Dawn of Magic - Reviews @ IGN, IGN UK & GameChronicles

Three new reviews of Skyfallen's action rpg focusing on the arcane arts, Dawn of Magic, are up, from GameChronicles, IGN and  IGN's UK site.

The first is from IGN,  and goes into quite a bit of detail, with a final score of 5.4/10:

 The best part of Dawn of Magic kicks in right about here. As you learn different types of magic, your character's image is embellished with different physical features. As luck would have it, my combination of Bone, Light, and Fire ended up giving me an absolutely insane-looking character, almost like a Satan clown, with a tail, hooves, huge bone horns, and curved golden spikes for hands. My evil Baker's Wife grew mantis-like claws, possibly because of the poison spell...

... Overall, Dawn of Magic looks pretty old school. Not too fancy, more than a couple jaggies. There are some nice lighting effects, though, lending the colorful environments a lot of warmth. Butterflies and falling leaves sometimes flutter by. Bizarrely, bits of the UI sway or flex in hypnotic motions—perfect for contemplating while letting your HP recharge after nearly getting schooled by a Goblin Matron or some such baddie...

...The box proclaims “A new era of hack ‘n’ slash,” but Dawn of Magic strikes us as more of the same. Tweaks like the character mutations based on what spells you’ve learned are neat, but don’t have an impact on the gameplay itself. Lack of co-op is a disappointment. Despite a promising beginning to the story, general boredom ensued...

There's also a link to the IGN UK review, which is slighty more positive, giving it a score of 6.9/10:

Despite its bold proclamations of reinventing the tried and tested Diablo template, Dawn of Magic remains an RPG with more than a whiff of the past hanging around it. The range and flexibility of the spell system and the game's epic scope (both in terms of challenge and the amount of hours of gameplay) add plenty of value to the package and will no doubt satiate those of you longing for a return to the good old days of action RPG mayhem when Diablo still reigned supreme. Meanwhile, the flexible and dynamic character upgrading system does add longevity and a slant of originality. Throw in some solid multiplayer options enabling you to test out your spell combinations against fellow players and you're left with an RPG romp that entertains but never quite manages to reach magical heights.

The review from Game Chronicles  is very positive with an 8.5/10:

Dawn of Magic is the North American release of the Russian language version known as “Blood Magic”. European gamers also got their crack at Dawn of Magic in April of this year. Dawn of Magic sports the classic Diablo map and control styles, but several new age features are thrown into the fray and you end up with a nice blend of old school and new age gaming.

...All in all, Dawn of Magic is one of the better hack ‘n’ slash RPG titles to come out in some time. I really enjoyed the abundant amount of locations, weapons and spells. Since I favor the mage in most RPGs. I fell right in love with this title. The character morphing was way cool and I think that more games should have this feature. If you are a fan of the tried and true Diablo style gameplay then you will like this game. I highly recommend picking up this title. If you have your doubts there is a demo available out there, but the demo just doesn’t do the game justice.