Numen - Interview @ RPG Vault

RPG Vault is the first site we've seen with an interview on Cinemax' and Akella's mythological action/RPG (ever notice things come in threes? Titan Quest, Loki...) titled Numen:

Jonric: Since you mentioned the story element, would you care to tell us about it? Without spoiling it, can you tell us the general substance?

Ales Ulm: We believe the storyline to be one of the strongest points of Numen. The backstory itself, however, is quite simple. A very dangerous and powerful item, feared by the gods themselves, is stolen. Nine of them, paranoid and not trusting each other, each find a hero, train them, and send them to find the item. Not only can they control each other's progress by sending mere mortals, but the whole event turns into prestigious contest to show whose follower is stronger, faster and smarter.

What makes the storyline really interesting is interaction among the heroes, the fact that only one of them can be a winner in the end, and that the search for the item is far from being easy and linear.

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More information.

I find it interesting that after years of no mythology-based games(other than some history strategy or rts) we suddenly find that the Greek gods are fascinating.

I think this game sounds interesting in some ways, but for the dev to speak slightingly of the combat in Titan Quest while knocking off the game world is a bit hypocritical:

When we designed the combat system, we wanted players to think while they fight. We wanted them to use the abilities they have at the right time. We wanted Numen to be more like World of Warcraft than Titan Quest in terms of combat.

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Everything he goes on to describe is just the normal buffs , debuffs, combos, skillsets and specialized boss battles that you'd find in any action/ loot +stat grind type game.

....and I don't play WoW--can someone tell me if the combat in that game is not considered hack-n-slash? Is it a deep strategical thing? I played sp Warcraft up til Frozen Throne and all I can remember is the rushing.


**Forgive my bias towards Titan Quest--I really am starting to get a little fringe cultish about it **

I think WoW could be described as similar to an action/RPG but it can be quite deep and the pacing is different. Most action/RPGs use a left-click-attack / right-click-special attack with mana or something like that. WoW has a lot of skills on timers that you often map to hotkeys.

Rather than clicking madly, you click to initiate the attack and then pick the right time to fire off various abilities, which usually have a cooldown timer before they can be used again. There are plenty of action/RPGs that are similar.

A game like WoW shines with a group, where using the various abilities to complement each other and form group strategies is quite complex and requires good knowledge and timing.

Solo, WoW's combat isn't that special. He's just looking for PR hits.

Thanks for the feedback Dhruin. Nice clear explanation.

There are plenty of action/RPGS that are similar

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Yep--plenty of cool-down skills, key-mapping and so forth in what I've played over the years. And poor timing and execution is what kills you in any game.
TQ's keymapping is not the greatest--the targeting is usually off unless the skill that fires is centered on the player character--other skills end up as a target icon you have to right or left click to execute anyway..very annoying. But the concept is definitely there and even occasionally useable.

Oh, well. I wish the guy luck. It's a crowded market out there right now.

seems like a nice game. especially the more you use a skill the better it gets. Don't know much games that have it except DS