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Dungeon Lords: Collector's Edition Review @ GameBanshee
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Dhruin
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Dungeon Lords: Collector's Edition Review @ GameBanshee
   

following up on their interview with Bradley a few days ago, GameBanshee has a <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/reviews/software/dungeonlordsce2.php" target="_blank">review</a> of the Collector's Edition of Dungeon Lords with a score of 8.2/10:<blockquote><em>If you played (or read about) the original Dungeon Lords, then I probably haven’t said too much that you didn’t know already. So let me now talk about what’s new with the Collector’s Edition. First and foremost, the Collector’s Edition contains five new quests. These quests are analogous to the class quests, where you have to go somewhere on the surface of the world and kill something. For example, in the starting city of Fargrove, a man will tell you that he plundered a tomb only to learn that a vampire was living inside it -- and that the vampire is now hunting him. He’ll then of course ask you to kill the vampire, which you’ll find in the slums district of the city. Vampires are nasty -- among other things, they can fly and turn invisible -- but if you kill it, the man will reward you with the gold he plundered from the tomb.</em></blockquote>
Post Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:13 pm
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bjon045
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Pretty positive review. Some good points made. The final score seems a tad high, 8.2 is the kind of mark I would reserve for a very good RPG (like Morrowind) that doesn't quite make it to greatness (i.e. Wizardry 8, Gothic 2). Would probably get around 6.5-7 on my scale, but then again I haven't played it yet
Post Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:19 pm
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The Hulk
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Its interesting how Gamebanshee blames the publisher dreamcatcher instead of blaming DWB at the end of the review. Some seem to think DWB is the evil one here, maybe Gamebanshee knows something others don't? If I had to guess, I'd say DWB would not have wanted to shove his pride and joy out onto the gaming public full of bugs and missing features, and that the publisher forced him to release it before it was ready, probably like the publisher made the decision on whether to release a collectors edition or just offer the new content as free patches.
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Post Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:26 pm
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poot
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I highly agree with The Hulk on this one. DL should have never been released when it did. Usually it is the publisher that should poo out the door, but not every time. DWB and HP are in the earliest stages of creating a new IP, so if that one comes out in the same state, we can blame someone other than the publisher.
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Post Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:37 pm
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Shimbatha
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I actually broke down and ordered DL:CE from ebgames.com last week. I've been playing it for a few days now and I have to admit it IS much better. The added furniture, the added quests, the working spells and skills (Parry works now folks), new items and tweaked difficulty really helped the game. It's nothing great, but it is passable. A good 7, maybe 7.5 if you are being kind hearted.

I look at DL the same way I did Ultima 9 when it came out. A game that was rushed out of the door because the publisher demanded it. DWB would never purposely ruin his image. He won't say it's DC's fault because he isn't so stupid as to bite the hand that feeds him...but you have to know he is THINKING it.
Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:07 am
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bjon045
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Shimbatha I am calling your bluff. You are a flippant poster and perhaps an outright liar. 3 of your posts are listed below. Notice the disparity between them. I have gone through ALL your recent posts and found similar behaviour. If you are going to contribute to these forums you need to clean up your act mate, because this kind of posting is completely unacceptable.



Posted: today
quote:
Originally posted by Shimbatha
I actually broke down and ordered DL:CE from ebgames.com last week. I've been playing it for a few days now and I have to admit it IS much better. The added furniture, the added quests, the working spells and skills (Parry works now folks), new items and tweaked difficulty really helped the game. It's nothing great, but it is passable. A good 7, maybe 7.5 if you are being kind hearted.

I look at DL the same way I did Ultima 9 when it came out. A game that was rushed out of the door because the publisher demanded it. DWB would never purposely ruin his image. He won't say it's DC's fault because he isn't so stupid as to bite the hand that feeds him...but you have to know he is THINKING it.



Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 8:03 am
quote:
Originally posted by Shimbatha
I agree with you Todd, but really, did you read what you typed before you hit Post? All of this anger, hatred, and juvenile whining isn't what you want to exhibit if you want to be taken seriously. Not a flame, I just can't stand to see this kind of stuff, even if I do essentially agree with you.

I DL'ed the CE, and I'm not really impressed. Arindale is decorated (With a ton of furniture and places to rest) and the fence surrounding the elven encampment is a nice touch (As is the demon-slaying quest given inside of it) but the spawns are still outrageous and the gameplay is still rather bland. 8 Rats...7 Wolves...10 Wolves...I even got hit by a party of SIX GIANT OGRES. I only beat them by backflipping up into the polygons that made up Fargrove's wall and using my bow. Took about 40 minutes.

Bradley is to gaming what Uwe Boll is to movies.


Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:54 pm
quote:
Originally posted by Shimbatha
Hilarious. There are actually people defending Dungeon Lords.

I still say verybigslayer is a shill. I have seen people who actually enjoyed the game to some extent (such as TXA) but they don't defend it with such gusto (Or anger-fueled immature replies). Plus that little "ikea" remark sounds like something that would come from someone who takes the game's criticism very seriously. Perhaps too seriously.

Why would someone take it so personally if everyone hates their game? Maybe if they were a designer/artist/programmer for said game.
Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 4:27 am
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XVampireX
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The Hulk: Publishers make tight schedules, this is the reason it came out terrible.
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Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 4:49 am
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Dhruin
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quote:
Originally posted by XVampireX
The Hulk: Publishers make tight schedules, this is the reason it came out terrible.


You guys are too kind to Bradley. The game was publically announced in January 03. In an interview with RPG Vault in July 03, Bradley said "...the game is scheduled to be released in Q1 2004..." -- the deal with Dreamcatcher wasn't even done until March 04 and it was then due Fall 2004. It wasn't released until May 05. The publishers gave him plenty of extra time - but in the end they obviously gave up.

They have to take responsibility for that but you can't just let Bradley go. And what about the generic story, dreadful dialogue and shallow class design -- are they all Dreamcatcher's fault?
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Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:11 am
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abbaon
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quote:
Originally posted by bjon045
Shimbatha I am calling your bluff. You are a flippant poster

Good call on the flippancy. That jerk treats Dungeon Lords like some kind of game.

(P.S. D.W. Bradley will totally want to be your friend when he hears that you stood up for him on an internet forum. Keep up the good work; I see sleepovers and hair braiding in your future.)
Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 5:39 am
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txa1265
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quote:
Originally posted by Dhruin
You guys are too kind to Bradley.
They (DreamCatcher)have to take responsibility for that but you can't just let Bradley go. And what about the generic story, dreadful dialogue and shallow class design -- are they all Dreamcatcher's fault?


That is what I was thinking - DWB was pretty obviously over his head in terms of this one, but DreamCatcher wanted it to work ... many of us bought into his vision for the game - as a age-old FPS fan, the thought of getting Jedi Knight II style combat in a deep RPG with a bigger than Gothic II world and old-school dungeon designs ... who the heck wouldn't want THAT?!?!

But I remember reading all of the previews, and there was only *ONE* that called out the possibility of trouble in paradise, and I took time to write one of those useless 'open letters' to DreamCatcher and DWB to ask them to delay ... they didn't, and the single previewer was right - the game was an unfinished mess. That responsibility lies with both parties.

I thought that the review was good on the first page at detailing that stuff, but glossed over many of the fundamental structural problems. I don't know if I'll get a copy of the CE, but I was replaying the 1.4 game after a several month absence, and hitting Arindale pretty much killed it for me - early on I could get past everything else (all the stuff Dhruin mentions), but combining those with the barren city was just too much.

In my review I had speculated that even with *everything* done right I saw Dungeon Lords as a ~4/5 game at most. I think Dhruin would probably call it something lower ... but somehow I doubt (based on what I've heard) that the CE represents 'everything done right'.

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Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 2:47 pm
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ToddMcF2002
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I'm not going to pitch a fit like I did last time... but... I feel that I and everyone who bought the original game have been truely screwed over by this second release. That's about as mild as I can put it. I seriously doubt its significantly better than the original (with the 1.4 patch) but we really deserve access to all content related to this so called "collectors" version.

What a joke.
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Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:02 pm
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Shimbatha
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*Sniff* You like me, you really like me!!
Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 8:37 pm
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TheCleric
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Joined: 11 Jan 2002
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I agree with ToddMcF2002.

From what I've read, the CE adds a few things that were never originally advertised as being in the game and "fleshes out" some other things a little (which should have been done prior to release).

There are still many things that were advertised as being in this game that are not present. Correction, many things that are STILL advertised as being in the game. Click on Features at

http://www.dreamcatchergames.com/dungeonlords/

They still advertise exploration of "Artic Lands" and "Caves" and NPC's who will become your "Ally". In short, they are still falsely advertising the features found in this game, even with the additions of the CE!

In my opinion, the additions of the CE should be free to anyone who's willing to download a patch of that size. People buying the CE are only helping DreamCatcher make a profit from releasing a game months before it was ready and encouraging them to do the same thing again.

Not to say that Bradley doesn't deserve some of the blame as he most certainly does. I know that I shall not forget the names of DW Bradley and DreamCatcher any time soon. Nor shall my wallet!
Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:00 pm
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Sir Markus
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There are lots of things wrong with Dungeon Lords, but the combat is what really killed this game in my opinion. I think I actually could have enjoyed it if the combat weren't so awful; I feel like I could have overlooked the other problems the game has.

I got fed up with Dungeon Lords 1.4 and decided to pick up Gothic Gold so I could finally play through the Raven expansion. I've installed Dungeon Lords on my computer four times since I bought it, and I doubt I'll ever play it again. It's just too frustrating.
Post Wed Feb 22, 2006 11:48 pm
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