Xbox Game Pass is a godsend. For the players and those hard-working folks that bring us our interactive entertainment, the triviality of launch day pricing is a paradigm shift we’re becoming increasingly appreciative of. With the new imagining of Dark Alliance, a Dungeons & Dragons arcade co-op action-adventure, being able to jump in on day one at no extra cost for subscribers is a no-brainer. So now is the best time to start stacking charisma and talking your friends into staying subbed, as this is a campaign you may not want to solo.
A couple of weeks ago, Wizards of the Coast allowed me the pleasure of rumbling through dwarven caves with a rag-tag party of fellow Aussie games media folk. Having not played the original Dark Alliance, an early 2000s isometric action-RPG that spun-off from Bioware’s Baldur’s Gate series from the 90s, I was nervous as to what context I was missing. Wizards’ team quickly set my fears to rest.
Catti-Brie is a ranged acrobatic death machine
“Should I recognise any of these characters or settings from D&D?” I asked, poorly prepared and ignorant. One of the Wizards’ team gently asked if I was familiar with the Dwarven Valley or Icewind Dale and the eponymous hero from The Legend of Drizzt books. I was, but clearly nowhere near as much as one of my very enthusiastic and nostalgic crewmates who immediately assumed the role of the roguish elf in honour of their nostalgia for the R.A. Salvatore series.
With little introduction needed, we all comfortably came to grips with the controls in a way that was organic and fitting for the genre. A standard assortment of light, heavy and special attacks, paired with dodges, blocks, potions and ultimate abilities will feel right at home for seasoned action-RPG players. Just be sure not to expect any custom character creator or stat-tweaking – this is a pick-up-and-play experience with predefined characters and a low barrier of entry that wants to get you straight into the fray.
Like 2011’s Lord of the Rings: War In The North, players will assume an archetypal role of a small band of combat-hardened adventurers as they set forth in linear settings with the aim of popping skulls, nabbing loot, and having a few shared chuckles along the way. Similar to LoTR:WitN, there is little downtime between the action, as enemies crawl from vents and trap doors to surround you and slow you on your quest for gold and glory.
Spin to win with Wulfgar
Lucky last, I was assigned the remaining available hero – Bruenor the tanky Dwarf with a hammer and shield that gives as good as he gets. We began testing out our abilities in the hub world plaza, a small open-air location with merchants, storage chests, training areas, and where the party will launch their instanced missions from. I was a little bit thrown by this, as it resembled the smaller hub locations from games like Destiny and Warframe. Perhaps I was expecting an inn or a town, some hustle and bustle of a fantasy community buzzing on the periphery of our exploits. For now, this little mountain hideaway will be where players deck out their equipment and prepare before beginning the mission. A nice touch was that the loot enemies drop during quests can only be equipped and upgraded in the hub. This prevents that one player, typically me, from scrolling through their inventory mid-mission as the team gets slaughtered.
Alongside Catti-Brie the athletic ranger and Wulfgar the warrior, we loaded into a dwarven cave, bounty in hand, looking to take down the gruesome Chef – a charmingly offensive arsehole of an orc. Between our party of four heavy hitters and the Chef were hordes of menacing minions to make short work of. By itself, the combat doesn’t set any new standards for action-RPG carnage, but attacks from all heroes were suitably heavy and popped off with satisfying visuals. The game seems to revel in bombastic, balls-out carnage.
D&D legend Drizzt is the show-stealer
Charging headlong into hordes with reckless abandon, things get suitably hectic, and laughs are had all around. My Bruenor rolls into action, swinging his axe into grizzly minions who match his height. Catti-Brie hangs on the periphery, nailing headshots with the bow while Wulfgar swirls through the cramped combat areas sweeping up the stragglers with dazzling swings of his hammer. I can barely keep up with the action as Drizzt races ahead of the pack, swiftly skirting over spike-trap laden hallways eager to reach the next goblin beasties.
It is certainly the kind of game that facilitates switching one’s brain off at the end of the day. With little initiation required, players will be rolling through lootable fodder with mates while levelling up and filling out a fairly standard skill tree. If you’re like me and rarely get the friend’s schedules to line up, then rest assured that solo play will be viable with enemies and difficulty scaling down to accommodate.
For those making the jump on day one, there will only be four playable characters initially, but developer Tuque is already hard at work on their post-launch content. We are promised that there will be no microtransactions, relying instead on free DLC drops and paid expansions. Shortly after launch and again before the year’s end, two DLC will introduce new levels as well as new difficulties to keep the end-game challenging. Q4 of 2021 will also see the release of ‘Echoes of the Blood War’, a premium expansion that expands the character roster and locations, with more to be announced.
Putting the hard word to Wizards, we were able to squeeze a couple more juicy tidbits out of them. Listening to community demand, couch co-op will be available sometime after release – something we’re always happy to see more of. When asked if there will be PVP between party members, the team was coy but not prepared to rule out the future possibility.
During Summer Games Fest 2021, our playable mission was shown off courtesy of the hilarious Hannibal Buress and WWE star Ember Moon.
Dark Alliance releases on June 22, with day one access on Xbox Game Pass. Crossplay will pair within platform brands, so Xbox One, Series S/X, and PC players can play together, but Sony ponies will be limited to PS4 and PS5 crossplay.
