Sword and Shield: Test of the top title

10/14/2011 - The editors have taken their shield and sword and set out to become part of the heroic epic Drakensang. The title presents itself with a brilliant performance. Whether the title resembles the PC legend Diablo or the dragon song is more like a lament, you can read in the current review.

RATING

INPUT

16/20

Simple Learning By Doing: Linear quests introduce the user in a playful way. There is no explicit tutorial In the simple, linear starting environment, the player immediately experiences absolutely beginner-friendly action Quick level-up and first item drops motivate and spur the typical collecting instinct Classical interface like in PC games, whose functions are quickly clear due to good help overlays Harmonious atmosphere: the great graphics, the excellent music, the sound effects as well as the control style almost create the feeling of playing a classic PC title

Currently there are only two hero classes available, whose appearance can only be adjusted rudimentr No explanation of the interface or shortcuts. The user has to try himself and click through the menu items so that no useful function is hidden from him. This may cause some users to lose any gameplay comfort There is no discernible overarching story in the game that makes the goal clear. Of the dragon, the user learns so far only something on the website

GAMEPLAY

17/20

Conficionados of hack and slay titles like the Diablo series will find their way around in terms of controls and menu navigation Single mouse control including right mouse button for special attacks as well as keyboard with numerous hotkeys Immense item variety. In addition, the equipment changes the appearance of the hero when in use Suitable for both casual and hardcore users in terms of the time required. Pausing has no disadvantages, but the character will only progress by actively playing Possibility to accept many quests at the same time. This allows you to complete several quests at the same time in the same floodplain region Item drops from monsters always match your player class and are separate for each user. Thus there is no collecting panic like in Diablo, where players can snatch things from each other Varied maps: Different sized areas with varied vegetation and enemies. Open terrain as well as many locations and also dungeons Although only two character classes so far, they play noticeably different

The far too small inventory forces especially free players to travel more or forgo items. The inventory can be increased against Andermant (Premium) Unclearly many traders No race function. The constant traveling on foot from the clients to the often same areas gets annoying after a while. The user feels like ping pong with sore fen

GRAPHICS

19/20

Impressive isometric 3D world for a browser game. The game world can be seen in its original origin (The Black Eye) Possibility to play in full screen mode The game world is very varied and snugly designed Atmospheric lighting effects. Especially in the dungeons and spells, the Nebula engine knows how to impress atmosphrically zoom function via the mouse wheel Drakensang offers a lot of graphical variety through an incredible amount of characters, landscapes, items, monster types etc. Smooth, well-done animation phases of the characters Detailed design of the environment: for example, rafts float in the water, which in turn reflects the light and has a realistic surface Lovely detail and animation, especially in the cities: Torches smoking, flags waving, empty well buckets swaying in the wind. In addition, everything is accompanied by sound

In full-screen mode, the graphic pixels up a bit and looks a bit blurry

TECHNICS

16/20

By using the Nebula engine, which is embedded in Java, Drakensang runs as a browser game without client installation Logged in: Welcome page with character statistics Switch to full screen mode possible Local sound effects: In caves, among other things, the sound of waterfalls can be heard. It gets louder the closer the hero gets to the water Moody, subtle music that adds atmosphere to the action The AI gives the monster types different behaviors Splitting into areas and instance system leads to tolerable waiting times when changing locations With the amount of data loaded in mind, the overall quality is impressive

The reloading of content and the constant filling of monsters within a region, sometimes leads to jumps in the game even with DSL line Sudden lags unfortunately occur again and again and annoyingly sometimes lead to the death of the hero, for example when the character is suddenly surrounded by a horde of monsters Quest givers are often not displayed properly on the mini-map, so you have to walk the area mhselig

BOTTOM

15/20

Discovering new regions along with the many sideshows is energizing Practical friend list and quick creation of groups possible Groups have their own chat and see each other on the minimap, provided the members are in the same region Convenient quest log that displays open orders succinctly The new regions always offer a great graphic splendor and new monster types along with coherent sound effects With friends, the multiplayer part is a lot of fun. Especially entering caves becomes easier and tactically more varied The developers keep filling up the content, both for free players and for paying customers, for example in the form of additional dungeons The comments and criticism of the community is sometimes quite openly received and responded The variety of items and the associated quite individual appearance of the character fires the collecting drive and the search for ever better items

Strong racing As you level up, it gets harder and harder without premium, making some areas a bit frustrating The flood of seemingly inexhaustible, sometimes repetitive mini-quests gets tiring after a while. It would be desirable to have intermediate goals, perhaps in achievement form, which the user can truly complete While the mission texts have been kept concise, the mass questing soon makes reading them tedious The elimination of premium in the game is to be evaluated as pure tokenism against the background of the quantities needed PvP is currently unbalanced and currently also hardly used

FAZIT

83% Drakensang Online (DO) is developed by the former Radon Labs, which also created the PC series Drakensang. Unfortunately, the Berlin-based company had to file for bankruptcy in 2010, but was taken over by Bigpoint to create the browser game of the same name. The most important difference is that the browser game does not use a rulebook license from Das Schwarze Auge (DSA) and thus merely bears the same name as the PC series. Well over 1 million users have already registered for the hack and slay game. DO can best be compared to Diablo, which was clearly the godfather in many areas. There are tons of items, for example, which spur on the collecting frenzy and are partly socketed for upgrades. There is a multilevel skill system, many tricks and the typical "hit the monster hordes" spa. The inventory and health bar is also very reminiscent of the Blizzard series. All of this makes it easier for many to get started, so the game gets off to an action-packed start without much explanation. The whole thing is so breathtakingly staged for a browser game by the Nebula engine that it seems as if a somewhat older, regular PC game is running here. You can tell from the graphics, the music and the entire scope that a well-rehearsed team of professionals from the classic PC sector is behind it. At first, the title should cast a spell over almost everyone. After the initial enthusiasm of certainly several hours, the gaming community quickly splits. For many users, we currently have to question the long-term motivation. For example, the core element of Diablo is the typical collecting mania. DO tries to imitate this, but at the same time it`s painfully stifled by an inventory that`s far too small. The inventory can be expanded, but only against the premium currency Andermant. The same goes for faster level-ups, some additional game areas, identification items for special equipment or even for keys that allow you to open chests at bosses in the first place: If you don`t invest any money, you`ll have to be increasingly patient or you`ll be left out. DO has what it takes to be a platinum title. An enormous amount of gameplay is offered, but unfortunately it is still noticeably under construction in many places. The scope is also the dilemma: because of this, DO also offers significantly more small to medium points of criticism than a small, already completed game. Ultimately, GamesSphere is always concerned with the evaluation from the perspective of the target group, and since Bigpoint has already activated the payment system, the title must also accept the blame for the noticeable problem areas, regardless of its beta status. Although the development team promises to improve many things and has already responded to community criticism in the past, the main problem is revealed to users after a few hours: The premium screw has been applied to too many basic elements. The unfinished development of the content is noticeable and slight technical difficulties sometimes sever the flow of the game. It remains to be seen whether the project is too ambitious and oversized, or whether Bigpoint Berlin will create the game palace that the game conveys in the first few hours from the great basic content. That`s why everyone should check out the game, even if it`s not their genre. However, please always make it clear: This is a browser game!

• Source: Editorial office

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