Drakensang: The Dark Eye Preview

The editors at GameZone were able to get their hands on a preview copy of Radon Labs’ Drakensang: The Dark Eye, and have put together a preview based on their time with the RPG.

The game is very much a D&D title with combat handled via computerized die rolls. In a fight, which is carried out in alternating rounds with a roll of the die determining the attack value, but before that is carried out, the opponent rolls to get a parry value. And all those rolls of the die take place behind the scenes; you don’t actually see what happens, just what the results are. A successful attack will have the hit points of the weapon offset by the armor rating to deduct points from the opponent’s vitality. If you receive more wounds than you can sustain, the game ends and you begin at the last save point. Fortunately, the game does have auto-saves to protect those who might not be on top of that element.

The pause button will also be your best friend. Hitting the space bar allows the player to halt the game, change weapons, pick strategies, perhaps cast a spell, and so on. If you are equipped with a ranged weapon and the enemies get within melee range depending on the melee weapon you have in your inventory switching might not be a bad idea. Many of the opponents you face, even early on, are very social in nature meaning that if you target one, you might get several. That puts this game on the tactical level very quickly. Don’t look for a way to dumb down the difficulty. In the build received, the game had one difficulty setting and that means you had best be on your toes from the start. Take baby steps into this world, explore and don’t try to tackle too much until you get better gear and have had a chance to level up a bit this bit of advice should serve the newcomer to a game like this well.

So any game that uses die rolls is a “D&D title”?