The sequel to 1995’s Witchaven, Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance was once again developed by Capstone Software and published by Intracorp Entertainment. This time in 1996. It was the final game for both companies, before they went bust.

Witchaven II again uses the Build Engine to create the 3D world – populated by 2D sprites (Doom-style) – and made atmospheric by darkness and lighting effects.

In this sequel you can dual-wield some weapons, which is new, but in general the gameplay is pretty much identical to the first Witchaven. Clunky combat and spell-casting in a game world populated by far more enemies than seen previously.

For a number of reasons, I don’t think Witchaven II is as good as its predecessor. It’s frustratingly difficult and the enemies are far less interesting. Not that the first Witchaven was particularly good (it certainly wasn’t), but for the developer to make a worse game than its predecessor is probably why the company went tits-up after Witchaven II‘s release.

Like its predecessor, for some reason Witchaven II was recently de-listed on Steam and GOG, making it unavailable to purchase. Which makes ‘sailing the seven seas‘ the only way of getting hold of it now, unless – like me – you bought it before it was de-listed. Ultimately, though, you’re not missing much if you don’t have it.

More: Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance on Wikipedia