ArsGeek

So I was bored out of my skull the other day, wondering what I could play on my PC. I’m bored with the games I have and the others just aren’t good enough to keep me coming back for more (see: Cavtroop reviews Combat Mission:Shock Force, or Neverwinter Nights 2). So I loaded up an old staple of mine - Diablo (the 1st, I’m not a huge fan of Diablo 2, sorry ArsGeek!). I spent a few quality hours acquainting myself with Tristan, and the church levels. But I wanted more - multiplayer interaction, a more alive world.

I scoured the net looking for something similar that I hadn’t found yet, when I stumbled on Dungeon Runners, by NCSoft. NCSoft are the guys that bring you Auto Assault (a fun auto-based post-apocalyptic MMORG), and Guild Wars, etc. Dungeon Runners has this to say about itself:

“As a brave hero, you’ll explore dangerous dungeons, battle ferocious monsters and discover incredible weapons, artifacts and loot.
Choose to play as Fighter, Mage or Ranger in a realm of terror, magic and adventure. Unlock powerful new skills as you gain experience on your journey into the unknown.”

You can play as a Fighter, Mage or Ranger. The dungeons are randomly generated. You can play solo, or with a pick-up group. Items are seemingly randomly generated (note: they don’t actually appear to be random, but sourced from a very large table of items. It’s rare to see a dupe). Sound familiar? The world is rendered in 3d - not isometric 2d like the Diablo franchise. The graphics are clean, nice to look at, and offer good frame rates on my modest laptop. I downloaded the (free) client, installed, made an account, and joined in the fun.

I fired up the game, and to be honest with you, wasn’t expecting much - how wrong I was. What fun it is! Very easy interface - click to walk (or hold down the middle mouse, and use the familiar WASD), click to attack, and use hotkeys. Sound familiar? In addition, each class has class-specific skills - as a Fighter, I could stomp, and send groups of monsters flying to clear the area around me, perhaps giving me time to down a health potion. The game was very easy to pickup, and I was having fun within 3 minutes of launch.

I started in a small town - and there were several NPC’s standing around, with excalmation point over their heads (WOW players will immediately find this a familiar device). Talk to the NPC, he gives you a quest, and the exclamation point is replaced by a grayed out question mark. Once you have completed the quest, the question mark turns gold, and you can finish up your quest by talking to the NPC. Again, WOW players will find this very familiar. Off to the local dungeon I went, and started my killing spree. Monsters drop loot appropriate for you level - heck, the entire dungeon is created randomly with level-appropriate challenges.

There are a few small problems - after all, no game is perfect. The camera tends to get masked behind the scenery at times, although the scenery becomes transparent, it is still tough to see whats going on. And when you are being attacked all around, you have to spend time to swing the camera around to find your enemies. Also, ‘Members only’ loot seems to be fairly common - but at the low price point offered by the game (more later), this isn’t much of an issue. Another very minor gripe is that NPCs tend to blend in with the crowd - picking them out of a group of PCs clustered around a merchant is an exercise in mouse hunting. Very minor issue, though.

Dungeon Runners offers two levels of membership - free and ‘Member’ (go figure). There is loot and other items in the game that are only available for Members to use. You can pick up these items and sell them, but you cannot equip them or otherwise use them. Another benefit of membership is access to a bank, and stackable potions. Membership is a scant $4.99 a month - a far cry from the $15+ most MMORPGs sock you with.

At the end of the day, I’m having loads of fun playing this game. I’m not currently a member, but I will more than likely join here shortly. I had to rip myself away from Dungeon Runners to write this review. All in all, it comes highly recommended by us here at ArsGeek.com.

The Good
Fun, quick and accessable gameplay
Familiar feel for old school Diablo players
Interesting loot, and random dungeons
Cheap!

The Bad
Slightly awkward camera controls
Large amount of loot is ‘Members Only
NPCs tough to pick out of a crowd of PCs

Score: 9
Gameplay: 9
Experience (sound/graphics): 8
Replayability: 10
Fun factor/Price: 9