New release: Legend of Grimrock 2

legend_of_grimrock_2_logo_400px_transparent
image-7152
Word reaches me that Finnish indie developer Almost Human, Ltd. has released the sequel to their critically acclaimed real-time, first-person, party-based dungeon crawler Legend of Grimrock. The title? Legend of Grimrock 2! (Duh.)

The premise:

A group of four prisoners have shipwrecked on the secluded Isle of Nex. The island is filled with ancient crumbled ruins, mysterious shrines and a vast underground network of dungeons and mines. If the prisoners wish to make it out alive, they have to overcome the challenges devised by the ominous mastermind of the island.

LoG2, like its predecessor, is a game very much in the spirit of the original Dungeon Master. I’ve seen a bit of griping around the internet about the fact that, much like in the original Grimrock, LoG2’s characters are class-based and progress using a skill tree; not necessarily terrible things in my estimation, but it’s certainly a less free-wheeling progression system than we saw in Dungeon Master.

If early reviews are to be believed, this game features lots of outdoor areas, more open-ended exploration, and loads more content than the original Grimrock. You can get a taste in the game’s most recent trailer:

The feature list:

  • More than 20 hours of pure blooded dungeon crawling gameplay with grid-based movement and thousands of squares filled with hidden switches, pressure plates, secret doors, riddles, deadly traps and more.
  • Cast spells with runes, craft potions and bombs, fight murderous monsters with a large variety of melee-, ranged and thrown weapons, as well as firearms.
  • Create a party of four characters and customize them with 7 character classes, 5 races, and numerous skills and traits. Collect experience to hone their skills and discover improved equipment and magical artefacts.
  • 42 different kind of monsters including 30 new foes unique to Isle of Nex.
  • Play custom adventures created by others or make your own with Dungeon Editor.
  • More depth, variety and open ended exploration than in Legend of Grimrock 1. Enhanced AI, spell casting, puzzle mechanics and skill systems.

Legend of Grimrock 2 is available for Windows only. It costs $23.99 on Steam, GOG.com, and the Humble Store (albeit with a 10% launch discount for the next week or so).

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>