It's funny to me that after all these years, no one has come up with a true Diablo killer. I mean, Diablo 2 was released well over six years ago, and while there have been a few attempts to recapture the magic and simplicity of Blizzard's blockbuster game, only one - Titan Quest, released this past summer - has gotten even remotely close. And TQ's fatal flaw was that its online play was insecure, with no Battle.net-style system for running and policing games. Now, NCSoft is coming in with a new idea and a new take on the Diablo style of gameplay with their upcoming online RPG, Dungeon Runners.
Unlike most clickfest Action RPGs, Dungeon Runners is an online-only game. Even if you're just fighting alone, everything is done over NCSoft's servers. You see, the reason for this is because this game has a revenue model that resembles some of the Asian MMORPGs from the last couple years. You don't buy the game and you can download the client and play for free. You'll notice early on, however, that you can only use the two bottom "tiers" of gear that you loot from monsters or buy from stores. You'll also have a pretty limited inventory space if you decide to go with the free option.
So how does the subscription work? "Members" pay $4.99 a month and can equip the better loot in the game. That doesn't mean they get free stuff or that they can equip things they don't meet basic requirements for, but a majority of the really good stuff - the rare, legendary, and unique items - are all open for them to use. Paying members also get a much-improved inventory with a lot more room, and they are able to stack their potions together in their inventories to take up less space.
But let's go ahead and talk about how Dungeon Runners plays. It's a fully 3D game with a point-and-click interface that's pretty simple. Left clicking on the ground sends your character running to that spot while clicking on a monster attacks it. Hold the button for multiple attacks until the monster's dead. You can also set up new abilities on your right mouse button, and you've got the option of putting more abilities in your hotkey bar which is activated by the number keys.
This probably sounds pretty familiar for Diablo fans, and it is. The gameplay is simplistic but the depth here comes from using your skills wisely and equipping yourself in a way that plays to your character's strengths. If you just start frantically clicking on monsters all over the screen you won't even survive the first fight, so you've got to learn to focus fire on one monster until it's dead and only then move on to the next, and you've got to know when to run if you're firing of ranged attacks.
One thing I enjoy about DR so far is that it definitely has a sense of humor. While the NPCs you talk to sometimes have some almost-amusing voice acted quips, they generally fall flat. What is funny, however, is the names given to some items. For example, last night I picked up a "Titan Cardboard Axe of the Ghetto". And much like many games, jewelry often has properties of various animals which indicate the kind of stat bonuses you can expect it to give you. The other day, I picked up some kind of amulet "of the Liger", an obvious reference to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374900/">Napoleon Dynamite</a>. Ok, it wasn't hilarious, but I wasn't expecting it out of an online RPG. Even the weapons' properties made me laugh. Two handed hammers had a speed rating of "Grandma" while daggers were "Freakin' Fast" and "Ludicrous".
The graphics in Dungeon Runners aren't fantastic, but the game does support widescreen modes already and the frame rates are plenty good. You can rotate the camera around to get a better view of the action or zoom in and out. The replay value is pretty good here, as both indoor and outdoor explorable areas are randomly generated with a different layout every time and randomly populated with appropriate-level monsters. It seems that just about everything in the game can be done alone and most quests can be finished in 20 minutes or less, but you can also group up with other players if you want.
While I haven't gotten too far into the depth of Dungeon Runners yet, I can say that there are plenty of quests that send you out into the world, and most of them are pretty straightforward. Item collection, kill quests, and deliveries are quite common, and while I've seen this stuff a million times before, it seems most appropriate for a lighthearted romp like this.
If NCSoft can keep the action going throughout the game, keep a large variety of interesting loot flowing, and keep the player thinking about the spells and skills that work the best in any one situation, then they will have a winner on their hands. The subscription model might just be what's necessary to shake up the way online games are played and paid for. Dungeon Runners' official release date is still "to be announced", but given the game's extremely playable state right now, I imagine a release date will be announced pretty soon.
