Eye of the Beholder II: Legend of Darkmoon is the first sequel to SSI's excellent CRPG. Following your characters' victory in Eye of the Beholder, they are asked by none other than Khelben Arunsun, Archmage of Waterdeep, to investigate mysterious disappearances in the woods near the city. (Investigation of a Forgotten Realms map suggests this may be Ardeep Forest.) Upon arrival, you find yourselves drawn into a maddening conspiracy which will pit you against terrifying foes and cause you to ignore slightly illogically-placed traps. Unlike Eye I, the game's physical structure (if not its programming) is non-linear, so that you do not simply ascend or descend on your travels, but must re-visit certain locations repeatedly to succeed. Your characters also make the occasional independent comment, and there is a shade more morality involved than before. Eye of the Beholder III: The Assault on Myth Drannor followed.
Spoilers ahead!
Forest: The first level is a small forest with no exit - only a couple of entries to Temple Darkmoon. Wolves dwell here.
Temple Level 1: The Temple levels are all furnished in shiny white marble. A small room with virtually no opposition - only the choice to attack the priests, or disobey them and have them attack you. The priests here are quite tough, but should die.
Temple Level 2: Dungeon Central. Above Temple 1, and larger than it (!), this level contains many flail-wielding priests, and some fairly nice interactive furniture. Also here are the paths up to two of the towers.
Catacomb Level 1: The catacomb levels are done up in an orange-brown variant of the gunge levels - 10 and 11 - from Eye I. Here, you can fight human fighters - some of whom are quite tough - and whose varying states of undress show off the improved range of graphics in the game.
Catacomb Level 2: A deserted dungeon area containing evil priests who attack with magic.
Catacomb Level 3: More evil priests, and a huge army of skeleton warriors. Killing these undead is necessary to find an item you need, but doing so will severely annoy the Bad Man.
Catacomb Level 4: A dingy level where you can't sleep much, and are attacked by margoyles and gelatinous cubes.
Catacomb Level 5: Another area where you can't sleep, and there are giant ants everywhere. Go in, get what you want, and leave by a back route, encountering Eye I's giant spiders on the way.
Silver Tower Level 1: The Silver Tower has décor similar to the Temple levels, and can only be reached if you retrieved the correct items from the catacombs. The first level is inhabited by thri-kreen, as was Level 10 back in Eye I. Watch out for the eggs, and the traps!
Silver Tower Level 2: Here you encounter nests of giant wasps. Try to avoid being poisoned.
Silver Tower Level 3: Flying Snakes and Gas Spores. Be very careful.
Silver Tower Level 4: Beholders and not much else. You'll need all your battle might here.
Silver Tower Level 5: Be sure to visit this level - there's some extremely useful stuff up here. And some Beholders.
Azure Tower Level 1: The walls and floors of this tower are a pale blue colour. The monster quotient is getting sillier, too. Remember to collect reflective shields. Level one features basilisks.
Azure Tower Level 2: More basilisks here, and bulettes, too. This level has the infamous fireball maze. Take care.
Azure Tower Level 3: This level is infested with Guardian Yugoloths. Kill them for XP, and don't stand on the big glyph if you can help it.
Azure Tower Level 4: You bypass this level intially - when you return to it, you'll be pounded by Frost Giants, who crawl around it on their hands and knees and are devilishly hard. The giants have been imprisoned here by Dran, but the background to this is sadly unexplained.
Azure Tower Level 5: This is the medusa maze. Polished shields are a must. Once you get through here, the evil Dran Draggore appears and drops you into level four for more pain.
Crimson Tower: A stylishly-decorated area without well-defined levels, although the general impression is of a tower like a long finger. Everything is red and orange. Here you'll meet mages, hellhounds, mind flayers, and eventually Dran himself. As in Eye I, your foe's identity may be a bit of a surprise. |
