Dragon Commander Previews
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Rock, Paper, Shotgun:
It's already found some notoriety due to the decision to feature a dragon fitted with a jetpack. Smiles Farhang Namdar, lead game designer, (that caused a lot of comments on your site!) It is, however, a decision I am 100% behind. It looks great, it justifies the roaring speed that dragon is capable of, and it makes Dragon Commander distinctive, not rote fantasy.
A tinge of similarly good-natured weirdness can be found throughout. While the whizzbang element of Dragon Commander is the sky-battles, pitching you as the titular character, transformed into a giant, black, jetpack-adorned dragon, battling steampunky floating turrets and vast flying armies, the metagame is the gradual conquest of the land's kingdoms. For that, you'll need alliances as well as well as onslaught.
Namdar's commander has recently arranged one such alliance, by marrying a rival kingdom's princess. We stride to the royal bedchamber, where a shapely figure awaits. The shapely figure turns around. We try not to stare at the lipstick smeared across its fleshless face, the two large apples shoved unconvincingly into a corset worn straight over a bare ribcage. The skeleton princess is delighted to see us. She asks if we're ready to consummate the marriage. Um. Issues of arousal aside, purely on a practical level, how would that work? No, best not to imagine or. Oh God, the mental image. Out, out, out!
So: business before pleasure, m'dear. There's a realm to be conquered. The princess duly switches to politics, and a taste of the kind of metagame dilemmas Dragon Commander will offer. The undead, currently your allies due to this marriage, are a strong military force but currently lacking their own home city. They've got their eye on one, however, primarily because there are some necromancers in the area who could help restore them to a higher standard of unlife. Unfortunately, the city of Deepspire already belongs to the dwarves. Turfing those fellows out wouldn't be a good move politically, but it would mean the undead will fight by your side in the next battle. What to do, what to do?
Destructoid:
As a dragon it's up to you to do a lot of the work, but you have a customized army at your disposal, as well as your mothership. Units can be formed into squads, led by generals you find or recruit, who can then be given orders during combat. It seemed easy enough to control, but if the idea of using a third-person perspective for tactical decisions doesn't sound appealing to you, there is also a panned-out map that lets you control your squads.
Across the aerial battlefield you can see all the squads hovering in position, flying around, and swarming their way towards their respective enemy. In the battle that was shown, a series of large enemy platforms dotted with turrets was the key objective to destroy. Although you can just fly there and start destroying turrets, your chances are pretty slim if you head over there by yourself.
Between your troops and your objective are numerous mobile spawn buildings that periodically send out smaller enemies. Between these minions, your own minions, your squads and your dragon hero, there seems to be plenty of depth to allow for continuously fluid combat in the skies. Of course, there are different dragons to choose from, each with their strengths and weaknesses.
