Top 10 Best Game Reveals Of The 2014 Summer

6. Shadow Realms

Information for this particular title has come in with small trickles over a few conventions. Given the prestige behind a new property from developer BioWare, it was to be expected. This is the house that made Mass Effect after all, they need to plug this just right. It turns out that Shadow Realms is the marriage of the company's older roots with new elements, as seen in other growing genres in the gaming world.

So, again expected, Shadow Realms is an RPG like only BioWare can make them. There's an entire story around a link between the Earth and some mystical universe. Different classes are available, such as the usual archetypes of Assassin, Warrior, Cleric and so on, which indicates the classic differentiation in approaches. As the game is set in the modern era, it will additionally be able to make use of advanced weaponry for more versatile settings.

These characters, grouped in 4-player co-op, will take up arms against one Shadowlord. Hereby, the developer uses a four versus one design that's currently popular with hyped-up shooter Evolve. It is, however, also the mold for the classic Dungeons & Dragons origins that spawned the studio many years ago. Essentially, the Shadowlord player acts like a Dungeon Master, looking over a realm of monsters and traps that a party has to overcome, should they want to reap the reward. It was specifically created by the lead designer of the famous Baldur's Gate franchise to resemble tabletop, pen-and-paper gameplay.

Heroes take on quests that lead them to dungeons locations either on Earth or in the otherworldly Embra realm. From there, combat takes place dynamically in real time. Mobs of enemies can be controlled directly when playing as a villain, by using the body from one of the creatures there. Parties can customize their skills through an enhancement system, to complement each other during fights. All of it moves in a speedy, tight pace, resembling the action from Dragon Age 2, which is arguably the best part of the otherwise lesser RPG in the series. Dungeon master tropes aren't usually this hectic, so it's definitely going to keep everyone on their toes.

Posted: 28th Oct 2014 by Daav
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