Even if you missed last weeks $.99 sale, if you’re in the mood for a long and absorbing action RPG you can’t go wrong with Gameloft’s Dungeon Hunter II even at $6.99. This epic game will have you exploring gorgeous dungeons, caves, swamps, sky islands and castles for weeks if not months as you build up your character with tons of weapons, armor and magic attacks.

There are so many quests in so many different realms that even after you finish the exhausting campaign the first time you’ll be happy to find that you can continue to level up your character on repeated plays on harder difficulties with even more powerful weapons, armor and of course enemies.  If you like going on treasure hunts for glowing staffs and blades that deal massive damage you’ll be in gaming heaven.

The story is not only bigger than the original but for whatever class you choose (Warrior, Rogue or Mage) you also have two subclasses with different abilities and skill trees that provide scores of magical abilities for you to play with.  The Mage will branch off into either an Illusionist or Shadowmancer, the Warrior a Beserker or Holy Crusader and the Rogue splits into either a Death Walker or Archer. 

With all the different realms, quests, enemies and story twists, DH II keeps up a nice pace with none of the grinding that can befall an RPG.  You’re continually finding better equipment to buff up your character and keep your interest.  In fact, getting rid of all the useless equipment becomes something of a chore although you can choose to automatically transmute lower level items in the options menu.  Choosing to auto-equip your character won’t always give you the best combination for your playing style so it‘s best to manually outfit your fighter.

Gameloft has refined the UI by giving you 3 quick touch buttons for your active magic attacks instead of the wheel used in DH 1.  Another improvement is that the different headgear now appears on your character in Dungeon Hunter II.  There’s also Co-op Multiplayer via WiFi or Bluetooth where you can pick up exp. or items to use in the single-player game.

Dungeon Hunter II is a magical treasure chest of action RPG gaming and it’s depth, ease of play and variety has commanded an obscene amount of my playing time. Still, I can see myself playing through again - maybe this time I’ll play as a Death Walker.  With all the throw-away titles on the iDevice, Dungeon Hunter II is a great long-lasting value no matter what you paid.

goyami@comcast.net