Previews

Hands on with Dungeon Hunter 2 for iPhone

Going deeper underground

Hands on with Dungeon Hunter 2 for iPhone
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| Dungeon Hunter 2

As one of Gameloft's best games of 2009, it seems almost inevitable that Dungeon Hunter would receive a sequel at some point.

Rather than rush out the same game again with prettier graphics, though, the development team has decided to add a number of intriguing options and features to this latest iteration that should give any Dungeon Hunter or Diablo fans goose bumps.

Devil's in the details

The biggest draw to the latest version over Dungeon Hunter is easily the inclusion of full four-player local and online co-op through Gameloft Live or Game Center.

Players can either create a game themselves, starting at any unlocked point during the main story, or leap into a game in progress and use their single-player characters to fight off the forces of darkness.

Alas, we had no friends to sally forth with for this preview, so we were forced to take on the evil bog-dwellers single-handedly.

We were, however, able to see the procedurally generated dungeons in action, randomly creating a forest and temple map once we'd escaped the clutches of an evil marsh (a.k.a. the tutorial level).

Straying off the mission path is perfectly possible due to the sprawling nature of the levels, with temples and optional quests scattered liberally around the map to tempt adventurers with XP rewards and stronger items.

Hoarding

The randomness also stretches to the items, with every sword, helmet, and foot wrapping created on the fly by the game.

There's still the odd uniquely named item and armour set to be found, but in general you'll be stumbling across random loot – a lot of random loot, if our time with the game is anything to go by, given how many chests and item drops we encountered.

Although your chosen class of character – Warrior, Rogue, Mage – can't be altered visually when you select it, every item visibly changes the character's appearance. The skill system, too, is far more flexible than in the first game, allowing for growth over four active and four passive skills per class.

To make the classes more involving than in the original game Gameloft has introduced a new split class option when the character reaches level 12, which allows you to specialise in a certain facet of the original starting class.

For instance, a warrior transforms into either a Berzerker or Crusader, thus gaining either all-out attack powers or a more balanced selection in the process.

We were unable to see this part in action, mind, as our lowly mage managed just three levels before he was set upon in an abandoned temple by a horde of spiders. During that time we got to fight a bog serpent, a swamp witch, and countless smaller minions that leap up out of the gloom (and hide in pots).

Spell caster

The graphics are a lot sharper and richer in colours than the original game, with what looks like real-time lighting effects on the spells and around the characters, as well as some great-looking bloom-like shine from your new faerie companion (who acts as a special spellcaster, un-reliant on your mana reserves).

The only real disappointment is the level of detail on the character models, with everyone suffering from ‘blocky head syndrome’, which looks very out of date when compared with the other upcoming titles like Shadow Guardian.

Nevertheless, we came away from our short hands on impressed with how much progress the series has made.

Whereas Dungeon Hunter was a highly enjoyable hack-and-slash, the sequel is about as close to a proper Diablo-style game as the iPhone has had, so we’re looking forward to descending its depths when it arrives on the App Store later this month.

Will Wilson
Will Wilson
Will's obsession with gaming started off with sketching Laser Squad levels on pads of paper, but recently grew into violently shouting "Tango Down!" at random strangers on the street. He now directs that positive energy into his writing (due in no small part to a binding court order).