The popularity and worldwide acceptance of Dungeons & Dragons is at an all-time high, and now is a better time than ever to revamp the Dark Alliance series. Developed by Tuque Games and published by Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a Co-op third-person action-adventure game with RPG elements.

Based on the world of the D&D tabletop game created by Gary Gygax and set after the book, The Crystal Shard, written by R. A. Salvatore. Players will be treated to an action-heavy dungeon crawler dripping with history and lore to discover.

Your adventure begins in the basecamp set in the mountain tops of Icewind Dale with the threat of the mighty white dragon, Icewind, Queen of Storms looming over Ten Towns. Enter the heroes who felled her love, Iceingdeath, the “Companions of the Hall”, who must once again set out to rid the horrors of the mountain and slay the white dragon in an attempt to keep the Crystal Shard safe. Boss battles are a-plenty, from Frost Giants digging up ancient relics, and Giant Beholders attempting to make their own Crystal Shard.

Spanning across 4 campaigns and 3 dungeons, a total of 21 playable missions are available, each with its own setting and boss. Each campaign has both storyboard style and fully rendered cut scenes to guide you through the story of each act in a Campaign.

Surprisingly, if you skipped every single cutscene you could quite comfortably hammer through the game without it affecting your experience whatsoever. Even though this D&D-inspired storytelling sounds like a fundamental element, the core experience of the game is to aggressively throw yourself into the fray with 3 teammates and hack your way through the hordes. For the lore enthusiasts and fans of the book series, you can find solace in that there are a plethora of tablets and tomes to find that each contributes to both the story and the world in a meaningful way.

There are four playable characters in this four-player coop experience and currently, there can only be one person playing each character per group. Drizzt Do’Urden is the Drow Ranger with dual-wielded blades for quick and decisive attacks. Catti-Brie, the Human Fighter/Archer type for long-range support and healing. Wulfgar the Human Barbarian, for heavy assault and big damage numbers, and Bruenor Battlehammer the Dwarf that can tank an ungodly amount of damage.

All characters follow the basic principle of a light attack using the right bumper, a fierce attack for the right trigger, with the Y/Triangle button for your abilities. You have a ranged attack as well but unless you are playing as Catti-Brie, it’s really only for breaking crystal cluster on the wall to upgrade your gear since it is so weak.

Now you have the basic controls down it is time to string these together and build up some big combos. You have a stamina bar to watch and this can decrease permanently if you don’t parry attacks or cast your ultimate ability. The aim of the game is to be aggressive, as the bigger the combo the faster you build your ultimate, which will help replenish your stamina and other abilities.

The entire game can be played solo, but when you are in a team you can stun an enemy and open them up for a Team Attack which deals massive damage. There are consumables such as a health potion, stamina regeneration, or physical and elemental damage resistance, but these don’t often turn up so manage them wisely. One thing that I feel is painfully missing is that there is no mini-map or even a map at all during a mission.

The arenas are mostly linear with few branching paths but it would still be nice to see where you have gone or what is left unturned. A nice little feature is the camps that will appear at certain points of a mission to act as checkpoints. If you choose to rest then you will be healed and all your potions will be restored, but if you choose to skip, it will increase your chance at higher tier loot at the cost of losing that checkpoint.

It is a nice risk-reward system that can spice up any given run. There are six challenge tiers, or rather difficulty settings per mission which encourage replayability, especially since you can collect a specific set of armour in each campaign. Earning a full set will give you a boost when you wear them together but be warned because the difficulty spike can be alarmingly unbalanced early on.

Interestingly, the art style is both lavishly detailed while being exaggerated and cartoony at the same time. The run of the mill goblins have big funny noses, bright orange skin and are a stark comparison to “The Chef” boss who has cracked and boiled skin with a vile and sinister sneer about him. The mines are illuminated by rivers of lava and reflect off all the glistening walls, and the mountain tops are alive with foliage growing through the broken stone structures. For a dungeon crawler, it has a nice blend of vivid colours in armour and environments, even in the snow-covered mountain tops.

A beautiful harmony plays while you are at the base camp between campaigns, both relaxing and with a pang of sadness. Looking over the cliff sides while a symphony of violins echoes in the background helps to reflect on either a successful run or get you in the mood for another campaign. The music will dynamically change on your adventures and the battle drums really ramp it up to 11, especially when you are approaching a boss battle. Voice acting is also well balanced with quirky anecdotes and grandiose speeches mixed for a bit of fun and some more serious moments.

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance may not offer a traditional D&D gameplay style, but the fast-paced action is a great experience. Get in, get some gold, horde the loot, and return to basecamp to reequip and level up so you can do it all again. For better or worse, you can’t access any of the loot you get during a mission as you need to complete a mission first to be able to redeem your gear. It does make sense as it keeps the experience moving and avoids the dreaded inventory management slumps mid-mission trying to max out your stats. I haven’t gotten to challenge tier 6 yet, but it will take a lot of work to get myself ready and that is exactly what the game was designed to do.

Written by: Shane Fletcher