The Block Heads (sans Ian Dury)
Though still in early access, Forge Quest, a dungeon crawling, voxelbased hack and slash ARPG looks extremely polished. It’s also charming as hell, not simply because of the blocky world but for the humourous back story as well. Set in the land of Schmoop, players take the role of a licensed adventurer. The license is important, because adventuring is what keeps the economy buoyant. You see, many years before, the constant battles between good and bad became so omnipresent that the entire economy relied on them – blacksmiths repaired weapons and armour, henchmen were in high demand, as were healers, potion makers, poisoners and the like. When good finally overcame evil, the economy collapsed. Now, to keep things balanced and allow the trades to flourish, Schmoop licenses heroes and villains, maintaining a balance between the sides so that everyone, outside of the inevitable dead heroes and villains, can flourish.
Forge Quest is a game about exploration and combat in a nonlinear, randomly generated world. Running around Schmoop or its many dungeons is a pleasure thanks to a control system that melds parts of both a common ARPG and a twin stick shooter. Players move with the WASD keys, aim with the mouse, attack with the mouse buttons (each class has one melee and one ranged attack) and use special abilities hotkeyed to 1-8. Players can also dodge roll with the spacebar or block by holding left shift. Special abilities use either Rage or Mana, resources that are replenished by quaffing potions or making normal attacks against enemies. As flashy as some of the special abilities are, the key to combat is knowing when to block and when to roll out of harm’s way rather than simply spamming attacks. Each enemy has a unique attack pattern or special ability – small spiders jump and usually come in packs, while large spiders spit webs. Some enemies behave erratically while others have very set patterns that can be to your advantage. It’s not the most subtle of systems but it brings to mind games like Zelda and Ys, and that’s not a bad thing at all. In addition to the combat, players can mine crystals for materials used in crafting or engage in a Bejeweled kind of game to harvest multicolour crystal outcroppings. Players can also combine similar items to increase their level and thus power. It’s a simple crafting system but enjoyable in how straightforward it is. Other tools available for purchase actually let the player manipulate the world by mining and harvesting.
Up to three other players can join you on your adventure, but the single player adventure is equally enjoyable, especially playing with permadeath. There’s no set date for the final release of Forge Quest as yet, but looking at the level of polish, we wouldn’t be surprised if the final product is released in another month or two. It’s not the most subtle or deep hack and slash game out there, but it should definitely fill those cravings for conquest, exploration and loot. DANIEL WILKS
VERDICT
Still in early access but definitely one to keep an eye out for.