Game News Legend of Grimrock To Be Released on April 11; Preorders Now Live

[Crooked Bee]

Tags: Almost Human Games; Legend of Grimrock

The real-time first person party-based dungeon crawler Legend of Grimrock now has an official release date. It's April 11, and you can even preorder the game now on GOG.com with a 20% discount as well as directly via the developers' website. There's also a new preoder trailer out.

We’re proud to announce that Legend of Grimrock is going to be released on 11th of April for PC and pre-orders start NOW! The game will be launched on Steam, GOG.com and directly on our site. As a thankyou for supporting us during the intense crunch months we’re offering a special pre-order sale for only $11.99 – 20% off from the retail price of $14.99.

What is Legend of Grimrock?

• Old-school dungeon crawling game inspired by Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder and Ultima Underworld.
• Explore a vast dungeon riddled with hidden switches, pressure plates, sliding walls, trapdoors and more.
• Discover secrets, cast spells with runes and craft potions with herbs.
• Fight murderous monsters and seek lost artifacts in ancient tombs.
• Create a party of four characters and customize them with different races, classes, skills and traits.

Legend of Grimrock is a dungeon crawling role playing game with an oldschool heart but a modern execution. A group of prisoners are sentenced to certain death by exiling them to the secluded Mount Grimrock for vile crimes they may or may not have committed. Unbeknownst to their captivators, the mountain is riddled with ancient tunnels, dungeons and tombs built by crumbled civilizations long perished now. If they ever wish to see daylight again and reclaim their freedom the ragtag group of prisoners must form a team and descend through the mountain, level by level.

The game brings back the oldschool challenge with highly tactical real-time combat and grid-based movement, devious hidden switches and secrets as well as deadly traps and horrible monsters. Legend of Grimrock puts an emphasis on puzzles and exploration and the wits and perception of the player are more important tools than even the sharpest of swords could be. And if you are a hardened dungeon crawling veteran and you crave an extra challenge, you can arm yourself with a stack of grid paper and turn on the Oldschool Mode which disables the luxury of the automap! Are you ready to venture forth and unravel the mysteries of Mount Grimrock?​

To preorder, visit GOG.com's page for the game. Alternatively, you can preorder directly via the developers' website, which gives you a standalone version of the game as well as a Steam key. Steam preorders are currently unavailable, but are to go live soon as well.

 

[Lord Rocket]

'Captivators'?!

Will buy anyway. I fucking love this shit:

you can arm yourself with a stack of grid paper and turn on the Oldschool Mode which disables the luxury of the automap

More games should allow you to specify your metagame resources.

 

[asper]

real-time combat?

 

[Crooked Bee]

real-time combat?

Yup, it's a Dungeon Master clone.

 

[Shannow]

real-time combat?

We've had this discussion since Made first mentioned this game being in production... Suck it up. (Though I hope they'll consider a Wiz8-clone with TB/phase based, tactical blob combat next.)
I hope they'll have a demo. I love dungeon crawlers and the game looks and sounds fantastic, but I'm not quite sure I'll be able to suffer through the RT gameplay. Must try b4 buy.

 

[asper]

Well, still looks pretty good, I'm going to preorder this. I just wonder what justification RT could have in a game like this.

Curious how all this incline happens all at once..

 

[Crooked Bee]

I just wonder what justification RT could have in a game like this.

Time- and reflex-based puzzles, for one. Like in Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back. Makes for a completely different kind of gameplay compared to TB blobbers imho. (Which doesn't mean RT blobbers are better, of course; they aren't, in my view.)

 

[felipepepe]

preorder the game now on GOG.com with a 20% discount.

Not sure if decline or incline of GOG, but this means that AoD can also be released there, right?

 

[Shannow]

I just wonder what justification RT could have in a game like this.

Time- and reflex-based puzzles, for one. Like in Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back. Makes for a completely different kind of gameplay compared to TB blobbers imho. (Which doesn't mean RT blobbers are better, of course; they aren't, in my view.)

Time- and reflex-based puzzles are perfectly viable in TB games. Outside of combat turn-based games (at least the kind we're talking about here) play the same as RT games.
Problems only arise if the player chooses to solve a time- and reflex-based puzzle while being pounded on by an ogre
And luring enemies into traps, etc. But even that "could" be done in TB.

But you're right about the different gameplay, and we simply have to accept that RT gameplay was what the devs chose.

 

[mindx2]

I'm starting to feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone ! With this game, Wasteland 2, Double Fine's adventure, The Banner Saga, Age of Decadence all being created and coming out in the next 18 months is the incline actually happening? I suppose it is cyclical in nature and it would have had to start sometime. I just thought it would be more of a trickle, not a flood. This is a bit of hyperbole I know but it feels like a flood after a long drought .

 

[Shannow]

Dunno, for me it feels like it should be. 3-4 interesting games per year. I never got used to one interesting game every 3-4 years.

But yeah, sure

In b4 we realize in 2 years time that they all suck and our reminiscence of the Golden Days was just nostalgia after all.

 

[Crooked Bee]

preorder the game now on GOG.com with a 20% discount.

Not sure if decline or incline of GOG, but this means that AoD can also be released there, right?

Theoretically yes. But keep in mind LoG is extremely hyped (I would even say overhyped) while AoD is not, so it isn't as appealing to GOG.

Time- and reflex-based puzzles are perfectly viable in TB games.

??

Maybe they are, but I can't imagine that. How would you implement something like Chaos Strikes Back's starting puzzle (= manoeuvring across a closed off room while chased by several tough enemies, having to quickly get to and pick up a torch, then having to quickly get to a socket on one of the walls, put a torch there and, all the while being chased by the enemies, quickly run out of the room through a secret door that has opened for a short while)? The tension surely wouldn't be there.

(Not that I expect something as complex from Legend of Grimrock, mind you.)

 

[Lord Rocket]

Well, treating a 'round' as a discrete period of time outside of combat could work, sort of like how NWN implements it's 'real time' combat. Or like a Roguelike but with a time limit when you're not fighting, if you prefer.

 

[Scroo]

Preordered. My first blind bought game since Wizardry 8. Oh well.

 

[Shannow]

Well, I never played CSB, but LoG is a DM-clone and DM didn't really have all that many situations where you'd be solving puzzles while being under attack. That said, wiz8 allowed various amounts of movement per phase/turn that came with different penalties, from loosing stamina to loosing the character's action for the turn/phase.
How is what you describe different from doing all that stuff, but having to press "end turn" 2-4 times?
I don't know how clear CSB made that you were required to flee, but the tension would arise from not exactly knowing what to do. Fight or flee? Fight and flee? Is there some loot or easy enemies that I'd try to get a shot at, before the time runs out and the door closes? Do I only use so much movement that I can still use my action for defense, preventing extreme damage or death for a weaker character, or do I (have to) place all my bets on one card and forgo all actions for the extra movement?

Different gameplay, sure. Lacking in tension for some people, perhaps. But not impossible, IMO.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Interesting. I'm still not sure that'd work, but I'd willing to try out something like that. Would be more tactical, even.

I don't know how clear CSB made that you were required to flee.

You could fight them too, if your stats and player skill allowed you to pull that off. Also, yes, there was a lot of nice loot in that room.

 

[commie]

'Captivators'?!

Will buy anyway. I fucking love this shit:

you can arm yourself with a stack of grid paper and turn on the Oldschool Mode which disables the luxury of the automap

More games should allow you to specify your metagame resources.

You can thank me for this. I was the second or third person to write on their site and this is what I asked for: a toggle for the automap so we could do it ourselves.

Theoretically yes. But keep in mind LoG is extremely hyped (I would even say overhyped) while AoD is not, so it isn't as appealing to GOG.

Yeah, I keep seeing the ton of previews on IGN and PC Gaymer....


Anyway, I can't believe people on the Codex are actually 'umming' and 'ahhing' about whether to get this game: it's 12 fucking dollars! I don't particularly like RT blobbers compared to TB but who can argue with the price especially given how smooth it all looks in execution, not to mention that graphically it's AAA quality(for the type of game that it is, it looks like fucking Crysis) and miles above the RPG maker and pixel art crap that other indies try to foist off for a similar price.

Take my fucking money already!

 

[asper]

Exactly. The price is surprisingly low.

 

[Berekän]

"We're very excited about it"

Indeed

 

[Crooked Bee]

Yeah, I keep seeing the ton of previews on IGN and PC Gaymer....

For a game of its kind, it definitely is extremely hyped. Universally praised (I haven't seen a critical piece on it anywhere, only OMG IT LOOKS SO PRETTY!!), >3k followers on Twitter (about the same amount Brian Fargo has and only two times fewer than Garriott or Avellone have), that story about the game being disabled player-friendly that got spread around the net like an epidemic, made a top story on reddit, Kotaku covered it favourably, as well as Destructoid and Joystiq... no wonder it got on Steam and GOG so easily. It's going to be MUCH harder for AoD to get there: hardly anyone knows about it, hardly anyone hypes it, a lot of people who've played the demo criticize it, etc. In fact, I'm pretty sure Steam will reject it for being too "niche" unless VD changes the design; let's hope GOG doesn't.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

Yup 11 dollars is a steel. Also no DRM bullshit if you buy it from GoG.

 

[Mrowak]

While old-school dungeon crawlers aren't exactly my cup of tea, I feel stangely pumped for this title. I've just almost preordered it. Almost... makes a whole lot of difference.


Why on earth all those supreme RPG news/releases must come about when I have most work?

 

[Crooked Bee]

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. The game's been hyped to heaven.

Which isn't a bad thing, of course. We need more good indie RPGs.

 

[commie]

Yeah, I keep seeing the ton of previews on IGN and PC Gaymer....

For a game of its kind, it definitely is extremely hyped. Universally praised (I haven't seen a critical piece on it anywhere, only OMG IT LOOKS SO PRETTY!!), >3k followers on Twitter (about the same amount Brian Fargo has and only two times fewer than Garriott or Avellone have), that story about the game being disabled player-friendly that got spread around the net like an epidemic, made a top story on reddit, Kotaku covered it favourably, as well as Destructoid and Joystiq... no wonder it got on Steam and GOG so easily. It's going to be MUCH harder for AoD to get there: hardly anyone knows about it, hardly anyone hypes it, a lot of people who've played the demo criticize it, etc. In fact, I'm pretty sure Steam will reject it for being too "niche" unless VD changes the design; let's hope GOG doesn't.

AoD will make it onto steam. There are true turds there, really really bad games. AoD will be in fine company. Seriously though, unless VoD put's in some references to the glory of the Third Reich it should find a spot on Steam.

Oh and I didn't have issues with you saying it was hyped, just your qualification that it was OVER hyped. How could a Codexer complain that a blob crawler is being overhyped in this day and age? ANY hype is good for this almost extinct genre. Does it reach even 1% of the hype a Bioware or Bethesda game gets though?

 

[catfood]

GOG should probably disable reviews for games that are yet to be released, yeah..