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Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance

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Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance
Developer(s)Tuque Games
Publisher(s)Wizards of the Coast
Composer(s)Vibe Avenue
SeriesDark Alliance
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
Release22 June 2021
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a third-person action role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by its subsidiary Tuque Games. Based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing system, the title of the game alludes to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, although its story and gameplay are not related to those earlier titles. The game was released in June 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Gameplay

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Dark Alliance is set in the tundra region of Icewind Dale,[1] and features characters from R. A. Salvatore's novel series The Legend of Drizzt, including the four playable characters: Drizzt Do'Urden, Catti-brie, Bruenor Battlehammer, and Wulfgar.[2][1] The game includes both single-player and multiplayer modes. In the single-player mode, the player can choose any of the four characters to control, and swap between them.[2] The multiplayer mode allows for online co-op for up to four players.[3][1]

Development

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In 2019, Tuque Games was developing a Dungeons & Dragons game in partnership with Wizards of the Coast. Wizards of the Coast acquired Tuque Games that October.[4] Salvatore assisted the game's development and has been involved in the game's production since its inception.[5] Local cooperative multiplayer was initially announced, though the feature was subsequently dropped by the developer, until it was confirmed that the feature would be available via a post-release patch.[6] Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance was officially announced with a teaser trailer shown during The Game Awards 2019 in December.[7] The game was originally slated for release in 2020,[8][9] but was later delayed to 2021.[10] The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 22 June 2021 and was simultaneously released on the Xbox Game Pass service.[11][12] Koch Media published the retail version of the game.[13]

Setting

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In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is set after the 1988 novel The Crystal Shard,[14] the first book in Salvatore's The Icewind Dale Trilogy, and the fourth book in the Legend of Drizzt series. The game takes place in the Icewind Dale region of Faerûn.[15][16] On the connection, Salvatore said: "First of all, if you've read the books and you play the game, you'll probably get a more satisfying experience out of the game. [...] [The] game will bring more to the story than you've gotten from the books now. [...] If you're doing a video game, you're going to have to take some literary license and maybe not stick completely with it. [...] Little things like that don't bother me at all when you're talking about a video game—because your job, when you're making the video game, first and foremost, is to make sure that players are having fun, and they're writing their own story".[17]

Both Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance and Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden (2020) are set in the Icewind Dale region, but in the canon timeline, the video game occurs before the tabletop adventure module.[15] According to Dungeons & Dragons principal writer Chris Perkins: "We sat down with narrative designers for Dark Alliance, and we basically opened up a toy box, pulled out all the toys, and figured out how we were going to play with same toys. And so, there are places and foes and places that appear in Rime of the Frostmaiden that if you play Dark Alliance, see echoes of/similarities to. Each story is separate — the story of Rime of the Frost Maiden is completely separate from Dark Alliance, just using same locations. You get a sense of real history to this place [...]. Together, when you take the two things combined, you get bigger painting of Icewind Dale".[15]

Reception

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Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance received "mixed or average reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.[18][19][20] IGN's Travis Northup stated:

But in all my years, I've seldom seen anyone roll a critical failure quite like Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, which manages to take all that potential and turn it into a joyless labor that's mind-numbingly repetitive, deeply lacking in storytelling, and absolutely overflowing with bugs.[21]

— Travis Northup, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Review, IGN

References

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  1. ^ a b c Wilson, Jason (12 December 2019). "Dark Alliance is a new D&D action-RPG starring Drizzt Do'Urden and the Companions of the Hall". VentureBeat.
  2. ^ a b Whitten, Sarah (12 December 2019). "New 'Dungeons and Dragons' based on R.A. Salvatore characters is coming in 2020". CNBC. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (12 December 2019). "Tuque Games Announces "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance"". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  4. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (29 October 2019). "Wizards of the Coast acquires Tuque Games". GamesIndustry.biz.
  5. ^ Hall, Charlie (18 June 2020). "D&D's new action RPG, Dark Alliance, is about what happens after players roll for initiative". Polygon. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance will add local co-op after launch | Rock Paper Shotgun". Rock Paper Shotgun. June 2021.
  7. ^ "Dark Alliance Official Announcement Trailer | Dungeons & Dragons". YouTube. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  8. ^ Whitbrook, James (12 December 2019). "The Team Behind Dark Alliance's Return Tell Us Why Now is the Time to Bring It Back". io9. Gizmodo. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  9. ^ Purchese, Robert (13 December 2019). "D&D hack-and-slash series Dark Alliance is making a comeback". Eurogamer. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  10. ^ Mateș, Bogdan Robert. "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Release Date Set For 2021, Koch Media Handles Physical Publishing". Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  11. ^ Purchese, Robert (15 March 2021). "The new Dark Alliance game is out in June, and we've played it". Eurogamer. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance is Coming to Xbox Game Pass on Day One". 13 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Koch Media and Wizards of the Coast partner for Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance". Gamasutra. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  14. ^ Salvatore, R. A. (2005). The crystal shard. Renton, WA: Wizards of the coast. ISBN 0-7869-3613-4. OCLC 58470432.
  15. ^ a b c "D&D's next storyline is Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, with small ties to Dark Alliance". VentureBeat. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Is Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance A Remake, A Reboot, or A Sequel". ScreenRant. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  17. ^ Whitbrook, James (19 June 2020). "How R.A. Salvatore Helped Bring Icewind Dale to Games Again for Dark Alliance". io9. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  18. ^ a b "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  21. ^ a b Northup, Travis (21 June 2021). "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Review". IGN. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  22. ^ Kelly, Andy (21 June 2021). "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Review | Aces high". RPGamer. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  24. ^ Miller, Matt (12 September 2021). "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Review – Missing Ingredients". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  25. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Review (PS5) | Aces high". Push Square. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  26. ^ Tischbein, Cory (12 September 2021). "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance". RPGFan. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  27. ^ Boudreau, Ian (12 September 2021). "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance review – hurt me plenty". PCGamesN. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  28. ^ Tischbein, Cory (12 September 2021). "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance review: New initiatives". Shacknews. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  29. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance review: Epic story, so-so combat | Aces high". VentureBeat. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
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