New Dungeon Lords screenshots

[mkreku]

Gamer's Hell has posted a few, new screenshots from the upcoming RPG Dungeon Lords. (Which, by the way, has just been picked up by Dreamcatcher Games.. Dreamcatcher are quickly moving into the position of becoming my favourite publisher!)

 

The main force behind this RPG is the somewhat famous D.W. Bradley, the guy behind classics like Wizardy 5, 6 and 7, so it's bound to be an interesting game. It's supposedly also a fighting game (?) which makes one wonder..

 

Anyhow, I think it looks quite interesting. What do you guys think?

 

Dungeon Lords Official Homepage

[Darque]

I think it makes me miss 3rd person party based rpgs all the more... nice graphics in it though

[newc0253]

Anyhow, I think it looks quite interesting. What do you guys think?

i think it looks like another dungeon siege - great graphics, empty hacknslash game.

[kefka]

As the name implies, this will be a dungeon crawl. The outdoor scenes are probably just interludes before entering another dungeon. When you've had total freedom in a living, breathing world like Gothic2, confined settings don't appeal to me any more.

[Llyranor]

Depends how good the fighting system is. If it's bland, and the game has nothing else worthy of note, then bleh. A fun fun FUN battle system (NOT plain old hack and slash) might get my interest.

 

EDIT: Well, from the website, the game looks interesting enough.

[Schazzwozzer]

Here's the official website, by the way.

 

It looks nice enough, but if it doesn't have significant RPG elements to back it up, I can't say I'll be particularly excited. I'm not sure if I've ever played a 3rd person game melee combat PC game that I particularly liked, save perhaps for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, though these are chiefly thought of as console games.

[mkreku]

I played Enclave a few months back and that third person hack'n'slash game was actually quite enjoyable, mostly because of the superb graphics and setting.

 

If Heuristic Park manages to make the combat useful/interesting/fun and the story and character development as complex and interesting as in D.W. Bradley's previous Wizardry games, then this game could be great. And since I am also a huge fan of the Gothic-series, I am too hoping it will be a free form world to explore.

 

I still think it shows promise.

[Llyranor]

From http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/429/429260p1.html :

 

"I think the most compelling aspect of Dungeon Lords is the dual emphasis on involvement with the story and its unfolding events, interacting with the different warring groups and the story's main characters, combined with real-time in your face battles against enemies and creatures that you will meet along the many quests. The sense of excitement, believability and player involvement - that's really the driving force. And weaving these elements together within the context of developing a personal hero capable of braving the many challenges is what computer RPG is all about - creating an RPG experience that is real."

 

"In truth, while combat in Dungeon Lords is certainly fast-paced, high-energy action, labeling the game as an "Action" or "Fighter" RPG doesn't really do it justice because there is so much more to the game than just fighting hostiles. The choices the player makes, which characters to befriend, which quests to pursue, which skills, abilities, and magic powers to boost when leveling-up your character - these all play critical parts in a player's ability to survive the perils in Dungeon Lords. It is a world that's gritty, dangerous and real, and the better and more resourceful the player, the better their chances for survival..."

 

"At the same time I was designing this new RPG game system, I was also formulating the foundation of a storyline that represented the kinds of situations and encounters offering the most opportunity for the mysterious and the unexpected, yet possessed at the heart of it a touching human drama. The story has evolved through many periods of new inspiration, evolving the original seed of the storyline as the personality of the main storyline characters has emerged to reveal all sorts of hidden schemes and backroom plots within the game world."

 

"At the same time, the proficiencies of the hero determine things like the ability to hit the opponent, parry or dodge, perform combination attacks, cast magic spells, etc. This means it's important to develop the character thoughtfully and wisely, even more so when you consider the game includes more than just bashing monsters. Combat skills are vital, but focusing only on them can have drawbacks. For instance, they won't be much good when you're trying to do things like deal with traps, solve puzzles and obtain information from NPCs"

 

"Along with the monsters and enemies, the game world is also full of NPCs, and it is through interactions with these characters that the player experiences the story and learns about events in the world, so the NPCs are equally important as extremely valuable sources of information leading to many of the needed quest acquisitions in the game. "

 

"There are the many main story quests, and the player's progress to victory is fairly dependent upon achieving some type of resolution to these, even though some may have alternate possible means. The player will usually have at least several of these quests to embark upon at any given time, and is free to explore the world in a non-linear fashion to achieve their completion. Without giving anything away, by the time the player leaves the town where the game begins, they will have at least three crucial mission quests, all important, and all leading in different directions.

 

Of course, events that occur during the pursuit of any one of these can affect what the player will encounter when undertaking the others. Unpredictability in my games is my favorite subject. There are also many personal quests, most of which lead to special acquisitions and character development options. While not directly a requirement to complete the game, they are how the player can acquire the really cool, rare and unique items and special abilities in the game."

 

Sounds promising. As for combat, as I said, it's wait-and-see for me.

[mkreku]

Here's the official website, by the way.

Well, the game itself also has a Dungeon Lords Official Homepage

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Great, another game with pretty much the same promises. I wonder if there's an on-going flyer circulating around company offices with mandatory buzzwords and concepts for devs to copy and paste onto the description of their games?

[Dhruin]

The "action" part seems a bit "me-too" but I'm pretty confident D.W. Bradley will put some genuine depth into it.

[mkreku]

This time IGN doesn't only come with new screenshots, but also a brand, new preview of Dungeon Lords.

 

And I am still saying the same thing: The more I hear about this game, the better it sounds in my ears (eyes). Strange thing is.. At first I was comparing Dungeon Lords to old Wizardry games, but now I'm leaning towards that old FPS/RPG-hybrid Cybermage (if anyone remembers it).

[newc0253]

and i am still saying the same thing: it looks like another dungeon siege.

[Llyranor]

Hey, if the fighting system is fun, bring it on!

 

"Of course, attacks will be a bit more involved than the click fest of the basic Diablo attack. Instead, a combination of keystrokes and mouse clicks can be used to create different sword strokes and attacks to take down foes.

 

Controlling the attacks takes a little bit to get used to, but I can see that it would be fun after a bit. There's no lock on feature here, but that was apparently a conscious decision on the development team's part in order to create even more need for skill and precision on the part of each gamer. The shield is definitely there for a reason however. Your enemies will attack and attack hard. That shield is the only thing keeping you from your demise. "

 

"Even better, up to eight players will be able to experience the entire single player campaign together allowing for some interesting teamwork to come into play. Because the combat system in the game actually allows for directional damage, this should up the ante for most friendly parties interested in playing together."

 

If this turns out good, I have to get some friends to get it. A good RPG with a good action-based battle system sounds good right about now.

[Judge Hades]

Pretty graphics, but looks boring.

[Cantousent]

The graphics look sweet but a little dark. A good ol' hacknslash isn't such a bad thing. I'll take a wait and watch attitude for right now.

[One2Many]

Well, it does sound interesting, but then there are people who make a pretty good living making games sound interesting...

 

 

realistically, i think it is extremely difficult to make realtime hack and slash combat interesting and not merely a means to an end--at first level, seventy-five goblins may require tactical decisions, but at fourth, fifteenth and fiftieth level, the seventy-five goblin sniper elite whatevers can be killed by mechanically repeating the first techniques you used in the game. so the only reason to keep playing has to be elsewhere, and that is where games like dungeon siege flop.

 

i've only played one of Bradley's games--Wizard's & Warriors--and it was definitely what i would call a hard-core role-playing game, if somewhat of a smorgasbord of mixed delights including at least as many bugs as the infamous ToEE...i'll be curious to see how this one turns out. It does sound like they are putting a fair amount of effort into plot and the game world.

[DemonKing]

I guess it could be interesting but I went off Bradley a bit after he turned Wizardry into a bizarre mix of fantasy and sci-fi, even though both Wizardry 7 & 8 were good games.

 

Did anyone play an old Interplay game called "Die By the Sword"? Now that was a fun game combat-wise, even though it took me until the end-game before I felt fully proficient in it.

 

I might dig it out along with Thief I & II when I go back to the parental unit's house in a couple of weeks time.

[Llyranor]

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dungeonlords/media.html

 

Movies.

 

It's hard to tell so far, not enough footage. The fighting animations themselves looked kinda cool, but the movements (urg, strafing) and magic ones were a bit too repetitive. I hope there are lots of moves and combos, and I hope the blocking/parrying system isn't limited to just the shield.

[Judge Hades]

I am kind of seeing hack and slash games. If I wanted to play a hack and slash game I put in a NWN module or install IWD again. I want a good stroy/character driven CRPG. Hack and slashes are just repetitive and boring.

[mkreku]

I watched the movies (Thanks, Llyranor!) and now I want it (Dungeon Lords) even more It looks like Gothic /Gothic 2 for crying out loud! Gotta love the quick interface, the paperdoll inventory and the dialogue system though. It's starting to look really good, in my opinion. Oh.. And I wouldn't call Gothic/Gothic 2 hack 'n slash either. There's a difference between hack 'n slash and action-RPG.

[Dhruin]

I think it might have promise and I'll certainly watch its development.

[Judge Hades]

I hated Gothic 2.

[Avin]

This time IGN doesn't only come with new screenshots, but also a brand, new preview of Dungeon Lords.

"Hack and slash. Hack and slash!"...?

[mkreku]

"Hack and slash. Hack and slash!"...?

Well, the movie(s) didn't really show that much, but it certainly didn't look like hack and slash to me. I define hack and slash by having to fight horde after horde of monsters while optimizing your character. What was shown in the movie(s) was some dialogue, some inventory manipulating and some combat. And it looked quite good.