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Dungeon Hunter: Alliance
PlayStation Network
Slack and Hash
3/5 stars
Being that the MeltedJoystick staff consists almost entirely of RPG fans who like to play videogames together on weekends, we have recently found ourselves plumbing the depths to find games that fit our requirements. Thus we encountered “Dungeon Hunter: Alliance” (“DHA”), a multi-player Hack ‘n Slash that supports couch co-op. Is this “Diablo” clone worth your $13?
Presentation
“DHA” is a rather primitive-looking game. The character models are somewhat blocky with muddy textures when viewed close-up, making them look somewhere between PS1 and Dreamcast caliber. Of course, the graphical quality doesn’t really matter, as the camera is usually situated in a classic overhead point of view. The only time the graphics really show their weakness is during the game-engine-rendered cutscenes that push the game’s narrative.
Despite the mediocre graphics engine, the designs for weapons and armor are pretty creative. While there is some palette swapping, the variety of equipment is still impressively large. The environments, however, are painfully repetitive with numerous dungeon rooms simply being copy/pasted into boring layouts (and they aren’t even randomly generated!). There were numerous times that we thought we were going in circles due to rooms and corridors looking EXACTLY the same.
The sound is just as mediocre as the graphics. The soundtrack is drab and barely noticeable. There is a small amount of voiceacting, through which random NPCs in towns say strange, out-of-place things. The sound effects for enemies, spells, and weapons get the job done, but otherwise aren’t noteworthy.
Technically, “DHA” doesn’t have a lot of problems, but it does have a few that are really annoying. In one area, which must be revisited at least 3 times, the sound is glitched, making it impossible to hear when enemies are approaching or when attacks are landing. There is also a glitch that occurs when multiple players are trying to buy items at a shop at the same time, which causes items to shuffle around the game’s database, thus showing the wrong stats tied to the wrong item or putting the wrong item into the player’s inventory upon purchase. Finally, it should be noted that for a game that weighs in at less than 1GB, the load times (both for starting and area transitions) are incredibly long.
Story
Hack ‘n Slashes have traditionally been one of the more story-light varieties of RPGs. Unfortunately, “DHA” actually tries to have a story, with disastrous results.
The narrative begins with the old King being brought back from the dead by a fairy. In the game world, fairies are apparently the second most powerful entities, after gods. It turns out that while the King was dead, his sister became possessed by the Dark Fairy and drove the kingdom into ruin. It’s up to the dead King to gather all the non-dark fairies and confront the Queen before his temporary return to the Land of the Living expires.
This may sound like a fine and functional story framework to drive a simple narrative as an excuse to kill monsters and collect loot. And it is (except for the whole obsession with fairies… Who wrote this, Tingle?). What really drives the story completely off a cliff is the quality of the writing and dialog. This text is absolutely laughable and is on par with what one might find in a middle school writing class. Every cutscene is filled with groanworthy and facepalmworthy moments, especially those involving the Queen’s elemental-themed henchmen.
The story also makes no attempt at matching the game’s title. The title states that the game is about an ‘alliance.’ This, of course, refers to the multi-player aspect. But narrative-wise, there is NO alliance, as all of the players just play a copy of the dead King, with the host player (i.e., Player 1) taking center stage in every cutscene.
Gameplay
“DHA” is a by-the-books “Diablo” clone. There are dungeons containing monsters and treasure. The player must go into these dungeons, kill all the monsters, and collect all the treasure. The simple controls for this simple gameplay involve moving with the left analog stick, performing normal attacks with X, and performing one of three MP-consuming special attacks that can be mapped to the Square, Triangle, and O buttons. R1 is the valuable ‘pick up loot’ button, and L2 activates a Fairy Special Attack that operates on an invisible cooldown timer.
Character building is based on one of three classes: Warrior, Rogue, and Mage. All three of these classes has strengths and weaknesses. In our playthrough, Chris took the role of the Warrior, I took the Rogue, and Nick took the Mage. Due to the increased number of enemies in multi-player, we each had to fulfill our specific roles, with the Warrior drawing enemies’ attention, the Mage healing, and the Rogue switching repeatedly between high-damage dual-wielding melee weapons and medium-damage ranged weapons.
Characters have 4 stats: Strength, Dexterity, Energy, and Endurance. At each level-up, characters can spend 2 points increasing stats, and 1 point on a special ability from a large skill tree (which isn’t really a tree, as it doesn’t branch and unlocks new tiers based solely on levels). In addition to increased damage output, HP, and MP, increased stats allow characters to equip higher-quality gear (though I have never understood how it’s possible for a Mage to be ‘too dumb’ to equip a specific robe). Thus is revealed the true core gameplay element of “DHA”: The Equipment Treadmill. We found ourselves having to stop killing monsters every 5 minutes to look through our newly-acquired piles of crap equipment looking for that one gem that would actually be an improvement. Like other games in the sub-genre, “DHA” features equipment that can come with 0-4 magical attributes, such as extra damage or stunning on weapons, and stat bonuses or extra magic resistance on armor. The game also demonstrates an egalitarian attitude, in which each treasure chest or enemy drops color-coded treasure that can only be picked-up by a specific player, thus ensuring that no one is able to hoard all of the loot. This system therefore encourages item trading, which is even more time-consuming.
The multi-player in “DHA” is the only thing that saves it from being an incredibly pointless experience. It’s possible to play with up to three friends either locally or online via PSN. We played locally, and found the game to be a fun weekend timewaster, but nothing more. Local multi-player has some issues with trapping characters behind furniture and in hordes of monsters when the other players move too far away, which leads to many cheap deaths. Of course, death is only temporary, as any player can revive a dead player with the push of a button… provided an enemy doesn’t interrupt the resurrection spell.
Overall
“Dungeon Hunter: Alliance” is an utterly average, by-the-books Hack ‘n Slash with a story so horrendous that it can’t even be considered ironically humorous. Anyone considering buying this game to play alone should reconsider. As a single-player experience, “DHA” is boring and not worth $13. Those looking for a couch co-op experience, though, should get their money’s worth.
Presentation: 3/5
Story: 0.5/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Overall (not an average): 3/5
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