The game mixes turn-based strategy with dragon action

Jun 13, 2012 19:01 GMT  ·  By

Larian Studios made a splash in the old-school role-playing world when they announced Divinity: Original Sin, but the company is also creating another game in the same universe, called Dragon Commander.

It could appeal both to fans of the Divinity series and to those who would like a mix of turn-based tabletop strategy and real-time dragon-powered tactics.

The story of Dragon Commander takes place way before what we see in the Divinity series and that gives the developers freedom to play around with some very interesting topics while telling a rather classic fantasy story, with a young prince fighting to take back his kingdom from an invader with an aggressive religion.

During the strategic phase, gamers will have to manage resources and conduct diplomacy, which will net them cards that can be played on territories and can also be used during the tactical phase.

The cast of characters seems delightful and, even if the game is some way from being finished, I saw a lot of events and conversation possibilities that will have a big impact in the endgame and will make Dragon Commander replayable.

After that, it’s time to move units around the map and then launch tactical battles, where gamers have to meet a variety of choices by using their units, most of them air based, and by carefully deploying their own dragon in order to gain local advantages.

Dragon battles seemed appropriately fiery and fast, although they might be so attractive as to make players pay less attention than they should to the real-time strategy element.

Dragon Commander will also include a four-player mode and the developers estimate that it will take about one full weekend for a determined group of friends to get through one session together.

The game might arrive on consoles in addition to the PC and currently lacks a confirmed launch window.