Theme parks can be scary for a lot of reasons. A fear of rollercoasters, for example, keeps a lot of people from ever entering one. And the overpriced food? That’s unsettling in a whole other way. But neither of those things are what makes DungeonLand such a frightful place, and while I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong with it, I’m leaning towards the hand the “Evil Lord Dungeon Master” played in shaping it. And the monsters don’t help much, either.
Theme parks can be scary for a lot of reasons. A fear of rollercoasters, for example, keeps a lot of people from ever entering one. And the overpriced food? That’s unsettling in a whole other way. But neither of those things are what makes DungeonLand such a frightful place, and while I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong with it, I’m leaning towards the hand the “Evil Lord Dungeon Master” played in shaping it. And the monsters don’t help much, either.
At face value, DungeonLand looks like a visually pleasing take on the well-tread dungeon crawler genre. And while it carries many of the same hooks and concepts laid out in that style of play, that’s really only half of the story. As players navigate enemy-infested dungeons and other locales, a Dungeon Master will be dictating their experience. And let’s be honest: The person running the show is probably going to be a huge jerk.
The DM’s side of the game plays out much like a card game. They cobble together a deck consisting of spells and monsters, and unleash them on the good guys over the course of the game. And with new areas comes new spells and monsters to bring into the fold, which I imagine keeps things continually interesting for the DM.
Those who choose to err on the side of good will control a character from the requisite warrior, rogue or mage classes. The first class is good at melee, the second has a knack for archery, and the third knows a thing or two about magic. There will also be a wealth of loot and skills for players to deck out their characters with, not to mention an in-game shop where you can hopefully immediately purchase the most powerful item in the game and render all of the DM’s efforts useless.
I can’t help but look at DungeonLand and wonder why it hasn’t been done in video games more often. It’s a solid concept, and one that facilitates the perfect medium for people to screw over their friends. I’m less surprised that no one has incorporated a theme park setting into a dungeon crawler before, but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy to see it here.
I just hope the lines for the rides aren’t too long.
