SLICE AND DICE

Gut goblins galore in DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: DARK ALLIANCE

- Andy Kelly

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A fantasy action RPG with co-op

EXPECT TO PAY

$40

DEVELOPER

Tuque Games

PUBLISHER

Wizards of the Coast

REVIEWED ON

RTX 2080 Super, Intel i7-9700K, 16GB RAM

MULTIPLAYER

1-4

LINK

darkalliance.com

If you’re looking for Dungeons & Dragons without the dice rolls then Dark Alliance is for you. It’s an intense, combat-focused action RPG where you slay monsters, collect loot, and fight alongside a party of powerful heroes—but without the usual trappings of a traditional RPG. There are no walls of dialogue or deep, lengthy quests to be found here. Just a lot of goblins and other foul beasts to kill, and some very impressive looking locations to do it in.

In Dark Alliance we follow the Companions of the Hall, a legendary band of adventurers led by D&D favorite Drizzt Do’urden, as they search for a magical MacGuffin called the Shard. Armies of villains and monsters from all corners of Faerûn—the titular ‘dark alliance’—are lusting after the Shard and the power it holds, and you have to stop them. It’s a pretty standard fantasy plot, but given weight and authenticity by the involvement of veteran D&D scribe, and teller of some of Icewind Dale’s most memorable tales, RA Salvatore. The story takes place just after The Crystal Shard, the first novel in the author’s Icewind Dale trilogy, meaning there’s plenty of crossover with the books.