Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Download Games Roundup

Clash! Dungeon! Sub! Duæl! Strania!

Kristan Reed avatar
Review by Kristan Reed Contributor
Published on
20 comments

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance

  • PSN - £9.99

Some games have a knack of hauling you in even when you know full well that's there's absolutely nothing of substance to them. May I introduce Dungeon Hunter: Alliance.

We've had fair warning. The appearance of Dungeon Hunter 2 on iOS a few months back had us unavoidably detained, fingers clamped down on the attack button, clearing one dimly-lit dungeon after another in the vague search of some bad guy or other.

It's much the same story here. The visuals have been spruced up, but at its core, Gameloft's latest is a simple hack-and-slash with those all too moreish RPG mechanics bolted on top.

It doesn't even bother with elaborate back stories. For the most part, you just walk up to some quest-giving dude who tells you to beat so-and-so up, and then you spend the next half an hour patiently dealing death.

You'll save up your heavy attack for the big guys, and repeatedly cut a swathe through the minions while hoovering up the vast amount of loot they leave lying around. All the while, you'll be watching your health bar like a hawk, ready to dispense a potion the split second it looks like you're in danger.

Dungeon master.

And so it goes on. One quest leads to another, and all that lovely experience leads to new skills and new attacks. Before you know it, hours have passed, all sunk into the guilty pleasure of dungeon crawling.

The addition of four-player local and online multiplayer (with voice chat) merely spreads the madness. No-one would claim that Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is up to the standard of that other Diablo-alike, Torchlight, but that's not to say you won't enjoy it anyway.

Just as it did with Modern Combat: Domination, Gameloft has provided another high-quality, no-frills alternative that might just surprise you.

7/10

GO Series: Captain Sub

  • DSiWare - 200 Points (£4.50)
I'd like to be, under the sea, being shot at by an Octopus' hard-on, in the shade.

DSiWare games have a troubling habit of looking absolutely terrible and turning out to be improbably good fun. Captain Sub is another of these frisky old dogs to win us over on charm alone.

Like a lost Taito arcade classic from 1984, Tom Create's latest nugget has you piloting a grinning submarine on a hunt for the lost treasure dotted around the ocean depths.

Unfortunately for fans of stress-free gaming, there's a bunch of vengeful marine life standing between you and a big heap 'o gold, and it's down to your piloting skills to scoop up the riches without suffering too much damage along the way.

To make matters trickier, you also have to collect keys, thread a path through one-way currents and eventually find the door to each level's 'boss'. For reasons that we probably shouldn't dwell on for too long, these materialistic mutants feel particularly protective of their booty and spin around in a spiteful rage to try to stop you from making off with it.

And so it goes on, with progressively more elaborate mazes to unpick and more gold to retrieve. It's a simple enough formula, but for those of you looking for an uncomplicated reminder of a forgotten era, Captain Sub is a fine waste of time and money.

7/10

Read this next