If in the demo version of the game you were able to play only one map and only with one class (rogue), in the full version you have so much content that you will spend a lot of time if you want to finish it.

In this expansion, the developers decided to implement two new classes, several maps and much more for you to discover.

The game circles around two things: dynasties and the struggle for power. Each map you play will give you one dynasty member and you must either complete the mission or be the best of all.

The family

Guild 2 centers around dynasties. Your family is a very important thing in the game and you must procreate to keep your family name alive. You will begin by courting an opposite sex person (no, there are not marriages between the people of the same sex) and keep on courting until you will get to marry with that person. Depending on the class of the one you are courting, you will have an array of option to use, ranging from kisses to hugs and giving expensive gifts or taking a bath at various inns. After you get married, the most important thing is to have children. You can play with three family members so it's wise to have family members with different classes.

One odd thing is that even if you are an aristocrat you will have to court a serf. No citizen, no noble, no sir, serfs. Why the developers decided this limitation I don't know....

You can assign each playable member of your family one business which will translate in more experience for that member.

As you complete different things like working in your business, winning in the politics and much more you gain experience. As you advance in the levels you will be given the opportunity to gain several abilities which will help you on the long run.

Wealth

As always, the money are needed everywhere. Each dynasty must gain the money from somewhere. Scholars handle the health and spiritual life, the patrons bake bread, have taverns or inns. The craftmen rely on hard work and their hands to earn their pay. They mine the minerals, harvest the wood and provide raw materials. Rogues for instance are masters of thievery and brute force. They can plunder buildings, demand protection money, dispose of people or steal they money.

{pagebreak}Each character has its own abilities and his must master its profession in order to succeed in life. As the character rise in level, he can upgrade its buildings. By doing this, he will unlock different bonuses to the buildings, allowing the business to increase production, hire more people to work for him, increase its attractiveness and much more. With the money he gets from selling he will pay his employees and buy raw materials to produce items.

As you upgrade you buildings you must pay to unlock your upgrades which translates in the ability for your employees to manufacture better and more expensive items. As they work for you, they will gain experience, making them better in what they do.

The management of your buildings can be handled by you or by the AI. At the beginning you will be able to manage your buildings but in the end, most of your businesses will be handled by AI. You can tell the AI what to do by choosing how do you want your business to be handled. Choosing from several possibilities, you will decide how to handle the transport of the goods, the level and the payment of your workers and what upgrades to be made. All this ensure that the money will keep coming, leaving you to concentrate on more important things like politics and family.

Power

Besides being rich you must also become a respected politician. Starting from the lower ranks you can fight to become the ruler of the settlement. Firth of all you must first gain the rank of citizen. Buying this title will cost you 500 golds but gives you the opportunity to start you election campaign. The position available are divided in two. On one side are the commerce position and on the other are the justice positions.

As the city progresses, more and more political positions will be available to the city. If a small village has only 3 positions, in the end you will have to choose between 10 political positions. Executor, magistrate, bishop, mayor are just some of the positions that will be available to you. To compete for a position your character will have to be a citizen. Further you must apply for an office. Depending on what you desire, you will have to pay a fee. The bigger the position, the more you have to pay to apply. Of course that you will get paid for the position you have so in the long term you will gain more that you paid at the beginning.

If at the beginning you will start from the bottom, with the help of you friends and your allies, you will climb in the politics and become even the mayor of the town.

Each season there is a council meeting where you will have to compete or to defend your office. Sometimes you will succeed, sometimes you will fail. Bribing or influencing the participants is a vital thing if you want to survive in the politic.

Each office will grant it's owner some privileges. Commanding tax inspections, commanding the guards or the town informers, setting the severity of the law or the taxes are just some of the benefits that come with an office. This way you will be able to help your friends and to make your enemies fear you even more.

Gameplay: 77

The expansion manages to hold you in front of the computer in a very subtle way. Your dynasty growing necessity, the businesses which demands a lot of attention and care, the politics which add a particular flavor, all contribute to a successful game.

Graphics: 85

The developers managed to set the game into a very beautiful environment. The water, the sky, the nature looks very good and manages to attract the players, giving them a realistic perspective over a medieval world. The only thing that could receive more attention are the people models. All look the same, with few variations and this hurts. Women looking like men, men looking like women is very common.

Sound: 74

The sounds, the ambient sound are created very good and they combine with the gameplay very good. The orchestra music does a brilliant job and it's perfect for the game. The sound effects are the only that require some work. These chapter is the only weak spot of the sound. Too bad.

Multiplayer: 85

The multiplayer could be fun, but unfortunately we could not join any game. We don't know if there are technical problems or the people have little interest in playing the game online and focus only on the singleplayer. This score will be based on what could be.

Hardware: 68

With the game running at full details you will need a big rig to run the game. Maybe this is why they released until now three patches to solve some of the gameplay and performance issues present in the game. Another big bug is the pathfinding. Sometimes your characters will go round a building instead of taking the shortest route to the entrance of the building.