The exhibit hall for GX3 is jam packed with awesome goodness and I have been able to get my hands on some currently crowdfunding games on the floor. One that I tried was a Diablo-like game called Death of Dragons. I not only played the demo but I got to try it with their Oculus Rift support, but more on that later. Anyway, the Kickstarter is currently running and with just under a month left they’ve got some ways to go before they reach their $50,000 goal.
So what exactly is Death of Dragons? Based on what I was told the story behind the game is that dragons have returned and are actively seeking a powerful artifact that could control them and obviously they don’t want none of that. There are three core classes that you can play, Necromancer, Ranger, and Sword Fighter. It’s up to you to get to said artifact first before the dragons do. If you can it’s up to you to destroy the item or to use it to control your own army of flying lizards.
While I didn’t ask, and it doesn’t say in the pitch on their Kickstarter, Death of Dragons might be able to be played without a VR headset but that’s not what this hands-on piece is about. I got the full immersion experience and honestly it was the first time that I got to try out the Oculus Rift. Suffice it to say that I want one now. Anyway, most games designed with VR in mind are usually first person but this one is completely third person. But it does work. You’ll also need to have a controller handy. At least with the demo that I played. You might be able to play with keyboard and mouse.
The demo being shown off at GX3 has you playing an early level with the Necromancer. The controls were simple enough to use without being able to see the buttons on the controller since my entire field of vision was obstructed by the Rift. With the Necromancer you can summon an undead minion with one button, jump with another, melee attack with a third, and ranged attack with a fourth. The shoulder trigger locks on to your nearest enemy. Easy peasy, especially if you’re used to playing on consoles.
As I mentioned, this was my very first experience with the Oculus Rift so I was somewhat unprepared for the full experience. I expected that moving my head around pans the camera and while a first person game would mean moving the characters head around here it just pans around the map. I had to crane my head a lot just to see where I had to go but it was fun. The combat was pretty intuitive and I actually had almost no problem taking down the black dragon at the end of the demo. It was a trip to see the dragon rearing up on me. I actually instinctively pulled back to get away from it it got so close.
Just the little bit that I saw in the exhibit hall makes me feel like Death of Dragons has a lot of potential as a third person overhead action RPG. It’s even incredible with a VR headset. Even though I’ll most likely not back this one it is most certainly a game that I want to keep an eye on. And that’s saying something as I’m not that big of a fan of this type of game.
Author’s Note: I confirmed with the person demoing Death of Dragons that the game will indeed require the use of both a VR headset and controller.
