Here's some good news. Novel action-RPG purveyors Soldak have announced that they're releasing Drox Operative 2 into Steam Early Access on Wednesday the 27th of May.
Drox Operative was a spacefaring sibling to fantasy stabfest Din's Curse, one of the best RPGs to this day. Personally, I prefer Drox. You pilot an immensely powerful ship around a random galaxy, changing the course of history for the AI-controlled civilisations that are doing their thing all around you. It's been a long 7 years since then though, and a sequel would be very welcome.
]]>Zombasite [official site], a living-ish world action RPG from the people behind Depths of Peril, has been in early access for a little while now, so I thought I'd take a look. Even though I just can't shake the suspicion that it was supposed to be called 'Zombacide."
]]>Soldak are among my favourite developers. With Din's Curse, Drox Operative, and Depths of Peril they have three ARPGs that put the static worlds of their glossier genre-mates to shame. Quests are dynamic in a Soldak game and the world and its NPCs interact while you're looking the other way. Fail to follow up on objectives in good time and you might find that you've failed a particular quest and you'll have to live with the consequences
Zombasite [official site] is the latest game from the studio and it's in Early Access now. I was excited to play but first impressions aren't entirely positive.
]]>Drox Operative is a space-set action RPG in which the world around you changes whether you interact with it or not. You fly about, destroying spaceships and using the items they drop to tweak and level your own ship. As you meet new civilizations, they might ask you to help them expand or destroy their neighbour, and your action or inaction will help shape the galaxy.
A new expansion, Invasion of the Ancients, came out earlier this month. Now there's a new trailer for both it and the base game below.
]]>Drox Operative continued Soldak's tradition of genre-expanding ARPGs. Following on from Depths of Peril and Din's Curse, it takes the joy of looting and levelling up stats, and twins it with a dynamic world in which wars and alliances form, goods are traded, and entire civilisations can be destroyed. Along with Space Rangers 2, Drox makes me wonder whether I really need to wait for a fifty million dollar space sim before settling between the stars. There are so many worlds to experience. Obviously there wasn't quite enough in the game though because Soldak have just released an expansion, titled Invasion of the Ancients. It contains more of just about everything, including new ancient race invasion events, new components, a new Scavenger race, nineteen subraces, and more monsters and quests. Hurrah!
]]>Every single person who has ever complained about ARPGs being pinata-popping clickfests should play Drox Operative, or indeed any of Soldak's previous explorations of the genre. A dynamic world, diplomacy, warfare and randomised quests all combine to make a game that avoids the tedium of gathering loot for loot's sake. A few days ago, Soldak released an SDK for the game, containing documentation, examples and tools to assist modders, which means the universe should become even more interesting in the coming months. If you haven't played Drox yet, consider this post a timely reminder to try the demo, at the very least.
]]>Twas the day before week’s end, when all throughout space, Dark troubles were stirring, a deadly arms race! The void filled with beacons, transmissions and prayers, In hopes a Drox Operative soon would be there.
I've been exploring space sectors in Soldak's latest ARPG. Here's wot I think.
]]>Drox Operative, which comes from the same pedigree as Din's Curse and Depths of Peril, is out of beta and available for purchase. Failing to find a few days to spend with the beta is probably my biggest regret of the year so I plan to remedy that by having a Droxy December. From what little I have played, I feel comfortable with the 'Space Rangers 2 AARPG' description I used when bringing news of the game's demo. That demo is still available and you must play it. You must play it now. Drox Operative is $19.99 direct from Soldak. One payment provides Mac and PC versions.
]]>Din's Curse and Depths of Peril are my favourite ARPGs. When John wrote about the absolutely lovely Torchlight 2, among all the praise he had this to say: "It really makes no efforts to take the genre anywhere new." It's easy to come to the conclusion that there is nowhere new for the genre to go, but Soldak are pioneers, exploring the possibilities of loot, clickity-clicking and character-building. The previous games have added emergent experiences, living worlds and consequences that have far more meaning and impact than steadily rising numbers. The studio's latest is Drox Operative, currently in beta, and it involves spaceships and lasers. Think Space Rangers 2 as an ARPG. Then try the demo, and Din's Curse while you're at it.
]]>Depths of Peril and Din's Curse are wonderful games that anyone interested in RPGs would be very wise to spend some time with. For why that is, look here and here. They're among the few non-ascii games to capture most of the reasons that I adore roguelikes with such a burning passion and they contain worlds of consequence and reaction that should make morality sliders and alternate endings blush with embarrassment. A new game from Soldak is of great interest then, particularly when it sounds a bit like DIN IN SPACE. Drox Operative's beta is available to prepurchasers now. Thoughts when I've played it and more info below.
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