Dungeon Hunter 2 HD

The massive churning behemoth that is Gameloft never sleeps. The rate at which clones and tributes pop out of its various studios is impressive and terrifying – the stuff of black magic and mediaeval folklore.

Dungeon Hunter 2 - a game with enough wizards and monsters to fill a generic fantasy tome - is the publisher’s latest foray onto Xperia Play.

This time Diablo and Dragon Age are the game design donors. As usual, this has resulted in a game that is (mostly) mechanically sound, while also being shamelessly unoriginal.

Failytale

The dungeon-crawling begins after a short intro movie that briefly explains the plot. Or rather, the skeleton of a plot. The story is cobbled together from the remains of older, better games and nothing is ever fully explained.

For instance, you're saved from a dungeon at the beginning but you're never introduced to your rescuers, leaving you to guess at their motives and connections.

You don’t even really know why you're in prison to begin with. Nor do you find out how long you’ve been there until long after you escape. It’s an embarrassing hodge-podge of clichés and loose ends. But then, we’d be lying if we expected any different from a Gameloft title.

The good fight

However, the core components of the game are what most people are really interested in. Here Dungeon Hunter 2 does a good job of replicating precisely the mechanics of your average dungeon-crawler.

Choosing between a Mage, Warrior. or Rogue, you quickly level-up and unlock new abilities and attacks. Combat is fairly solid and the Xperia Play’s buttons are well-mapped to various attacks and skills, with the oft-ignored shoulder buttons coming in particularly useful as instant potion usage and a special attack from your fairy companion.

There’s also plenty of loot to collect, equip, or sell as you go along. The drop rate among your foes being very generous, leading to a lot of inventory maintenance and detailed decisions about which armour and weapons to combine for the best outcome in battle.

The skill tree and experience points system is a standard one, with each class getting its typical attacks, like the rogue's stuns and speedy backstabs.

The big quest shun

Where the game disappoints is probably in the quests. ‘Kill X number of creatures’ all too often passes for an interesting side-quest in this genre, and Dungeon Hunter 2 is among the worst offenders.

The main quests aren’t much better, with the admittedly impressive and expansive world map just about making up for the rote dungeon-raids and boss battles – very few of which are ever explained in terms of the larger story.

It doesn’t help that ‘Quest Complete’ messages drop down and obscure the entire screen, sometimes at crucial times in a battle – an incredible nuisance. There’s always the option to drop into multiplayer and raid dungeons alongside a stranger, although this comes with its own usual server annoyances.

Even with these faults in mind it’s still important to remember that the game itself is more than passable for fans of the genre.

Dungeon Hunter 2 HD

Dungeon Hunter 2 has a few obvious flaws but mostly offers a decent dungeon crawling experience -just don’t expect to be blown away by the stereotypical fantasy setting or storyline
Score
Brendan Caldwell
Brendan Caldwell
Brendan is a boy. Specifically, a boy who plays games. More specifically, a nice boy who plays many games. He often feels he should be doing something else. That's when the siren call of an indie gem haunts him. Who shall win this battle of wills? Answer: not Brendan.