Another disappointment is that the boss
creatures are not very hard to defeat. You can defeat some of them in your
first try, while it only takes a death or two with the others before you figure
out how to take them out. If you're looking for a real challenge, you must
first complete the game to unlock the Extreme mode, which cranks up the
difficulty by a factor of ten.
Contributing
to the game's enjoyment factor is the quality of its graphics. Torches
flicker and give off a soft glow, and as you walk through pools you can watch
the water ebb and see the wake you create. Your character's appearance
changes depending on the armor and weapons that are equipped, and reflects the
actual items worn. The game's environments look great, and are packed with
little details that bring them to life. NPC conversations take place in a
first person view, and the NPCs' character models are very detailed and
animated. I could go on about the great spell effects, such as the glow
given off by a magic missile, and all of the many nice graphical touches in the
game, but suffice it to say that Dark Alliance is one good looking game.
The game's sound deserves mention as well, as the environmental effects and
subtle background music are excellent. The game gives you a taste of
what's to come right from the start with the hauntingly beautiful singing heard
drifting through the Elfsong Tavern. All NPC interactions are voiced, and
the voice acting is top notch, really helping to bring the NPCs to life and
imbuing them with personality.
Unlike most RPGs, Dark Alliance supports mutliplayer play in a two-player
cooperative mode. You can make your way through the game with a friend
instead of taking on the quest solo. This is a great feature, but it would
have been nice if you could play with up to three other friends.
All things considered, Dark Alliance is a high quality and thoroughly
enjoyable game. If only it were longer and featured more challenging AI...
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
88%. A great action-oriented RPG for
those who like to spend more time killing hordes of monsters than reading screen
after screen of conversational text.
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