Lords of the Fallen Previews
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It's not really a surprise to see many hands-on preview come out for Lords of the Fallen, considering the Souls-inspired action-RPG from Deck13 and City Interactive was present in full force at E3. As expected, comparisons with the Japanese dark fantasy action-RPG series abound, but luckily as far as I can tell they're positive comparisons.
Joystiq:
Dark Souls is simply inescapable when playing Lords of the Fallen. The combat here is swifter thanks to its weapons, but simultaneously slower since there's no devoted dodge. Even with those differences, it still feels as intentional as Souls'. And just like in that game, you regain lost experience when you return to a spot where you were killed last. Fallen distinguished itself at E3 2013, but in 2014 it simply can't get out from under Souls until it's actually out in the wild or playable in a more substantial setting.
As far as gameplay goes, it pretty much plays like a Souls game. There's a stamina bar where you manage your attacks so you don't run out of stamina when swinging weapons, backstabbing enemies is in the game, and you must traverse through the level patiently in order to avoid being ganged up on by enemies. The main difference between the Souls game and Lords of the Fallen would be the the existence of mana for spellcasting in Lords of the Fallen. Casting a spell uses up your mana, but does a very large amount of damage. Over time, mana will regenerate so you can cast spells later. Spells made quick work of the tougher enemies that I faced to the point where I feel as though it might be broken because you can just cast a fireball at someone then wait for your mana to regen before engaging a second enemy. Checkpoints restore your health and potion amounts, and when you die, you lose your experience unless you go back to your corpse and pick it up again.
The E3 demo starts you off in a narrow corridor of what seems to be a crypt, with an enemy staring down at you from the top of a staircase. At least you think it is- the first creatures you face are blind, disgusting, slimy beasts. You can sneak up on them to get an initial hit in but if they hear you clanking around they'll be right on you. Much like in... other games, even the simplest enemy can kill you if you're not careful. You have to block, knock them back with your shield, and only attack when you have a free moment. The first few battle quickly taught me that, as this one foe whittled away my health as I figured out the controls, and the importance of dodging. (As in other games.)
After the initial enemy you came upon a round room that looked somewhat like a dungeon, and were soon faced with three of them. "You might want to back up," commented the helpful dev taking me through the game, and it was good advice. Facing one of them at a time can be trouble enough.
After taking care of them I forged on ahead, only to hear a horrible thumping noise coming towards me, reverberating through the hall. A gigantic armored knight, almost twice my size, came rumbling down the hallway, his massive armor almost scraping the sides of the wall. I immediately turned and ran like anyone familar with how these things usually go (not cowardly, thoughtful!) and went back into the room I was just in. The circular room had a pit in the middle that was covered with rickety boards- could it be? I aligned myself on the other side of it and when the knight charged me, sure enough, he crashed right though, flying down with a cry to his death. Much easier than anticipated.
Surprisingly, my first encounter with two enemies went rather well. Of course, this was to be expected -- after all, I did clear the first few mobs in Dark Souls 2 on PC (with mouse and keyboard) with relative ease. Again, I've never played a Souls game, but after watching fellow GameZone writer Andrew Clouther's numerous Dark Souls playthroughs, I'm fairly confident in saying combat in Lords of the Fallen is a bit quicker feeling.
So after easily taking out these first two enemies, I was greeted by some sort of shielded beast-of-a-thing that insisted on chasing me back to where I pretty much started. As it turned out, his thirst for my blood would ultimately lead to his demise as he fell to his death thanks to a hidden pit. Two encounters, two easy victories.
And then I died. A lot.
Apparently, I struggle with encounters in narrow hallways -- especially when the enemies are capable of blocking my attacks. My entire preview was basically a trial by death. I'd like to point out that each time I died, I'd have to return to my floating spirit to collect my (lost experience.) I don't know what this did, but it seems pretty important. Eventually I learned that my magic ability -- some sort of fireball -- was actually pretty effective against this enemy that would seemingly block all of my attacks. So I basically spammed this ability until I reached the boss -- a giant monstrous looking thing with giant claw-like weapons.
The demo build included a smorgasbord of weapons to test drive, including a class sword, a staff, hammer, dagger, and claws. Every weapon controlled differently the daggers being swift and lower damage weapons and the hammer hitting hard and hitting slow. The demo also introduced several types of shields, included a tower shield that instead of having a shield bash function could be dug into the ground to make a stronger stationary block. In addition to all of this is an additional weapon category, the magic gauntlets, which serve a sort of sidearm while using one-handed weapons. They replace your shield, and are used as magic projectiles. And depending on the gauntlet equipped, the projectile changes. One fired in a shorter range similar to a shotgun, another was longer and faster, and another had an area of effect upon detonation.
Also interesting is that the game features checkpoints periodically throughout the world that restore health as well as resupply your healing potions, familiar to any Dark Souls veteran but using a checkpoint doesn't respawn enemies in the area. This means that you can theoretically kill any surrounding foes and then use a checkpoint afterwards. Enemies will respawn upon death, and lost experience has to be picked up in a subsequent life to regain it. It's unclear exactly how Lords of the Fallen will use experience with regards to leveling up.
Unlike Souls, Lords of the Fallen is a bit more freeform, allowing you to switch up your fighting style on the fly. You have three classes to choose from in the beginning - Rogue, Cleric, and Warrior - but the choice is more about the special abilities you have at your disposal, not which gear or weapons you're forced to use. The E3 demo included a few weapons: daggers, a sword, a mighty hammer, and a staff. While the dagger is good for pokes and successive combo hits, the slower hammer has a good degree of knockback with a heavy attack. Which weapon you use is down to your playstyle. I stuck with the sword, a weapon with some reach, but also a faster swingtime than the hammer or staff. With any weapon equipped you can also switch between three stances: weapon only, weapon and shield, or weapon and magic gauntlet.
Despite the dark, brooding atmosphere, the character art feels more akin to Darksiders than Dark Souls. The characters are far less gaunt and, well, unattractive as in the latter title, replaced by broader, more imposing figures. This extends to the monsters, which are far more colorful than in Souls, but don't mistake them for being (cartoonish.) The monsters in Lords of Fallen are not messing around. As I approached the first baddie with my sword swinging, it let loose a powerful blow which staggered me and knocked down a considerable portion of my health. Hmmm. OK, this really isn't messing around.
Combat feels similar to the Souls series, with your character reacting to the weight of his armor and weapon. I initially started the demo in heavy, clunky armor, swinging a barbed staff of some sort with pained, labored movement. I hit like a truck when my blows landed, but the Warrior style is just not for me. Switching to the knives, I didn't hit as hard but felt more limber and fluid, closer to a rogue. Until I found a particularly large bad guy who did not like me in his hallway. As he effortlessly blocked my light, airy attacks with his shield, someone politely whispered into my ear, (knives aren't the best idea here.) Switching weapons was, indeed, more effective, and surprisingly intuitive with the paperdoll interface.
One important aspect that all of these games focus on is control of your character. Lords of the Fallen is of the mind that you need to be in complete control of every action you take in order to survive the challenging enemies before you. The weirdest thing about it is that this game is both easy and difficult. Enemies may look very intimidating, but you can take a good number of swings from them before being killed, which is a relief for those looking for a lighter experience. Still, the general controls and combat don't feel quite as robust as I would liked them to have been; it could use some more polish to make it feel more visceral. In spite of that, it's still a pretty fun time.
The use of a stamina bar to gauge how many moves and attacks you can do adds tension to battles that can make or break you. Also, you can lure certain enemies into traps, which is especially satisfying. Specifically, there were some boards covering a large pit in the floor. While I was not heavy enough to fall through, there was one enemy that was, and he fell for it just as I hoped he would. It's a nice feature, and I'm eager to see what other traps will be set up throughout the game that you'll be able to use to your advantage.
