Michal Necasek is from the Czech Republic and working as a software engineer in California. He has been playing adventures since around 1990.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld is probably one of the most successful book series ever. After less than 15 years since its inception, it now includes over 25 titles. And amazingly enough, people still buy the books--I know, I'm one of them. Discworld books are extremely hard to classify--at first they might appear to be fantasy novels, but that's only a disguise. In fact, they combine elements of fantasy, satire, mystery, and whatever else is necessary. If you don't know Discworld, check it out--you just might find out how much you have been missing.

Since Discworld gained so much popularity--especially among European readers--it was only a question of time before it would spawn spin-offs in other media--and it did when the adventure game Discworld appeared, to be followed shortly by another adventure. I'm usually very suspicious of this kind of venture--many of them are rather horrible and only try to exploit the good name of some popular creation in the name of profit. Fortunately, Discworld 2 isn't all that bad.

Psygnosis published its second Discworld game in 1996. It is based on Pratchett's books but only loosely. Instead of following the plot of a single book, it combines elements from five or six books. Discworld fans will immediately spot people and places familiar from Moving Pictures, Lost Continent, Reaper Man, Pyramids, and others. But having read these books will not substantially help you solving the game, and not having read the books will not really hinder you either.

The complete title of the game is Discworld 2: Missing, Presumed ...? This refers to none other than Death, my favorite Discworld character. Death has gone AWOL, and no one can properly die. You play the role of the incredibly inept wizard Rincewind, and your ultimate goal is to find Death and get him back on his job--or failing that, at least act as a stand-in. If you don't know Discworld, you might think that magic would play a prominent role in that quest. If you do know Discworld, however, you are aware of the fact that Rincewind is one of the least magical persons in existence and is only a wizard because he wears a pointy hat and a dress. Discworld does resemble Earth in many rather disturbing ways, you know ...

A note about the game's name: Apparently, in Europe the game was subtitled "Missing, Presumed ...?" while in the US it was "Mortality Bytes." This is really confusing, especially because it looks like I played the European version in the US.

In the absence of magic, it's good old puzzle solving that will help you succeed in your quest. Discworld 2 is a typical point-and-click adventure. The interface is very simple; a right-click on an object will make Rincewind describe it, a left-click will tell him to use or pick up the object. The inventory is rather unusual, though--Rincewind himself can only carry two objects. But he is followed everywhere by Luggage--a chest, made of the magical wood of the sapient pear tree, that walks on some hundred tiny little legs. Luggage has unlimited storage capacity (because it's magical), so stashing objects larger than Luggage itself (like a ladder or an adult ape) is not a problem at all.

Rincewind can and must talk to other people. Again, the dialog interface is very simple, with just four standard icons and sometimes one or two extra icons for asking about specific subjects. In the first of four acts of the game, Rincewind needs to talk a lot; in the remaining three acts, much less so. Some of the conversations are really amusing--my favorite quote is, "it's not a bug, it's a creature"--you'll understand what it means after playing the game.

The first act takes place in Ankh-Morpork, Discworld's greatest (and in many ways, most awful) city. In the other acts, Rincewind will have to travel a lot and sometimes even visit places not quite of this world (or rather Discworld). Again, traveling is very simple, and both Ankh-Morpork and Discworld have an overview map that can get you anywhere pretty quickly. Double-clicking on an exit will immediately quit a location--I really wish all adventure games could do that (you hear that, Funcom?)!

The graphics are cartoonish, which in my opinion suits the theme very well. The game runs in SVGA resolution (640x480 with 256 colors) and looks quite nice. The animations are well-done, and there are several fairly long cutscenes. Overall, not awe-inspiring but certainly pretty.

Sound is one of Discworld 2's strengths. The voiceovers for Rincewind were done by Eric Idle, who also composed and performed the title song. And he did a great job. I strongly suspect that without the voiceovers, Discworld 2 would be only half the game. Eric Idle makes Rincewind sound like the complete failure he is, always whining about something and prevailing in the end only due to some strange twist of fate. Okay, I am a Monty Python fanatic, but I really think the voice acting was good. By the way, the game contains a number of references to Monty Python--it would be rather surprising if it didn't, given the lead voice actor.

The game is not entirely serious, and Rincewind has always funny comments like, "They can't kill me yet, the game has barely started," or, "What, no pointless puzzles and quests?" I like this kind of game much better than the type that pretends to be dead serious even if it's still only a game. Games should be fun!

The puzzles are typical of most adventure games. The majority are logical, but some will leave you, well, puzzled--and thinking, "how the heck was I supposed to figure that out?" But of course I won't be giving you any hints here.

I played the DOS version of the game (under real DOS, not Win9x) and it worked flawlessly for me. The game never crashed, and I didn't find any bugs. It's too bad all games aren't that stable.

The story is kind of funny but not exactly earth-shattering (or is that disc-shattering?), although there are several large explosions. The interface is well-done and doesn't get in the way. Playing the game is fun. If you are a fan of Discworld and/or Monty Python, don't miss this game--you'll love it. In the unlikely event that you hate Discworld and/or Monty Python, avoid the game at all costs. And if you don't care about them, try this game--you might like it. I'm a fan of both, so deciding whether to play Discworld 2 was a no-brainer for me.

Overall, the story is not the stuff dreams are made of, but the game is very well-done and fun to play.

Final Grade: B

System Requirements:
IBM or 100% compatible 486 DX4-100 or better
DOS 5.0 or Windows 95 and DirectX 3 or higher
SVGA card with 512 KB or more RAM
16 MB RAM on Win95, 8 MB on DOS
4X CD-ROM drive
100% Microsoft-compatible mouse