Topic: Demigod

[idolminds]

Story

Chris Taylor's Gas Powered Games is best known for its RTS Supreme Commander and its action-RPG series Dungeon Siege -- so maybe it's just the natural course of evolution that the developer's newest game, Demigod, should borrow a bunch from both of those genres: It's an action/RPG/RTS hybrid, inspired partly by the popular WarCraft III mod Defense of the Ancients.

For those who've never tried DotA, it concentrates on two teams trying to destroy each others' bases; though rather than managing all the units or gathering resources as in a regular RTS, players each control a single Hero unit with different powers, leveling up by killing A.I. enemies around the map.

In Demigod, you control one of many "demigod" heroes -- some of which survive solely on the strength of their own powers, others of which thrive on building smaller units and structures of their own for support. The guy on the left in the screenshot below is one such hero, "The Rook," a former king whose spirit now animates an anthropomorphic castle. Demigod is, as you'd expect, a multiplayer game at heart, with an emphasis on co-op play. There's a single-player mode, too, though Gas Powered Games says it will serve mainly as a "training ground" for the multiplayer.

[Quemaqua]

Chris Taylor really hasn't won me over with anything lately, but this sounds like a pretty solid idea.  I never did play DotA, though.  I wonder how much he's borrowing from it.  If it's too much, I'm inclined to say this dude doesn't have any original ideas left.  Dungeon Siege and its sequel were utter garbage, and Supreme Commander seemed to meet with mostly yawns despite the initial buzz.

[Pugnate]

Dungeon Siege wasn't all garbage though. It was a very solid hack and slash RPG upon release with excellent visuals. Its problems mostly centered around a complete lack of story though, and DS2 unfortunately carried all of DS's problems, including a lack of story.

But Supreme Commander was one of the best selling PC games this year, and scored 87% on gamerankings. It has these rabid fans, who seem to border on arrogance even, though that's another story.

I couldn't get into the game, but I only played for a few hours. I want to try again to get my money's worth, so I will report once I give it a fair shake. Its problems seem to be the same as Dungeon Siege, or even like the Unreal Tournament singleplayer.

Of the little SupCom campaign I played, it seemed like I was just playing multiplayer with bots. There was little atmosphere to speak of, and the storyline felt like it was slapped on as an after thought. Compared to something as dynamic and immersive as Company of Heroes, SupCom felt distinctly bland.

As for Chris Taylor, I think he is a forthcoming and honest person, which is what seems to earn him so much good will. But from his games, I sometimes think it is more than he deserves.