Previews

Hands-on with Heroes of Ruin on Nintendo 3DS

Holding out for a hero (or four)

Hands-on with Heroes of Ruin on Nintendo 3DS
|
3DS
| Heroes of Ruin

For all the new features the Nintendo 3DS has over its older brother the DS, it hasn't had many games take advantage of the extended multiplayer.

Heroes of Ruin, the latest title from DS and console specialist n-Space (Call of Duty: Black Ops) is looking to change that by introducing a full-blown co-op action-RPG to the system, similar in style to Diablo or Torchlight, and making proper use of SpotPass and StreetPass.

We caught up with publisher Square Enix in London to go hands-on with an early build of the game, and see whether it will have enough to ‘level up’ the 3DS experience. (Sorry).

Tomb raiding

The level we were shown was set inside an area of the Coral Tombs, a partially submerged temple to all things fishy, including some hungry land-walking sharks and a huge end boss – The Leviathan.

I was given the choice between two of the game’s four character classes – each one capable of taking the fight to the enemy on their own, but also balanced in order to complement the others’ skills.

So, for instance, the cat-headed Vindicator is the archetypal Tank – able to suck up damage and buff friends with moves that include healing.

I picked the far trickier Gunslinger – a ranged character that has a number of area and stifling moves (such as flinging a hook to slow enemies down), but gets a little bogged down should everyone get too close.

There’s a basic degree of customisation to your character – with hoods and hats available to my particular soldier of fortune. This personalisation is complemented later in the game by loot visible on your character once equipped.

Mad skillz

This loot – and, indeed, the very levels themselves – are randomly hidden and distributed across the game’s five different areas, potentially giving the title plenty of replayability.

Of course, certain areas have to remain intact – a boss lair or side mission may be in a different place the second time through, but they will still be there.

There’s no distinction between multiplayer and single-player games, so you can start or resume an adventure on your own, leaving slots open for other players to jump into without having to navigate out into the menus.

Should another player join who isn’t the same level as you, Heroes of Ruin uses a percentage-based system for damage and XP that ensures no-one is completely outmatched.

The experience system works very much in the style of classic dungeon-crawlers of games gone by, with a unique skill tree for each character allowing for extra skills to be assigned to the A and X buttons - similar to how the console version of Torchlight handled this traditionally PC genre.

What-a-ya selling?

Another quality that both Heroes and Torchlight share is the striking graphics. There were chasms and perilous plunges into darkness in the demo level I played, and while it’s impossible to actually fall off these drops the sense of depth is palpable.

Meanwhile the sheer amount of loot that enemies drop is impressive, giving you plenty to sell as well as use.

This is where the StreetPass functions come into play – any loot you list off to sell can be traded with another character automatically when you pass them (and vice versa). Items appear to be level-locked, so a beginner won’t suddenly find himself with a super-powerful sword, but it sounds like an interesting way to interact.

Likewise, the usage of SpotPass is a little more sophisticated and the standard ‘information about the latest update’ (or in Street Fighter IVs case, endless adverts).

n-Space intends to set up a series of daily and weekly challenges for the game, ranging from quest-focused missions to ‘kill X’ types, with successful challenges awarding rare or valuable items.

Heroes of Ruin is looking like a traditional dungeon-crawler bolstered by the new possibilities of the 3DS. We’ll find out if this party strikes gold when the game is released in the first quarter of next year.

Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).