Most action RPGs tend to mimic the mechanics of Diablo a bit too much. Some action RPGs do well with mimicking the click-death-loot mechanic of Diablo well, such as Torchlight. Others seem content with re-creating the wheel, like Titan Quest. Nothing wrong with giving the same experience, but one thing I wish they wouldn’t have copied is the layout of the controls for Diablo. The mouse and keyboard combo is okay, but it would be nice to play these games with a gamepad. Outspark seems to agree with their own action RPG Dark Blood, with support for joystick and gamepad.
Dark Blood was launched at midnight to an open beta for fans of the game. When fans logged in and created their character names, they found that the game now supports arcade-like controls. “We listen to our fans! They wanted Joystick and gamepad support and we made it happen,” said Philip Yun, CEO, Outspark. The game seems to have most of the features to any other Diablo game: Rapid-fire combat, in-depth customization, and a new feature to play as bosses. Dark Blood will have thousands of ways to play, according to the trailer.
A ranger fires off a volley of arrows at a group of enemies, and then drags them all into a cluster to use a strong attack against them. Another character seems to transform into a polar bear and slice their foes to ribbons. Outspark promises to deliver frequent content updates. On July 26th, 2012, a major “content drop” will be released for Dark Blood including a level cap raise, the opening of the cash shop and premium items.
I always thought that taking the loot-gathering mechanic of Diablo and applied to an arcade game like Gauntlet would be fun. But after looking at a few videos for Dark Blood, the game reminds me more of arcade brawler games from the 1990s, especially Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara. Not that I’m complaining since the old Capcom D&D games are fun with friends.
Visit the Dark Blood Web site to play the game for free.
