Dragon Commander - Review Roundup #3

Myrthos

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Here is another round of Dragon Commander reviews.

Indiestatik (single player)

There’s no doubt that there’s room for growth and improvement here, and perhaps even an expansion pack or two, but Dragon Commander pulls off the seemingly impossible anyway. While the gameplay in the final product is a little more pedestrian and down-to-earth than the high-flying concepts put forward in the earliest preview trailers, all the core elements are enjoyable by themselves, but are interwoven well enough as to result in a truly coherent whole.
Playonix, 4.5/5

If you are already interested in turn-based games like the Civilization series then Divinity: Dragon Commander brings a faster-paced military-oriented game that offers more variety in achieving a combat victory as well as narrative that has humorous characters and, while not spectacular, gives something for the player to think about.
The Quest Gaming Network, 9

The Good: Beautiful visuals, great voice acting lend to the brilliant game-play. A decent learning curve. Few games in the genre really make you think carefully before hitting the “End Turn” button.

The Bad: Some battles can be very easy or very difficult, depending on placement on the battle map. Maps sometimes seem recycled and don’t always fit with the way a province looks on the campaign map. Though the learning curve is decent, the first few battles will be a strain as you learn to control in both traditional RTS fashion and Dragon mode.
Ariablarg.tv, 7.5

Some aspects of Divinity: Dragon Commander suffer from Larian’s over-ambition. Any of the elements would do well in a combination of two or three, sacrificing just a bit of content for polish in other areas of presentation. Dragon Commander tries to be more than a little bit of everything, and in the end dulls some of the gleaming potential the game’s many layers have on their own. However, the multi-tiered assault on the senses and brain meats of the player make for an experience that’s more immersive than a lot of other modern game offerings and really makes you feel like you’re in the thick of things. Check out Divinity: Dragon Commander if you’re willing to lose yourself in an off-beat fantasy world for a bit and can forgive a game that ends up being okay at a lot of things rather than polishing a small handful of features.
The Escapist

Most notably, you'll have the ability to directly intervene in any real-time battle you're overseeing by transforming into a jet-pack wearing dragon. This turns the game into a kind of third-person arcade-style shooter, letting you spit fiery doom upon enemy forces and cast spells to heal your own troops. While flying your dragon self around is easy and it is an amusing experience to strafe hostile forces with your flame breath, the novelty of transforming into a dragon wears off quickly. The controls to order your troops around in dragon form are clunky to use, and until you research more powerful spells and abilities, you're highly vulnerable to anti-air units. If anything, you'll often resort to transforming into a dragon just to tip the scales slightly in your favor in a fight before retreating to safety, and even then you'll probably find it just as easy to send mass waves of units into combat to win the day.
Rage3D, a tech review

Larian's latest release is consistent with its catalogue to date, which is to say it's finely optimized for PC. Though not perfect, it comes close with respectably good visuals, a strong list of graphics and control options, and excellent performance across the board.
Game Modo

I can almost certainly say that you will never get bored of this if you’re a fan of strategy. Even as a strategy at core this as a lot to offer both to newcomers and long-term fans of the genre. From the great take on politics to the character development of your gener...More information.
 
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Although not noted in the newsbit above, The Escapist gave it 3/5 and Rage3d 4/5.
 
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Looking good. I am happy for Larian for getting very decent reviews. Sven must be quite relieved right now :)
It just finished downloading and I went through the first conversations, the first turn on the strategic map, and the first RTS battle. The interiors of the Raven are really nicely done. The characters are immediately intersting and the voice acting is top noch, imho. There is a lot to learn in the first half hour, and despite the tutorials and general knowledge of the game from the previews, I was a bit lost for what to do when I first entered the strategy map, and first entered battle. But I got my bearings soon enough and even managed to win the first easy battle. I slowed the RTS section down considerably (this is available in the gameplay options), and that made it OK for starting out - I am sure I'll crank it up again as I get used to the controls.
I love the comments provided by the "Rivellon Times" newspaper that is shown after each turn. :)

First impressions are quite good. :thumbsup:
 
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3.5 hours in now, and its been good fun and plenty of difficult decisions talking to my generals and the politicians.

The game is listed as the top seller on steam right now, hope for Larian's sake it stays that way for as long as possible =)
 
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I've not played the single player campaign; and I have high hopes for it but I did play a bit of the rts during the beta and found it a bit less than pleasing. I picked up the game as part of the kickstart and I do hope it sells well as I really like the company but I would like to see the mechanics of the rts revamped with greater diversity in troups; less influence of troup consturction during the rts (i.e, more weight for the troops brought into the battle and fewer but more powerful troups (less micro management).
 
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The more I read about this game the more I like it. The combat and micromanaging do not bother me.

To many new RTS games seems to be following the Relic style with small squads. Now if only someone would bring back base building,

My download just finished so I'm off to finally play it, Good day everyone I will be back with the evening news.:)
 
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but I would like to see the mechanics of the rts revamped with greater diversity in troups; less influence of troup consturction during the rts (i.e, more weight for the troops brought into the battle and fewer but more powerful troups (less micro management).

Totally aggree. The game is very likable, but the amount of micromanagement combined with lack of a pause feature and the high speed of the battles makes it a little uncomfortable during RTS.

I'd like it to be a little slower, more thought and less rush. Though I do see how that would be harder to combine with the dragon-action-game-play. Maybe they tested that, and it didnt work out for them.
 
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Totally aggree. The game is very likable, but the amount of micromanagement combined with lack of a pause feature and the high speed of the battles makes it a little uncomfortable during RTS.

I'd like it to be a little slower, more thought and less rush. Though I do see how that would be harder to combine with the dragon-action-game-play. Maybe they tested that, and it didnt work out for them.

i sort of like this actually, brings back the old days where pausing wasnt an option. i also harken the days of XP loss upon death in MMOs, but namby pamby MMOs these days do not cater to pissing off the casuals.
 
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