The outdoor areas are as tightly designed as any dungeon, but the glimpses of monuments and mysteries between trees, and the reveal of towering structures, provides a sense of scale that makes the surface more than a reskinned oubliette. Removed from the linear downward trajectory of a single dungeon, Grimrock 2 is a splendid example of the use of envronment and theme. Those splashes of verdant scenery and inviting waters are the first surprise in a game that is packed with them.
There are dark, cold dungeons in Grimrock 2 but the opening scenes - shipwreck aside - have the beauty of a holiday in the sun. If I'm being honest, I shouldn't look to the stars - I spent fifteen hours or thereabouts with Legend of Grimrock 2 because of the flurries of sleet that kept me huddled beneath a duvet, grimacing at the outside world. This weekend, the stars aligned and I finally sank around fifteen hours into one of the big games waiting in my backlog. I rearranged all of my furniture yesterday so that I could play a game and it's not even a game with a stonking great dancemat or waving and waggling control scheme.
