Clone Wars: Hack 'n' Slash RPGs

Clone Wars: Hack 'n' Slash RPGs So much button mashing... so little time. An in-depth look at Dark Alliance II, Champions of Norrath, and D&D Heroes.

Nearly two years ago, Interplay and Snowblind Studios released Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for the PS2. For this, we are forever indebted to them. Sure, it was pretty bare-bones and borrowed most of its good bits from Diablo, but it was still the first time anyone had managed to gather everything needed for a fun, D&D-inspired action RPG together in one place. In a way, it's odd that it didn't happen sooner—which it obviously didn't, because otherwise we wouldn't have seen Dark Alliance ported to the Xbox and GameCube in the wake of its outstanding success.

This holiday, though, the market for this little niche has suddenly gotten very crowded. Three hack-n-slash RPGs are being cast into the marketplace this fall, and at first glance, they all appear to be the exact same game—you have one guy smiting hordes of monsters, the action's viewed from almost straight above, and the characters all look like they were traced right off the Monster Manual... that, and multiplayer is a standard feature, though some games treat it more seriously than others.

With this in mind, here's the MO on three different hack-n-slashers on the horizon. Make sure your X button is fully operational—you'll be using it quite a lot soon...

Dark Alliance II Platform: PS2/Xbox Publisher: VU Games/Interplay Developer: Black Isle Studios Release Date: October Genre: RPG More Info: Overview Page What's New? A boatload of new critters and spells, five character classes (if you're interested, they're: human barbarian, dark elf monk, moon elf necromancer, dwarven rogue, and human cleric), an adjustable camera, and a little more variety in the levels. The story also begins right where the first BG:DA "ended" (more like "dangled," actually).

Multiplayer: Glory, glory! We have a two player cooperative mode. Yes, even on the Xbox. You can play with your friend competitively, though, which is neat—if he steals gold from under your nose, you can steal it back by directly attacking him, Streets of Rage-style. But, there is no online play to speak.

Best D&D Monster: A tie between the Green Dragon, Chimera, and Kraken. You can't go wrong with the classics.

Most Obscure D&D Monster: The Rust Monster, a creature that's right at home in Advanced D&D's cavernous worlds but would be a bit inconvenient in real life. Imagine one in a car dealership.

Early Verdict: Even the original BG:DA got a little boring after awhile, what with the near-endless sword-swiping and spellcasting. With a spruced-up engine and a bit more concentration on the story, it's doubtful that Black Isle will produce a game worse than its predecessor.

Champions of Norrath Platform: PS2 Publisher: SOE Developer: Snowblind Studios Release Date: November 25 Genre: RPG More Info: Overview Page They're Ripping Off Their Own Game? Well, yes, but we've never seen a ripoff this full-featured. Snowblind may have developed the original Dark Alliance, but this EverQuest spin-off features a whopping 45 randomly-generated dungeons to explore, and the amount of weapons and armor to find is so enormous that the game needs a double-layered DVD (the first one since Xenosaga) to store all the graphics.

Multiplayer: Four people, via any four-player adapter (since it's PS2 only) can enjoy this one. You can even save your current story-mode game on a memory card and bring your character over to a friend's place to join his quest. Want some online play? Enjoy it via the Network Adaptor (modem or broadband connection). There aren't any special online levels, though—basically, it's just a matchmaking service. It's free, which is more than you can say for the "real" EverQuest...

Best D&D Monster: None, due to a small technicality—this is an EverQuest license, not a D&D one.

EverQuest? Yes, but don't worry. It's set in the world of EverQuest, and the story dovetails a fair bit with the MMORPG's, but the gameplay is completely different, and the graphics are (if you'll forgive our personal bias) a quantum leap compared to the 1999 original.

Early Verdict: At the very least, Champions leaves the original Dark Alliance in the dust. The four-player online support alone makes it the action RPG to own for the PS2 this holiday, and the pre-release version we've played was scarily addictive.

D&D: Heroes Platform: Xbox Publisher: Atari Developer: Atari Release Date: TBA Genre: RPG More Info: Overview Page More D&D Chopping? Well, yes, and Heroes is likely to be the most arcade-ish of the lot—there's very little story, very few puzzles, and a whole lot of button-mashing.

Multiplayer: Four kids huddled around one Xbox system can play this one cooperatively, but it seems to lack anything more than Gauntlet style goblin crushing. Unfortunately, although you'd think it'd be a perfect fit for Xbox Live, this game is not online enabled. Funny, eh?

Best D&D Monster: The Mind Flayer, of course. We shouldn't have to tell you why, seeing as how you're likely a bigger aficionado than us, but let's just say flaying minds is neat.

Most Obscure D&D Monster: The Rage Golem, a fierce beast whose name conjures up a whopping two hits on Google. One was created by us. The other? No one knows, but the working office theory is that someone was trying to track down one of the EGM editors.

Early Verdict: By far the least cerebral of the trio, D&D: Heroes lacks variety and has graphics that get repetitive quickly. Despite that, the game's still a blast in multiplayer—check out the review in the November EGM.

Copyright © 2003 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in ZD Games.