 |
| Colin Burns |
Movies based on books aren't always good. But what about games?
06.18.16 - 12:04 PM
The Dwarves is a new title being developed by KING Art, based on the German fantasy novels of the same name. The game's focus is on making your character feel like a real hero. Slashing through slews of enemies and hurling yourself into the front lines make for a compelling action RPG experience.
You control four heroes on the battlefield and at first glance, you may mistake this game for Diablo or some other kind of hack and slash experience. However, The Dwarves takes a cue from Dragon Age and allows you to pause the action, issue commands and then execute them. Ability points needed to use skills are gained by performing heroically, so aggression is encouraged. Your party consists of characters from the books; naturally, you have dwarves but there are some other cool party members like a giant, mysterious suit of armor. Choosing the right party and issuing the right commands is where the strategy of The Dwarves lies.
Battles have distinct mission objectives, like kill 50 orcs or protect a village from oncoming waves, but the gameplay does not consist solely of combat. There are also exploration stages where you need to interact with the environment to solve puzzles, almost like a point and click adventure. You go between battles and exploration on the large world map. The map is dotted with missions and when you move, so do enemy hordes; running into each other means war. The time it takes you to complete the campaign is tracked by in-game days; scenarios can play out differently depending on what day it is.
If you like action with just a bit more planning and nuance, The Dwarves can provide that experience. There were noticeable frame rate issues in our demo, which will hopefully get worked on before the game is released. That release is planned for Autumn 2016 on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
