E3 07: Dungeon Runners
With Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa playing such a strong hand at NCsoft's E3 showing this year, it was a nearly hysterical relief to hear the Dungeon Runners devs refer to their game, long a cause celebre of Robert Garriott, as "Richard Garriott's brother's MMO." And while that's true, the self-deprecation is actually positive irony: in an environment with more MMORPGs than even the most dedicated addict can possibly manage to play with any depth, Dungeon Runners is a breath of fresh air:
First of all, it's freaking free. To download and play. Even if you absolutely hate it after trying it out, who can complain about that? Secondly, the time requirement is absolutely nil, in terms of grinding and replaying to try out new character types. There are dungeons that can be completed in 15 minutes, as well as more traditionally deep hour-long and multi-part dungeons. Random and instant grouping dissolves what I call the "Guild Wars shuffle" of standing before an instance like a fool while you desperately search for a compatible companion.
Forget about being excluded from groups because you don't have the requisite set of skills: no healers mean spamming potions replaces the restrictive group dynamic - which is either a good or a bad thing, depending on your preferences. The three classes of fighter, mage and ranger can all learn magic and weapon skills, so nobody will be left out in that regard - although the game is also balanced for solo players, if you're a misanthropic hermit like myself.
Randomly generated dungeons give a Diablo-style replayability to an online RPG, and new content will continually refresh the game with new dungeons, monsters, abilities, magic weapons, armor and items. If you choose to become a member, your money will earn you access to the best items and a growing list of privileges like jumping to the front of queue lines, etc. I'll be downloading and reviewing the game when I get back to my PC at the end of our own GayGamer California dungeon crawl in a few weeks, so check back to see a more thorough and less giddy critique of the game, but for the moment Dungeon Runners is on my short list of games to play.
In the meantime, download it here and let us know what you think!
tiny dancer
Posted to E3, Hot Stuff, Video Games, Videos on 16 July 2007
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: dungeon runners, e3, mmorpg, ncsoft, pc, robert garriott
I absolutely heart dungeon runners. It's quick, easy, simple, and fun beyond belief. I don't have time to spend countless hours in a dungeon or finding a party, it's almost as if this game was tailor made for me!
Love how you can solo through the whole game. That's a big plus for me... You don't have to rely on other players for help with equipment or bosses if you don't want to. And I don't even have the membership (access to better stuff) even.