DEVELOPED BY: JCR Soft
PLATFORM: Client
SYNOPSIS
An ancient prophecy has come to light and an old evil has once more begun to return to the world of Atarsia, the Demon Amonsatuth, set free by a traitor of humankind who has now unleashed death and destruction upon the world. The Naviros Knights, an order of good in the world, have now set out on their journey to find new heroes to recover the powers of the four fallen heroes who first defeated Amonsatuth 500 years ago and do now what was once done so long ago. Dark Blood is a new take on classic arcade brawlers, a free to play client based MMORPG it combines typical MMO features withy iconic arcade gameplay.
KEY FEATURES
- Four unique classes: Warrior, Knight, Hunter and Mage
- Classic style arcade brawler combining attack combos for extra damage and points
- PvP options for 1v1 arcade style beat ‘em up combat
- Impressive graphics, animation and atmospheric music
- Rankings and Achievements attainable for various aspects of the game
- Level up through PvE and quests from NPCs and Quest Boards
- Earn weapons, armour and items for your own inventory
GAMEPLAY
On first glance at Dark Blood it plays just like a classic arcade brawler, using the up-down-left-right keys by mashing buttons for your abilities and building up combos with a series of consecutive hits score points fly all over the screen as you pummel your enemies. When the enemies on a screen are killed a little “Go” indicator appears at the side of the screen showing that you advance to the next part of the stage.
However, once you get past the initial tutorial stage the game is quite clearly an MMORPG with NPCs, quests, XP gaining and a clear and concise levelling system. The PvE portion of the game is pretty much all instanced, whilst your quests and shops are in a more communal area populated by other players, only by inviting players to group will they join you in your private PvE areas.
For a free to play game the graphics and character animations are of a very high quality, and the music score really helps draw you in to this story-driven adventure as you unlock the secrets of Atarsia’s history and your own destiny.
CLASSES
There are four available classes, each of which are locked to a specific gender, the classes with male characters being the Warrior and Hunter, the females being the Knight and Mage. Whilst definitely an RPG it is unlikely that there is going to be much social roleplaying between players in the game, and so the gender locking doesn’t create a massive issue, and it is expected that this is in part to play with the story behind the games four first heroes who defeated Amonsatuth.
At level 20 each class breaks off into one of two subclasses and specializes the class to focus on one of its primary attributes. Further focus is available by using skill points to increase specific abilities.
Warrior - Specializing in two-handed weapons the Warrior emphasizes damage dealing with medium defences. Its subclasses are Breaker, which specialize in the axe and do more damage, or the Berserker who switches to a broadsword for longer reach against opponents.
Knight - Having the strongest defence Knights typically use a sword and shield, providing defensive support and also dealing damage. Its subclasses are Paladin, who uses a mace to dish out more damage, or the Crusader who uses a one handed sword for more consecutive attacks.
Hunter - The Ranger focuses on ranged attacks, but has a few melee options available to them that can be increased or decreased depending on speciality. The Trickster subclass focuses on the shortbow and can perform melee attacks, whereas the Shooter focuses on the longbow for longer ranged attacks, but greatly limits its melee capabilities.
Mage - Whilst greatly suffering in their physical defences the Mage has a varied role, capable of casting powerful offensive spells, but also acts as healer and buffer to their party. Their subclasses consist of the Magician who acts as a debuffer to enemies, or Sorcerer increasing their destructive capabilities with elemental magic.
PVP
PvP is available in the game through 1v1 instanced duels that play out like a classic arcade beat ‘em up, starting on either side of the screen the players are locked in a small area and unload explosive attacks and combos on each other to deplete their health bars. Competing in PvP increases your PvP Ranking, which gains its own benefits and bragging rights. Currently PvP is only available as 1v1, but it is expected that up to 4v4 will be available at some point as seen in the full Korean version of the game.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND RANKS
As with any classic arcade one of the biggest achievements was getting your three initials up on the final scoreboard, well it is the same with Dark Blood. From PvP Rankings to Ranked Instances where your overall score is public for all to see there is a great level of competition in the game to compete with other players, as well as unlocking Achievements for your own personal successes whilst playing the game.
PREMIUM SERVICE
Dark Blood comes with its own Premium store where players can buy items for cash. There are various different items and packages available from changing customization of your character, dying weapons, clothes and armour, skill resets and other items that can be bought in or out of the game through their own Sparkshop.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Operating System: Windows XP Service Pack 3
CPU: Intel Premium 4 2.42 GHz / AMD XP 2600+
RAM: 1GB
HD Space: 3GB
Graphics Card: GeForce FX 5700 / ATI Radeon 9600 PRO (128MB)
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
