Tag Archives: dungeon crawler

Crimson Alliance: A New Breed of Hack and Slash/ Dungeon Crawler

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Posted by Rob on December 5, 2011 – 9:59 am
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That’s the Soul Siren, your arch-nemesis

I’m sure many of you fellow gamers are familiar with the hack and slash/ dungeon crawler RPG genre. Here’s the generic laundry list that typically defines this genre:

  • Fantasy setting
  • Two or more players
  • Simple, button mashing combat
  • Several different classes of character, each with unique skills
  • Develop skills by assigning points to skill trees
  • Grind to get XP
  • Smash boxes and open chests to find gold and equipment
    • Purchase new equipment and sell off old equipment
    Here’s what Crimson Alliance does:
    • Fantasy setting
    • Two or more players
    • Simple, button mashing combat
    • Several different classes of character, each with unique skills
    • Develop skills by assigning points to skill trees
  • Grind to get XP 
  • Smash boxes and open chests to find gold and equipment
  • Purchase new equipment and sell off old equipment 

    • Seems like your everyday, run of the mill dungeon crawler 

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    PS3 Review: Dungeon Siege III

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    Posted by Rob on June 30, 2011 – 8:15 pm
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    I love a great hack-and-slash/ dungeon crawler RPG grindfest, but the current generation has been lacking in this department…until this year, when a large amount of these games are coming out. Dungeon Siege III is the first full retail game (Dungeon Hunter: Alliance was a downloadable title), and while the developers made some bad decisions as far as co-op goes, the general game is pretty sweet.

    The Characters:

    One of the main things that make a hack-and-slash RPG is the characters and/or classes. Dungeon Siege III focuses around a group called “The Legion”, and the four playable characters are all descendants of this order that was pretty much decimated thirty years prior. The four characters are all different and do, generally speaking, have varying play styles. The “rogue” is a female human who uses guns as weapons, and also has access to some curses for good measure. There is a human knight who deals heavy melee combat, making him a fine tank. There is a female archon (aka “fire demon”) who has two different forms; as a human she can deal melee damage with her staff/spear, but when in her fire demon form she gains access to some crazy fire magic. This makes her an ideal character as she can switch between melee and magic combat fairly quickly. The last character is a dwarven…something. I’m not entirely sure what he does since I haven’t played as him yet, but he claims that using mathematical calculations and his mind he can rip an enemy in two once he’s trained to do so, so that’s something to look forward to I suppose.

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    PSN Review: Dungeon Hunter: Alliance

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    Posted by Rob on May 3, 2011 – 4:05 pm
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    Anyone who truly knows that my favorite genre of game is not FPS or wrestling or even RPGs…it’s the good ol’ genre of hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers! Nothing is better than sitting down, choosing a class, and then spending fifty or more hours grinding that character by killing endless streams of monsters over and over again while searching for more xp and loot. The PS2 had quite a few excellent games in this genre, but the PS3 has been relatively lacking…the best being Sacred 2. Then along came Dungeon Hunter: Alliance; a PSN-exclusive that really scratched my itch for a genre that has been severely under-represented in this generation of home consoles.

    There is a basic story in the game. You play as a dead king who is resurrected by a fairy, who needs your help to stop your wife (the queen) from resurrecting a dark fairy who will destroy the world. There are three classes to choose from; warrior, rogue, and mage. As with most dungeon crawlers, each class depends on different stats (ex- warrior uses strength, rogue uses dexterity) and combat skills to take on the forces of evil. There are twelve acts, each one made up of a couple of different dungeons/maps that offer their own enemy type. While the lack of class choice is a tad disappointing (I compare most hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers to Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms), it works just fine for a $9 PSN title (the PS+ price, of course.)

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    Dungeon Hunter: Alliance: A Worthy Predecessor to Sacred 2

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    Posted by Rob on April 19, 2011 – 5:02 pm
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    If anyone knows my gaming habits, they know I’m a sucker for the hack-and-slash/dungeon-crawler/RPG genre. Ever since getting the PS3 I’ve been itching for something that equaled the awesomeness of Champions of Norrath and Baldurs Gate on the PS2, but that has been a challenge. The closest game was Sacred 2, which is incredibly under-rated in my opinion, but I do acknowledge the limitations it had. There were a few other games that tried to squeeze into the genre, but just didn’t cut the mustard (Untold Legends didn’t have online voice chat and was otherwise mediocre, and the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series just didn’t have as much replay value as I would have liked.)

    Then I started hearing about Dungeon Hunter: Alliance; a PSN-exclusive that enables up to four players to raid some dungeons. Being a PSN title, I was initially skeptical for the replay value, particularly in the number of maps and the max level. After reading co-optimus’ review on the game, my worries were tossed aside as there are over twelve levels and the character level cap is set to 75. So I jumped on the PSN and put my birthday money to good use, and had some time to check the game out. Read More »

    Return to Sacred 2

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    Posted by Rob on January 20, 2011 – 11:34 pm
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    After a several month hiatus, crazysteve and I finally got our gaming time down together and returned to Sacred 2. Earlier today we were trying to figure out how far we had left to go in the main quest…I thought we were in the jungle area and he thought we were in the underground lava area. We were both wrong, as I loaded up my character (level 54 High Elf; Steve has a level 57 Shadow Warrior) to find that we were 89.9% through the main quest, and were actually on the elf island, which is the area right before the final area.

    I was a bit rusty, as I had all my combat arts mapped up as combos, and it took me some time and experimentation to figure out what did what, but eventually I was casting fireballs and snowstorms around like it was nobody’s business. Man I love this game, and it’s a shame that it received such poor support after its release. The consoles really need another good hack and slash/dungeon crawler like this, and I’m hoping that either Dungeon Siege III lives up to this, or that Diablo III finds its way to consoles. Otherwise, I’ll probably just keep crawling back to Sacred 2.

    PSN Review: Deathspank

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    Posted by Rob on August 21, 2010 – 2:53 pm
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    I am a huge fan of hack-and-slash, dungeon crawler RPGs, so when Deathspank came out and I saw that it fit the genre nicely, I just had to check it out. Deathspank is a solid game for the PSN…that being said, it would not have held up well if it was a PS3 disc-based game. While the game succeeds in many ways, there are a few factors holding it back from being an extremely epic RPG experience.

    You take on control of Deathspank, a hero for hire (who wears  a magical purple thong) who sets out to claim a magical artifact, which he believes will make him the strongest hero in the world. Deathspank will explore a somewhat small world that does have a few unique environments, but at the same time is limited in the amount of space given to play in. Like any good hack-and-slash dungeon crawler, Deathspank will dispatch countless hordes of enemies with a wide variety of weapons, armors and magical potions. Up to four weapons can be equipped at a time and are hotkeyed to the controller, and potions and other items can be hotkeyed to the directional pad. As enemies are slain and quests are completed, you will gain xp. When Deathspank levels, he is given a choice of three stats and can raise one of them up a level. For example, at level 2 he may choose to raise his melee damage, ranged damage, or speed at which he moves by 5% (this is just an example, I don’t recall what the exact three choices were at level 2.) Other stats to be raised include amount of money dropped by enemies and the ability to equip weapons and armors that are up to two levels higher than your character.

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    Recent Gaming

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    Posted by Rob on July 21, 2010 – 10:15 pm
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    Well I don’t want to make a bunch of little posts about stuff I want to say about what I’m currently playing, so I figured I would pop it all together.

    First and foremost, I have beaten Oblivion! It was extremely challenging in the end, especially when I had to go into a zombie-infested dungeon. However, I luckily had an invisibility spell so the remainder of the game was spent sneaking around from point to point. In the end there was only one boss, who wasn’t much of a challenge, so I was able to survive and complete the game. That being said, I already started a new thief/assassin character who is just starting out.

    I have Lego Harry Potter in from Gamefly, and so far I am really enjoying it. I loved the Lego Star Wars games, but I wasn’t a fan of Batman or either Indiana Jones game. However, I find Harry Potter a lot more enjoyable. On the plus side, I played with Shell a little bit, and she enjoyed it. The beauty of the Lego games is that they take some great source material, and throw in some ridiculous humor along with a lot of fun environmental interactions and a really easy game difficulty, making the games accessible to anyone. I will definitely be holding on to it until I beat the game, and then I’ll probably go through on free mode to unlock other stuff. Read More »

    First Impressions of Sacred 2 PS3

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    Posted by Rob on May 13, 2009 – 1:29 pm
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    Ok, so Ive put a few hours into the game, so I feel like Im ready to give my first impressions.

    The game rocks.

    Its much more than I anticipated. Its huge…the world map is quite a formidable thing to view, and where I am now seems so insignificant compared to the rest of the map. I can see how someone can play this game to level 200 with such a huge and beautiful playground. The game is wonderfully done graphic-wise, though it loses some of that as you zoom out. Luckily I prefer to play zoomed in, so I get plenty of visual goodness.

    One of my biggest complaints so far has to do with the text size. It is ridiculously small, and the colors chosen tend to clash or blend in with the background, making it difficult to see and read. This is frustrating, as its hard for me to see the name of items I pick up or how much experience I gain for defeating a monster.

    I expected the game to be similar to games such as Baldurs Gate and Champions of Norrath, and while the game meets these expectations, it also blows past them with a complex system for special moves, called combat arts. This is a very complex system to master, and I have yet to do so. However, I can tell already that it is going to be awesome, once I fully understand how to upgrade and level up these abilities.

    I initially started a game as a Dryad, but I was not feeling it. I re-started with the Shadow Warrior, who is a heavy melee fighter, and have been happy ever since. I think he is a good starting character to use in order to get accustomed to the world of Sacred 2.

    I have not played the game online yet, so that part will wait until my fuller review. I intend on writing another more in-depth post once I get some more gametime in and I understand the combat arts more. Until then, Im simply going to say that if you are a fan of hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers, then this game is key. A huge world to explore, over 600 quests to partake in, the ability to level your character up to at least 200, and the online drop in/drop out co-op with voice chat are all very, very good reasons why any RPG fan should check Sacred 2 out. And as I said, if you loved Baldurs Gate and Champions of Norrath, then dont even rent the game first…JUST BUY IT!!!

    Shadow Warrior