the situation literally upside-down. "Oops! Sorry about that!", he says.

Myth II hand-to-hand mayhem.

Myth II: Soulblighter was published only a hair before the end of 1998, and mainly added more accessible editors, as well as the expected new set of units, maps, scenarios, campaign, and new game features. Graphics were made more detailed. Non-combatant creatures appeared to add to the realism of the game environment. Landscapes could now be set on fire. New multi-player game types were added, such as Hunting and Stampede.

Myth II's campaign takes place sixty years after the first game's campaign, and involves the return of some of the fallen lords who weren't quite destroyed during the first campaign. The living are not the only ones to have spent those years rebuilding, and a new war erupts with lightning speed, once again leading the player through a series of desperate and varied tactical problems involving all manner of locations, conditions, unit types, sorceries, and styles of play.

The Myth II editors were powerful and easy enough to use that an amazing number of modifications and scenarios have been produced. Various groups of players continue to use these to crank out hundreds of free expansions, plug-ins, and total makeovers of the game, including World War II, Civil War, Vietnam, Wild West, Lego units, pirate units, Alien units, weird combat sports, other fantasy and sci-fi settings, and all sorts of other mods.

A Myth II mod - Bushidio.