Legend of Grimrock Goes Beta [With a Video!]

[Andy Chalk]

Legend of Grimrock Goes Beta [With a Video!]

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Old-school dungeon crawler Legend of Grimrock is now in beta and looking ridiculously awesome.

Back in August we pointed your eyeballs [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112610-Legend-of-Grimrock-Goes-Old-School-Dungeon-Crawling] at Legend of Grimrock, a first-person, grid-based dungeon crawl in the early stages of development. Today we have even better news: the game is now in beta and it looks hot.

"Every feature, all enemies and all levels that are going to be in the final game are now in place, and we can now fully concentrate on polishing and balancing the game and fixing bugs until everything is perfect," the team wrote on the Legend of Grimrock blog [http://www.grimrock.net/]. "If we get cool new ideas we might still add them to the game but improving existing features has now higher priority."

Alas, the bad news is that the game won't make it out this year. The devs said it could be done if they rushed but the game would suffer for it, so instead the release is being pushed back to early 2012, allowing for more bug fixes, level adjustments and other tweaking. "These are things that really matter to us, and hopefully to you as a player as well," it continued. "We are not ready to give an exact release date yet, because when we give a date we want to keep the promise too. But don't worry, we won't take too long!"

In the meantime, get an eyeful of this sexy new beta trailer that's running loose on the tubes. This looks like serious old-school goodness in the vein of Dungeon Master [http://www.amazon.com/Eye-Beholder-Trilogy-II-III-PC/dp/B001B4A4K0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322510484&sr=8-1], and where I come from, kids, that's just another name for "awesome."


Permalink

 

[GonzoGamer]

So this has nothing to do with Dinobots?

I did play those Eye of the Beholder games to death but the first game I remember playing like this was Phantasy Star 1's dungeon areas. That game was epic and way ahead of it's time.

 

[Cowabungaa]

It looks hot? Really? Where? I didn't see it. Why on earth is it first-person anyway when you implement combat like that, with awful controls like that. It looks horribly inefficient and frankly, outdated, especially for a real-time game. And the art direction doesn't seem to be anything worth writing home about either.

So why should I be excited for this? And no I'm not here to troll, I just wonder where the buzz is coming from.

 

[Vault Citizen]

When I saw the news post I completely misread it and thought it was about some other game, shame, I might have enjoyed the adventures of Grimlock.

 

[Hiphophippo]

It looks hot? Really? Where? I didn't see it. Why on earth is it first-person anyway when you implement combat like that, with awful controls like that. It looks horribly inefficient and frankly, outdated, especially for a real-time game. And the art direction doesn't seem to be anything worth writing home about either.

So why should I be excited for this? And no I'm not here to troll, I just wonder where the buzz is coming from.

I'm guessing you aren't familiar with the games this is riffing on? This game plays hard on the nostalgia bone. Very hard.

I also think it looks awesome.

 

[Baresark]

Wow, this looks awesome. First Person RPG's are underrated for the simple reason that it works fine, but in most cases the delivery is horrible. But this looks really awesome. I didn't know this game existed, but now I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I'm guessing you aren't familiar with the games this is riffing on? This game plays hard on the nostalgia bone. Very hard.

I also think it looks awesome.

Okay, mind explaining what exactly? What's the charm of this stuff, to the fans.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I take it I wasn't the only one who mistaken this as a Transformers related news (Grimlock)?
As for the game itself I had a hint of nostalgia when I used to watch my bro playing those type of games. Sure it got the graphic update but it still look abit outdate (the movement and the attack mechanic).

 

[Hiphophippo]

I'm guessing you aren't familiar with the games this is riffing on? This game plays hard on the nostalgia bone. Very hard.

I also think it looks awesome.

Okay, mind explaining what exactly? What's the charm of this stuff, to the fans.

I've typed this a few times and can't really settle on the way to explain it. It really is chiefly a nostalgia plug. I'm sure people new to this type of game are capable of appreciating it but I bet the that's a small portion of this game's eventual userbase. Games like Wizardry, Eye of the Beholder etc. This is just how RPGs used to be. First person dungeon crawls in mazes man.

Guess you had to have been there?

 

[Rad Party God]

DO F*ING WANT.

Seriously, I never grew up with this style of games, but ever since I played Strange Journey and Orcs & Elves on the DS and Phantasy Star 1 on the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on the 360, I wanted to play more "first person dungeons crawlers" on my PC and this seems like a perfect candidate.

I know the Elder Scrolls and pretty much any Bethesda RPG is in first person perspective, but I wanted specifically a "grid based first person dungeon crawler". I seriously need to preorder this.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I'm guessing you aren't familiar with the games this is riffing on? This game plays hard on the nostalgia bone. Very hard.

I also think it looks awesome.

Okay, mind explaining what exactly? What's the charm of this stuff, to the fans.

I've typed this a few times and can't really settle on the way to explain it. It really is chiefly a nostalgia plug. I'm sure people new to this type of game are capable of appreciating it but I bet the that's a small portion of this game's eventual userbase. Games like Wizardry, Eye of the Beholder etc. This is just how RPGs used to be. First person dungeon crawls in mazes man.

Guess you had to have been there?

Well yeah, I as a new user am really puzzled by this. I just meant what was so good about those first person dungeon crawlers, what did people see in those games back then. Because by the looks of it, Doom beat them ten times over in terms of level design, not to mention that the first person perspective seems rather underused.

But eh, more choice in games is good. Power to you guys.

 

[OldGrover]

DO F*ING WANT.

Seriously, I never grew up with this style of games, but ever since I played Strange Journey and Orcs & Elves on the DS and Phantasy Star 1 on the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on the 360, I wanted to play more "first person dungeons crawlers" on my PC and this seems like a perfect candidate.

I know the Elder Scrolls and pretty much any Bethesda RPG is in first person perspective, but I wanted specifically a "grid based first person dungeon crawler". I need to preorder this.

Give Frayed Knights a look - http://rampantgames.com/frayedknights/ - a little more old school as far as looks (it is another Indie). Funny, well-written game. It reminds me of the Order of the Stick webcomic if that appeals.

I've enjoyed the heck out of it.

 

[Hiphophippo]

I'm guessing you aren't familiar with the games this is riffing on? This game plays hard on the nostalgia bone. Very hard.

I also think it looks awesome.

Okay, mind explaining what exactly? What's the charm of this stuff, to the fans.

I've typed this a few times and can't really settle on the way to explain it. It really is chiefly a nostalgia plug. I'm sure people new to this type of game are capable of appreciating it but I bet the that's a small portion of this game's eventual userbase. Games like Wizardry, Eye of the Beholder etc. This is just how RPGs used to be. First person dungeon crawls in mazes man.

Guess you had to have been there?

Well yeah, I as a new user am really puzzled by this. I just meant what was so good about those first person dungeon crawlers, what did people see in those games back then. Because by the looks of it, Doom beat them ten times over in terms of level design, not to mention that the first person perspective seems rather underused.

But eh, more choice in games is good. Power to you guys.

The games this is influenced by predate Doom by a few years. Games like this were the games DnD nerds growing up in the early to mid 80s lived and breathed.

You're right though. More choice, more power.

 

[tetron]

The game looked neat but when I saw you were controlling 4 people from one perspective it gave me a meh feeling. Games like this usually make me wanna just play DnD.

 

[Llil]

Looks really good. I've never played the old Wizardry or Dungeon Master (etc.) games myself, but I got kind of hooked on the genre after playing Etrian Odyssey and The Dark Spire on the DS.
Now I'm just hoping they don't go Steam only with the distribution. I'd hate to miss a great looking game for a stupid reason like that.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I suppose I can't be too critical of people who don't "get" this sort of thing, because I feel pretty much the same way about most 8-bit platformers and JRPGs. I just don't see the appeal. And this game is obviously banking heavily on nostalgia, although I don't think it's fair to dismiss the style or mechanics simply because they're old. Yes, they're rooted in an era when the free, real-time movement we take for granted today just wasn't technologically feasible, but that doesn't automatically invalidate the system. A game like this gives old-timers a chance to go back and enjoy a sub-genre they enjoyed years ago, while noobs get a chance to see what they missed out on. It may not be for everyone, but what is?

 

[Kimarous]

Personally, I don't see the appeal. Graphics are competent, but that's about all I can say about it. I've never really delved into the genre before, so I don't really "get" the various nuances, but what's the point in having a party of four when you move around like a single individual, attack like a single individual, and never actually behold your character(s) beyond their status portraits?