Dungeon Lords

Dungeon Lords
Original release box art
Developer(s) Heuristic Park
Publisher(s) DreamCatcher Interactive, FX Interactive, Crimson Cow, 1C, Typhoon Games[1]
Designer(s) D.W. Bradley
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: May 5, 2005
  • PAL: April 7, 2006
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
MMXII reissue cover art

Dungeon Lords is a real time fantasy role-playing video game developed by David W. Bradley of Heuristic Park, originally published by DreamCatcher Interactive and Typhoon Games, and released in 2005. However, many features were left out from the original release in an effort to meet the release date. In 2006, they re-released the game as Dungeon Lords Collector's Edition with more complete features.

In 2012, after the demise of DreamCatcher Interactive and subsequent acquisition by Nordic Games, they announced the re-re-release of a completely "remastered" version of the game, titled Dungeon Lords MMXII.[2] Dungeon Lords MMXII was released in Europe on September 28, 2012, and in North America on October 5, 2012.

In 2015, a version of the game titled Dungeon Lords Steam Edition surfaced on Steam platform.

Gameplay

Dungeon Lords' gameplay features a combat system where weapon combos are controllable by mouse movements. It includes quests, personal missions, skills and special abilities for customizing the character hero from a small set of races and class specializations. Dungeon Lords can be played either single-player stand alone or in multi-player group sessions.[3] The combat was inspired by console fighting games.[4]

Plot

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic45/100[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comD−[6]
CGW[7]
Game Informer4/10[8]
GameSpot6.8/10[9]
GameSpy[10]
GameZone(Coll. Ed.) 7.7/10[11]
7.6/10[12]
IGN4.5/10[13]
PC Gamer (US)45%[14]
PC Zone56%[15]
X-Play[16]

Many gamers experienced extensive problems while playing the original release of the game, including quest items disappearing from inventories, NPCs getting stuck, key quests failing, doors that do not work, etc.[7]

The game received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[5] Many reviews criticized the game's initial release as a rushed project, released before it was truly finished. Some have gone so far as to say the game is still in the beta development stage. Steve Carter of Game Over wrote, "Dungeon Lords marks a new low for how incomplete a game can be and still get released."[17] Dan Adams of IGN wrote, "Dungeon Lords is a disaster. It's an unfinished, unpolished, and un-fun game that I thankfully never have to play again."[13] Greg Kasavin of GameSpot wrote that the game, though fun, is unbalanced and was missing key features at launch.[9]

Version history

Original release versions
  • 1.0 - May 4, 2005. Initial release.
  • 1.1 - May 13, 2005. Includes bugfixes, gameplay tweaks, and a few added features.
  • 1.2 - May 22, 2005. Later German release.
  • 1.3 - June 29, 2005. More bugfixes, adds automap feature.
  • 1.4 - February 2, 2006. Additional bugfixes, adds customizable characters. Japanese release.
Collector's Edition
  • 1.5 (no upgrade path from 1.4.) - January 27, 2006. Large number of additional quests, NPCs, and a new character class. Extant areas were 'fleshed out', with more rooms, furniture, and treasure.
Nordic Games' "MMXII"
  • 1.6k (no upgrade path from 1.5.)
Steam Edition[18]
  • Patch #1 - improvements over 1.6k version.[19]

MMXII and later version features

This remastered edition features:

  • Co-op story mode for up to 8 players and full single-player game experience
  • 50–70 hours
  • Completely reworked intuitive Graphic User Interface
  • New Multiplayer Features
  • Dual Switchable Interface Modes (supports Hot-Key action play and Point&Click play)
  • Updated full hardware Screen Resolution support (16:10, 16:9, 1920x1080 etc.)
  • New quick-start Hero character creation system
  • All new Magic system including new Magic Spells
  • New Hero Classes, new and improved Class Skills, and new unique Class action abilities
  • New Character Advancement and Level Up with auto-learn Magic system
  • All new Quest and Log System
  • New Mini Map and Full Map Screens
  • Full World and Character Re-mastering for enhanced gameplay experience
  • New dynamic Treasure & Equipment generation, featuring Uncommon, Rare & Epic items
  • New Inventory and Loot Bag System
  • Improved Graphic & Visual Enhancements
  • Newly Re-Mastered Audio sounds and speech

Cancelled projects

An Xbox version was planned, but was later cancelled.

Dungeon Lords: The Orb and the Oracle, the sequel to Dungeon Lords, was in development with expected release in Q4 2009. It has since been put on hold indefinitely due to market research results and game engine instability. Later the game was cancelled and replaced with Dungeon Lords MMXII.

References

  1. ↑ "Heuristic Park Presents - Dungeon Lords". Heuristic Park.
  2. ↑ "Nordic Games joins forces with RPG mastermind D.W. Bradley and Heuristic Park". Nordic Games. April 13, 2012. Archived from the original on September 25, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ Ocampo, Jason (May 14, 2004). "Dungeon Lords E3 2004 Impressions". GameSpot. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  4. ↑ Aihoshi, Richard (April 8, 2004). "Dungeon Lords Combat Interview". IGN. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Dungeon Lords for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  6. ↑ Lee, Garnett (June 30, 2005). "Dungeon Lords". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  7. 1 2 Cook, Denice (September 2005). "Dungeon Lords" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 254. p. 69. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  8. ↑ Biessener, Adam (July 2005). "Dungeon Lords". Game Informer. No. 147. p. 125. Archived from the original on November 18, 2005. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Kasavin, Greg (May 13, 2005). "Dungeon Lords Review". GameSpot. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  10. ↑ Abner, William (May 27, 2005). "GameSpy: Dungeon Lords". GameSpy. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  11. ↑ Eberle, Matt (March 16, 2006). "Dungeon Lords Collector's Edition - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  12. ↑ Eberle, Matt (May 8, 2005). "Dungeon Lords - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  13. 1 2 Adams, Dan (May 31, 2005). "Dungeon Lords". IGN. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Dungeon Lords". PC Gamer. August 2005. p. 66.
  15. ↑ PC Zone staff (July 3, 2005). "Dungeon Lords review". PC Zone. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  16. ↑ Stevens, Tim (June 17, 2005). "Dungeon Lords". X-Play. Archived from the original on July 11, 2005. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  17. ↑ Carter, Steve (June 16, 2005). "Dungeon Lords". Game Over. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Dungeon Lords Steam Edition". Steam.
  19. ↑ "Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Dungeon Lords Steam Edition". Steam.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.