Dark Invasion II by Arkan

Dark Invasion II by Arkan

Few of you may not read this review just because Dark Invasion II is an ORPG, but those who are still reading, should definitely give this game a shot.  I’ll begin by saying that I gave Dark Invasion II almost a perfect score.  Sadly, there were some major flaws, which made me feel rather uncomfortable about giving such a game a 12 out of 12.  I mean, AceHart got a fair 11.5; however, unlike AceHart’s games, I played this game for about three hours on solo mode.

Here’s the scoop: the game is very much based on the MMORPG concept.  You grind (kill multiple monsters to earn exp or points) and complete quests.  Your hero has restrictions on what type of spells he/she can accumulate.  You’re often left with a sense of mild accomplishment whenever you gain a new level, and let me remind you that I’ve been playing this game for hours, which should tell you that I was very entertained.

There was a ton to do and see.  The map looked beautiful.  Each region was crafted so professionally that I didn’t really mind grinding so many monsters in one area.  Actually, I kinda enjoyed it.  I also liked the cheesy comments my hero would randomly say (kinda like a Duke Nukem or Gex game).  I also liked the talk-able critters, like a hermit crab.

Each new event or accomplishment brought profound excitement, which is rarely experienced in a WC3 map.  As I entered new islands, I got this overflowing sense of adventure.  I wanted to go fight some ravenous monster with only a broadsword.  I really did feel like I was defeating numberless foes in dense combat.

In this unique ORPG, there’s a whole new game created within the game.  Now, I know that’s silly to say, but the creators actually destroyed almost every foundation of WC3 and replaced it with something else.  The interface, the titles, the information, the descriptions, almost every little detail was modified, including the fight system.  Instead of click and attack and wait, the player is forced to command each and every swing of a blade, fling of an arrow, and swish of a knife.  The challenge is, your swing has a cool-down.  The longer you wait to thrust your blade into your foe – the better chance you’ll have to do more damage!  So, your character can inflict damage ranging from 0 – 100, depending on how long you wait periodically.  I’m sure there’s a formula for success, but I haven’t figured it out yet.  And depending on your luck or some sort of complicated RPG attribute, your character automatically does combo attacks.  I haven’t played the game enough to know how this works, but I’m sure people here would know.

If you didn’t know, Dark Invasion II is still very much a live.  Although the game stopped updating within almost a year now, players still gather to play Dark Invasion and Dark Invasion II on a regular basis.  I can’t join the ranks of elite players who grind until they reach the cap level to defeat the legendaries, but maybe you will.  Hey, if you do, send me a PM sometime.  Maybe we could play a game or two.  It would be fun.  But I’m just sayin’…  I mean: I’m not too desperate.

Add me.

The reason this game’s community can still flourish is because of all the things you can do.  You can cook, fish, explore, quest, dig for treasure, pillage, steal, fight endless enemies, and show off your impressive work to your bodies (maybe even a potential girlfriend, haha) with screenshots.  The save/load system also works wonderfully.  I had no issues loading my character into any new game I made, and I’ve replayed the map about three times.  Every time my character and items were restored, and the game ran so smoothly.  I actually thought for a minute that I was playing one of those big titled MMORPGs like Guild Wars or WoW, yet it was easily acknowledged that there was no one screaming on the chat that they wanted to marry Paris Hilton or wanted to “cybr wth ne1.” Maybe that’s a plus.

I give Dark Invasion II by Arkan a 10 out of 12.

The game was almost flawless, yet there was a huge flaw in the camera.  It was so bad that the gameplay suffered, yet the whole game was just a thrill overall!  I haven’t swore at a game in a long time.  Maybe you’ll have better luck with this turtle.

But for now, I guess I gotta start working on the Wednesday review, so I can’t stick around to fight anymore monsters.  Until then, keep on mappin’, Wc3 fans!