In true serial novel fashion, this sequel reveals that the first story was just a cover for a much bigger, more sinister plot. After their adventures, the heroes of Dark Alliance were swiftly rounded up by the big bad guy and now it's up to you. There are five characters to choose from this time out, a human barbarian, human cleric, dwarven rogue, dark elf monk and elf necromancer. The inclusion of a dwarven rogue seems a bit odd (shouldn't he be covered in armor and swinging a big axe?), but other than that the selection covers all the bases nicely. Some characters are more self-reliant than others, so your choice may be swayed by whether or not you'll be playing the game with a partner. The necromancer, for example, creates more work for you if you're playing alone, but when teamed with a barbarian he's a blast to play.

The 3D, overhead view of Dark Alliance II is home to some very crisp, detailed graphics. Whether in the wilderness, indoors or underground, the environments and characters look great. The characters move well, have great detail and the surroundings are rich. The water effects that were so mesmerizing in the original are back with even better splash animations. The camera is now adjustable, too, in single player mode. You can toggle between the normal view and a closer view. It's nice to have your character larger on the screen, because the game looks that much better, but the closer camera limits your view of the area quite a bit.

The meat and potatoes of Dark Alliance II is beating up on monsters. Each character has a unique style and skill set, which you'll customize along the way. The magic users can use their skill points, earned when you level up, to learn new spells or make their spells more powerful. The fighter types can learn new attacks, which also use up magical energy. There are also several universal skills, like a speed burst, the ability to carry more loot or getting more hit points. After a few levels, your character becomes something unique based on your preferences.

When it comes to using your skills, you'll have plenty of opportunity to take advantage of Dark Alliance II's new rules for wielding two weapons, one large weapon, a large weapon in one hand, and blocking. Some weapons let you block incoming attacks indefinitely, but others make you time the block with the attack. The weapon types work differently on offense, too. Staves, for example, have a longer reach than other weapons. A nice change from the last game is unlimited ammo for ranged weapons.

Some of the spells are more useful than others, particularly as you gain levels. Flame Strike never gets old. Setting a line of enemies in front of you on fire is always handy. The healthy rumble of the ground whenever you cast it doesn't hurt, either. You can suck the life force from your enemies with your necromancer and use your cleric to bolster character stats and heal you and your partner. The spell selection is pretty good and the effects, like turning undead, are satisfying to watch both graphically and for reactions from the bad guys.

The controls have been refined, too. You can now switch between three weapon sets on the fly, so your ranged weapon and two other weapons are always handy. You can also map spells and feats to the face buttons and use them in conjunction with one of the triggers, which acts as a shift key. Simple changes like these are representative of how much time must have been spent playing the original Dark Alliance and working to improve it.

There are hundreds of weapons and armor to choose from, most of which you'll pick up along the way instead of buying in a shop. The number of items is even greater because each item can be of different quality, from "shoddy" to perfect. The condition of the item also affects its performance and whether or not it can be upgraded with magical capabilities – yet another new wrinkle.

In addition to buying and selling equipment at the trader, you can use their workshop services. You can have rune stones and gems fitted into high quality equipment to give it magical properties – everything from attack and damage bonuses to poison effects, speed or improved critical hits, the list goes on and on. Some items are for sale already upgraded, but with enough money you can make pretty much any weapon you like.

All of the above add up to a huge improvement over the first Dark Alliance. Unfortunately, there are also some disappointments. The levels and quests are less interesting than other RPGs, with less of the puzzle solving and interesting characters that appeared in the original. Quests don't have to be so direct – fetch this thing, kill these bad guys, etc.

Some of the puzzles within a mission are solved for you, like an early encounter with a rust monster. Before you enter its lair, a message pops up on screen that tells you to unequip metal items to avoid the monster's attention. Sure enough, even one metal item on your body will bring the rust monster over and before you know it you've got a pile of dust where your sword used to be. Hints are also given for levels where you're fleeing a crumbling building or one filling with poisonous gas. It's pretty obvious you have to get out before you die. Why spoon-feed the player this information? A little trial and error isn't a bad thing, and figuring out what to do would have been more rewarding than having the game spell it out.

In many ways, the makers of Dark Alliance II listened to what players of the first game said they wanted and delivered. The problem is they didn't deliver much else. It's the same game with many upgrades, so if you liked the first one you'll like this one. It's very similar to the tweaks you'll see in some sports games from year to year. The graphics got better, the controls were refined and there are more options, but it's still a very similar game to the one that came before. But because of those improvements, Dark Alliance II will make lots of players very happy. Hopefully the next step will be akin to what we see every few years in sports games, too: a newer take on the formula that makes for a whole new experience.