Developed by Critical Studio, Dungeonland takes place in ‘Dungeon Maestro’s’ devious theme park who is ready to throw in everything in his arsenal in order to rid the world of the players who seek nothing but loot.

Although the game will be playable in single-player, the core mechanics are designed with co-operative play in mind. Three players can tackle the tackle the theme park as one of each of the three playable classes. A fourth player may also assume the role of Dungeon Maestro himself.

Also detailed is the Grimoire Pack DLC which adds new spells, traits and possession abilities. The pack was earlier exclusive to those who pre-ordered the game, but is now available to all for a price of $2.99

The game is available for only $9.99 on Steam and is worth a look for action-RPG fans.

Dungeonland is broken up into two game play styles. You can either play as the Heroes or as a Dungeon Master. As a Hero you can choose between three maps for Adventure Mode; Cannibal Kingdom, DM Tower, and Arena Kingdom. As a Dungeon Master you have only one area to choose for the Dungeon Maestro Mode, however you can select between all the maps within the mode.

Within the Hero mode you can choose between three classes. The Mage class has three styles; Fire, Ice, and Electric, but only Fire is available at first. You need to find money to unlock the other styles. The Rogue has three classes as well, consisting of the Assassin, Gunner, and Archer. The Assassin is also the first class unlocked for the Rogue. The last class is the Warrior with a class in Vanguard, Lancer and Pathfinder. As with the others, the Warrior’s Vanguard is the only class unlocked in the beginning.

The Warrior is your typical melee fighter that needs to be up close and in the battle. The Mage can be short range, and can either be in the thick or slightly out of range for battle. The Rogue serves as the long distance fighter and although he can hold his own in melee he outshines the enemies when he is further away.

All Heroes can be upgraded by buying items in the Item Shop from money collected during battle. Anything from weapons and cloths, down to Perks can be bought to give you a leg up on your foe.

As a Dungeon Master in the Dungeon Maestro Mode, you can deal a tremendous amount of pain to the Heroes. You play with a deck of cards and as your minions collect points, you build up manna which in turn allow you to play certain cards. When you max out your playing card levels you can unleash hordes and then sit back and press the laugh button to maniacally torment the Heroes.

The Maestro’s deck can also be upgraded through the item shop, but you can only hold a certain number of cards, so you need to play your cards right if you want to win.

The game mechanics are pretty straight forward to this game. As the Heroes, it’s really just a hack and slash button masher. As a Dungeon Maestro, it’s as simple as point and click to spawn enemies. The Heroes play better with a gamepad controller while the Dungeon Maestro handles better with the keyboard and mouse.

The art style is clean and looks similar to Wizards 101. Although it isn’t as stylish, it tends to feel like the game is geared more for kids, which can be misleading. And this is Dungeonland’s greatest downfall.

For the most part this game seems to get lost in searching for its target audience. The art style suggests it’s geared for kids, but in Adventure Mode, as a Hero you can only start on a hard difficulty, and it is ever punishing. The only options for the Heroes are Harder and Impossible, and if that isn’t punishing enough, you can add three difficult challenges. At best it’s almost unplayable.

As a Hero your only chance to win is to play as the Assassin who is far from the fight, in order to manage the onslaught. The warrior is completely redundant and for the most part becomes a one shot kill when in the thick of battle. The Mage doesn’t really add anything to game play. The only way to make any headway is to go into the game expecting to lose, and lose badly, but collect as much money as possible. After you’ve collected enough, get to the Item Shop and buy anything you can, like Perks, to give yourself a chance. Truthfully though, it won’t make too much of a difference.

As a Dungeon Maestro, there actually is a mode for Normal, Easy and Very Easy. Oddly enough though, this actually pertains to the Heroes you are trying to kill. So instead of the game being easy for the Dungeon Maestro, you know, the role you’re playing, it’s actually easier for the AI. So, again the game just sets out to punish you. But if you set the game to normal, it’s quite simple to kill the Heroes, which comes back to the main issue.

The game is too hard for the Heroes to ever win. The game is so lopsided I can’t see why anyone would subject themselves to such cruelty from the get go. I understand that people who play through a game, beat it, and then turn the setting up to insane. If the game suggested that it were geared towards these hardcore gamers, it would be understandable, but I doubt those gamers also play Wizards 101. The games suffers through an identity crisis where the art suggests a kids’ game, but the game play difficulty suggests a hardcore gamer. I doubt either demographics will be interested in the latter. Let’s put it this way, a loading screen shows the three Heroes playing the game, and one of them is clearly throwing the controller out of frustration over the game.

To top it off, there’s nothing to draw you into this game. There seems to be a story, but it’s only present on the developer’s website and nowhere in this game. No intro, no videos, and not even a hint to why the Evil Lord Dungeon Master has built an amusement park that isn’t worth the price of admission.

The game also tries to focus on its multiplayer aspect. You can have three players jump in as the Heroes locally, and online you can find plenty of matches. You can also create a match online, or private match. The only downside is that online play is identical to offline, and so you can only have three people in a match, and there isn’t an option for spectators.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Paradox Interactive has announced that co-op dungeon crawler DungeonLand is now available for download on PC via all digital distribution platforms, and it is available for a price of just $9.99.

Here’s a little info on DungeonLand as given by Paradox:

Dungeonland is the creation of the cunning Dungeon Maestro, who has invited the world’s pesky heroes to an adventurer’s theme park of his own design. Inside the colorful park, up to three players can play cooperatively to slaughter the monstrous staff and collect glittering piles of loot in fast-paced action gameplay. Meanwhile, a fourth player can take on the role of the Maestro himself, controlling the park’s traps and creatures, attempting to kill the other players, and mashing the “evil laugh” button as often as they can.

Paradox has also released a launch trailer to commemorate the release of DungeonLand. Watch it below:

Paradox Interactive has announced that Dungeonland has been delayed by one week, just like Ni No Kuni and that other game which was supposed to be released… damn, what was the name of that game?!

Arggh… anyway, this is why they have postponed Dungeonland by one week.

The game was scheduled to be released on January 22nd and now it will be released on January 29th. The game features co-op as well, and will be available on leading distribution channels on the launch date.

“As we continue our quest to ensure game experiences on day one are as pleasant as possible, we’re making a few last minute updates before releasing the game to the masses,” they revealed.

“We work around the clock for our devoted community, and we appreciate everyone’s patience here as we get things finalized.”

They have not mentioned what last minute updates they are making, but it is probably done to make the game experience pleasant.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Cue evil laughter – because there is indeed an “evil laugh button”.

The Game Master sets traps and monsters for the other players, and in order to overcome the odds, the remaining three will need to pick up the rules of customization and character perks quick. Also work together. That’s somehow also important.

Check out the new developer diary and learn about how the Game Master’s power increases along with the players’ skills. Of course, loot is an abject necessity to survival and warrants your full attention.

Dungeonland is currently slated for release on the PC, though Critical Studio has not announced a release date. Stay tuned for more details. There is no escape, after all.

In Dungeonland, you’ll have the standard assortment of heroes with the Rogue, Warrior and Mage classes available for play with their own abilities. And if you play with friends, you’ll need to cooperate as much as possible since the Game Master can also deploy monsters and other obstacles to obstruct your progress and generally ruin your day.

Dungeonland is due out for PC this year, though an official release date is yet to be decided. Let’s see if its mechanics can set it apart from classics like Dungeon Defenders, Torchlight and the like when it releases.

To that end, it’s announced the game’s release date as January 22nd with the option to pre-order now available.

Dungeon Maestro, VP of Formerly Human Resources at Paradox Interactive commented, stating, “The sooner you get off your heroically gigantic rear and pre-order, the sooner you can start disposing of your miserable little ‘friends’.

“As much fun as it is to take a personal tour of Dungeonland, there’s no better way to visit the park than with other players. It’s such a helpful way to sort out your relationships — which of your peers contains the most blood, which one looks the tastiest to a dragon, and so forth.”

What a swell guy.

Pre-order the game here to avail of special bonuses the Grimoire Pack, which lets whoever is controlling the Dungeon Maestro to plan some more harrowing traps for opponents.

With the aid of a considerable loan from the Evil Overlord Foundation, Dungeon Master has laboriously built a nefarious theme park, tempting adventurers with a chance to explore the most dangerous and exotic places, fight the most powerful monsters and possess the most wondrous magical items.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Paradox have announced three new games at GDC.

The three games have been details below:

The Showdown Effect

Created by Arrowhead Game Studios, the same brilliant and eccentric minds behind Magicka, The Showdown Effect is a 2.5D multiplayer action game in which players will be participating in death-matches to gain glory and fame. Formerly known as “Project JFK,” The Showdown Effect operates on the principle of “more is more” and offers an infinite amount of ways to customize your gameplay. Whether its character, stage, game mode, or weapons, customize as much as you want and control how creatively you want to kill your friends! Remember, the gorier it is, the better the showdown you will have!

Dungeonland

A theme park is a magical place reserved only for children, right? Wrong. DEAD wrong. Dungeonland redefines the idea of having “fun” in a fantasy theme park as it attempts to entrap your heroes and let them line up for their demise. Playing as the Rogue, the Warrior, or the Mage, heroes will adventure in a classic co-op dungeon crawl, with a sinister twist: three players can play as the daring heroes, while a fourth takes on the role of Dungeonland’s Game Master, using a pool of traps and monsters to annihilate their unwelcome guests! Featuring hero customization, looting and dozens of items, Dungeonland is an amoral, atypical take on asymmetric gameplay.

RED Frontier

RED Frontier takes players to the final…well, “frontier”… for a new style of competitive RTS gaming! Would-be commanders will choose their sci-fi heroes and fight strategically alongside teammates and droids in a struggle for resources. On the battlefield, players will have an arsenal of combat droids, vehicles, and ingenious abilities ranging from deployable machine gun turrets and minefields to repair nanoids and orbital rocket strikes. Arsenals are constantly being refilled as fellow commanders respawn instantly and are immediately allowed to re-enter the battlefield after being eliminated. Prevail and celebrate your victory with your teammates in the arena!

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