Dungeon Lords E3 2004 Preshow Impressions

Designer D.W. Bradley made a name for himself by making role-playing games; his credits include three classic Wizardry games, CyberMage, and Wizards & Warriors. But if you expect Dungeon Lords to fall along the same lines, you'll be mistaken. Bradley's goal with Dungeon Lords is to create an action game with the epic depth of a role-playing game.

Dungeon Lords looks and plays like a third-person action game; you play the game from behind the back of your character as he or she runs around the world hacking and slashing at an assortment of evil opponents and creatures. You'll use the left mouse button to swing your weapon, and your right mouse button will block incoming attacks with your shield. The action is fast-paced and the graphics are certainly beautiful; towns are lined with cobblestone streets, trees sway in the wind, and torches illuminate a dark and creepy dungeon.

But in keeping with Bradley's roots, Dungeon Lords should pack a lot of role-playing depth; it's not just a simple hack-and-slash action game. You can select from eight playable races, some nonhuman, and you can choose a gender. You'll also be able to select from a wide variety of classes, each with unique abilities and attributes. The game will also offer an intricate magic system--based on four schools of magic--with plenty of spells and spell effects.

The world of Dungeon Lords will be quite large, and you'll explore dense forests, medieval towns, ancient castles, and lots of dark dungeon lairs. You'll also battle a wide range of foes, including humans, undead, and huge trolls. You'll be able to hire non-player characters to travel and fight with you, so that should help even the odds. And the inventory system will allow you to outfit your character with a wide variety of weapons, armor, and artifacts. Dungeon Lords will also feature multiplayer support for up to eight players, and the game will scale in difficulty in accordance to the number of players. The key thing to remember is that Bradley wants to keep Dungeon Lords simple and easy to play. The game has been in development for quite some time, and it should ship around late summer.