Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax
Sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, released in 1988.
Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax hit home computers in 1988, later arriving in North America under the title Axe of Rage. It follows up on Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (known as Death Sword in the US), which came out the year before. Players take on the role of either a princess or a barbarian, journeying through the game world to find and defeat an evil wizard. The story picks up where the first game left off, but the gameplay takes a different turn. Where the original let two players face off in head-to-head combat, this sequel is a single-player beat 'em up with a smaller set of fighting moves. Instead of a scrolling screen, it uses a flip-screen system.
The developer, Palace Software, marketed the sequel much like the first game. They brought back model Maria Whittaker, famous for her topless work, to appear on the cover and posters as the princess, hoping to reignite the controversy that had driven sales. Critical reception was mixed. Some reviewers saw it as a fresh, gory adventure, while others found it a dull, confusing trek through a lonely digital world.
In terms of gameplay, Barbarian II is strictly single-player. You control either Princess Mariana, who wields a sword, or the barbarian, who fights with a battleaxe. Both are chasing the evil wizard Drax, who fled to his dungeon hideout after losing in the first game. The characters battle through a harsh wasteland, a cave system, and a dungeon before finally confronting Drax in his inner sanctum. Movement is handled with a joystick or keyboard. The world is split into four stages—wasteland, caves, dungeon, and inner sanctum—each made up of interconnected rooms filled with monsters, traps, and items. The screen flips to a new room when the character leaves one, and room connections can be disjointed: an exit on the left might lead to an entrance on the same side. A compass at the bottom always points north. Players navigate rooms, dodge traps, collect items, and find the exit to the next stage.
The protagonist faces 20 types of creatures. Using the joystick and button (or keyboard commands), the player can perform four attacks: a low slash, a high chop, a kick, and a spinning neck chop. Life gauges at the top corners show health. Successful attacks drain the gauge, and a character dies when it hits zero.
- Developer
- Palace Software
- Publisher
- Palace Software (Europe); Epyx (North America)
- Release year
- 1988
- Platforms
- Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64/128, ZX Spectrum
- Genre
- Single-player beat 'em up
- North american title
- Axe of Rage
Lore & Background
Palace Software, the developer of the two Barbarian games, marketed the sequel with the same strategy they used for the first game. They hired Maria Whittaker, a model known for her topless work, to pose on the cover and posters as the princess in the game, attempting to recapture the controversy that had boosted sales. Steve Brown, creator of the Barbarian games, recalled that the bikini's chain 'snapped a number of times' in a comical Carry On fashion during the shoot. The image of the barbarian and princess poised over the fallen body of a large, scaly monster was a photomontage, created by superimposing three photographs—one of each subject—on one another. The creature was a small scale model made of Plasticine.
For the animations in the sequel, Brown turned to the works of photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who made a name for himself through his series of photographs of animals and humans captured in motion. The movements of Barbarian II's characters were based on the pictures in Muybridge's book Human in Motion, which was published in 1901. The resulting animation was judged very realistic and detailed by several reviewers. Barbarian II was released in August 1988 for various home computers. The various versions differed in features, depending on specifications of the platforms. The Amiga version of the game was given several improvements, including digitised speech and better graphics. In contrast, the ZX Spectrum version has monochromatic graphics; the first level comprises black-outlined sprites against pink backgrounds.
Reader's Guide
Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax represents a notable shift in gameplay from its predecessor, moving from two-player competitive sword fighting to a single-player beat 'em up with flip-screen exploration. Its significance lies partly in its controversial marketing, which repeated the strategy of using model Maria Whittaker to generate publicity, and in its technical animation, which drew from Eadweard Muybridge's motion studies. The game received a mixed critical reception, with reviewers split over whether it was a refreshing and gory adventure or a boring and lonely sojourn through a confusing digital world. Its North American release as Axe of Rage featured different cover art that itself sparked controversy, with a Canadian wholesaler refusing to sell it due to the cover's perceived crassness. The game's legacy is tied to the broader Barbarian series and Palace Software's approach to promotion, as well as to the technical differences between home computer versions of the late 1980s.
Did You Know?
- Barbarian II was released as Axe of Rage in North America and included a tattoo in its packaging.
- The game's animations were based on photographs from Eadweard Muybridge's 1901 book Human in Motion.
- The cover image was a photomontage of three separate photographs, with the monster made from Plasticine.
- Pharmacy chain Boots banned displays of Barbarian II from their stores in the United Kingdom.
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