Drakan II (preview, interview, and screens)

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2770301,00.html





here\'s and excerpt of the preview

The graphical leaps seen in Drakan II are just the start of the many improvements slated for the game. You will now be able to gain gold to buy items, weapons, potions, and armor, although as in Diablo, you won\'t have access to higher-level spells and better weapons until you attain higher levels of experience. Also, as in many other similarly themed games, the changes that you make to your character\'s armor and weapons will also change her appearance.
Besides those basic levels of customization, you\'ll also be able to choose what character classes you want to develop Rynn\'s skills in. You can decide to specialize Rynn\'s abilities in the areas of a warrior, an archer, or a mage. Or, Patmore says, you can choose to evenly distribute your skill points across all three classes. "The way we\'ve designed the game, it\'s up to the player to assign the skill points they\'ve accumulated through experience in combat. This gives the player a great deal of freedom to shape their character as they see fit, giving the player a real sense of ownership over their role in the game."

Drakan II will also have cities full of nonplayer characters for you to interact with, another big change from before. "There are actually good people in the game," says Patmore. "There weren\'t any good people in the original Drakan. Everyone you ran into was evil."

The combat system for Drakan II has at the same time been changed and stayed the same. The hand-to-hand combat appears to have remained similar to that of the original Drakan, although many new weapon types and a dozen spells have been added. Since many nice things were said about the ground combat in the first game, this is good news. The main changes to the combat system seem most noticeable when you\'re on your dragon\'s back. Besides Drakan II\'s having 60 percent more aerial combat, there\'s now a lock-on system similar to Zone of Enders (or a 360-degree version of that seen in Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time). Once you lock on an enemy, your movement is centered on the creature until you tap the lock-on button again or destroy it. You\'ll now be able to get into firefights with four or five dragons at a time, several more than you could fight simultaneously before. And leaving the sky will no longer necessarily mean ending your interaction with your dragon in Drakan II. If you\'re having a particularly hard time in a fight on the ground, you can call in Arohk to firebomb your enemies for you.

Simply put, there will be a lot more Drakan in Drakan II. Or, as Patmore likes to explain it, it\'ll be much more epic. "The PlayStation 2 has allowed me to do as a designer what I wanted to do with the original Drakan," he says. "To make a game on a truly epic scale."

here\'s and excerpt of the interview

GameSpot: What are the main differences between Drakan and Drakan II?

Alan Patmore: Gameplay in the original Drakan was largely linear, and the goal for a particular level consisted mainly of getting from point A to point B. Drakan II\'s levels are quest based, which allows for more open-ended and dynamic gameplay.

We have been focusing an enormous amount of time on fine-tuning the gameplay for the PS2. I realized early on that a straight port of mouse-keyboard controls for Rynn and Arokh would not create an engaging game experience for a console player accustomed to games designed explicitly for their system.

So we have spent months working on Arokh and Rynn\'s play mechanics. The results have been amazing. It is quite a rush to fly a dragon and engage in intense aerial combat while navigating through a massive but still detailed environment. The ability to see something in a macroscale while on Arokh then maneuver through it in a smaller scale as Rynn is great. For example, you can be flying Arokh, see a castle on the horizon, fly to the castle, land in it, dismount, and then explore the incredibly detailed interior on foot, from a completely different point of view. And all this happens seamlessly, in a continuous game environment.

Aft reading the preview/ interview Drakan II just moved up into the top 3 games I must have this year

Surreal talks about Air comabt with your Dragon, and how they\'ve implemented a ZOE styled Lock on combat system. This sounds great, and because of this system battles agains 4 -7 dragons is now possible

this game looks awesome!, thanks ddaryl

geeze 33 views and only 2 replies

I know alot of you have to be impressed with this game, and ya all have to read the preview/interview at Gamespot cause the game sounds tight

Wow,the game looks great.I like the smoke effect in the 4th pic.
From what I`ve seen in a movie, it also runs fast and smooth with no framerate probs.
Also air to air combat with 5 other dragons? Sounds great.
Release date ?

Last time I heard its scheduled to be released mid November right after MGS2 and DMC

ddaryl, this game looks amazing and the overall design just sounds cool. Air combat with dragons? I\'m diggin it. PS2 seems to be getting better and better! I still think that PS2 has the best graphics (in my opinion). Not that this is saying much since the graphics between the big 3 are nearly identical and indeed there are a few xbox shots that I find impressive but there\'s something about the PS2 graphics that seems to have a vibrant look about it.

Just look at that last screenshot. Those mountains just seem to "pop out" at you. Sure, PS2 graphics aren\'t always perfect, but the capability is always there which is shown in these shots and many other games. I don\'t know. Maybe I\'m crazy and maybe it\'s just me or maybe I need some sleep. Good night everyone. Once again, nice shots ddaryl   :yawn:

Those graphics dont impress me, X-Box will make that look like total crap! PS2 is gonna be run down in the dirt and it will neve see daylight after that.

Originally posted by ViVi
Those graphics dont impress me, X-Box will make that look like total crap! PS2 is gonna be run down in the dirt and it will neve see daylight after that.

I sense some sarcasm in there.

I love these shots but I believe XBox will still be graphically superior. Drakan II definetly looks and sounds like a great game and has moved up very high on my must buy list

Originally posted by ddaryl
I sense some sarcasm in there.

I should have added j/k

yes you should\'ve, cause this game looks really good, and the concept is promising too!!!!

btw. vivi, why are you called the fire bug?

[BizioEE]

This Game is Beautiful !!!  ...I\'m reading carefully the preview !      (Another game in my Must-Have-List)

Thanks ddaryl  

boy oh boy.... I\'m gonna get me this game..... overtime..... cause I\'m broke.

the game amazes me especially the close up shot of Arokh

I have a Drakan II pic on my home computer for a desktop

I bought my PS2 just for this game. Hurry Hurry. I have played the first Drakan three times. I wonder if her brother will reappear in this one. Hope they will keep that beautiful music.
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