Dark Alliance
It’s D&D, but with more death and fewer dice
ON A QUEST, THERE’S NOTHING TO DISTRACT YOU FROM THE ACTION
Tuque Games’ Dark Alliance is D&D for the impatient. It’s got the setting, characters, and language of D&D, but they’re draped over an action game that will see you fighting without ever worrying about dice rolls. Kill goblins, grab loot, admire your new cloak—it’s about the simple pleasures.
Though technically the third game in the DarkAlliance series, the slate has been wiped clean for its PC debut. Previously a top-down action-RPG exclusively for consoles, DarkAlliance is now a thirdperson action game where clicks have been replaced by combos.
As celebrity drow Drizzt
Do’Urden, I rush around Icewind
Dale, dodging, leaping and backstabbing with the goblin body count rapidly rising. While I buttonbash my way through the mostly linear mission map, there’s still an RPG working away under the hood, but things like ability scores and feats have been reshaped around a game that’s mostly pure action.
I can choose to level up my charisma attribute, for instance, but in DarkAlliance it has nothing to do with persuasion. Instead, it determines how quickly my ultimate ability recharges. I’ll have to wait until after the mission, though, because leveling up, unlocking feats, and equipping new gear only happens back at camp. When you’re on a quest, there’s nothing to distract you from the action.
DarkAlliance doesn’t just pay lip service to D&D, and Tuque has adapted various
D&D staples in interesting ways, like the rest system. You can find campfires that let you take a short rest, healing and recharging you, but they also provide a checkpoint. You can choose to ignore them, however, and you’ll be rewarded with better loot for taking the risk.
While DarkAlliance can be played solo, it might be a bit tricky, especially since there are no AI companions. It’s really designed for co-op parties, with abilities that are meant to synergize and fights that will be a lot easier with teamwork. For the demo, I’m accompanied by a developer playing another member of the quartet, Catti-Brie.
NO CLASS
Technically, Drizzt is a ranger and Catti-Brie is a fighter, but the R A Salvatore novels that made them D&D stars are less tied to the concept of classes than the tabletop game, and DarkAlliance follows suit. Drizzt has more in common with a fighter or rogue, alternating between diving headfirst into the throng of monsters and turning invisible so he can go in for the backstab. He can also summon his panther from the astral plane to briefly attack his foes. Cattie-Brie, meanwhile, serves as ranged support, peppering enemies with arrows, trapping them with magical vines and healing her pals.
Dashing around with twin scimitars, summoning astral panthers and turning invisible makes it easier to overlook that I’m fighting goblins again. My main target, though, is a group of verbeegs, a lesser known type of giant-kin that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. It turns out that they’re avid singers, and their bellowing accompanies me throughout the mission, growing louder and louder as I approach their camp. The pace of the demo doesn’t leave a lot of room for DarkAlliance to display much personality, so the inclusion of some musical giants is very welcome.
With the verbeegs defeated, it’s time to teleport back to camp and admire all my rewards. The greatest of them all, of course, is being able to unlock some new cosmetic appearances for my gear sets, purchased from my deep gnome pal. Even with action taking center stage, there’s always time to look nice.