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lang="EN-GB">Dragon's Prophet was a game that took me
completely by surprise. As a free to play title that I knew little
about, there
are some excellent ideas here. Infernum aren't trying to redesign the
wheel and
many of the core ideas in the game are traditional to the genre, but it
is the
use of dragons (they seem to be everywhere at the moment) that really
makes it
interesting.

 

lang="EN-GB">Available from the moment you start the
game, dragons can be tamed as soon as you encounter them. Complete with
buckaroo style mini-game (you have to keep hold) it's nice to see
players given
such freedom from the very beginning to do just as they please and fly
where
they like.

 

lang="EN-GB">Acting more as a mini-pet when not in
flight, your dragon when summoned will fight alongside you and
generally act as
a meat-shield against enemies. The interesting part is the fact that
different
dragons have different skills and utilities, with some acting as
'tanks' and
others providing more of a supportive role. The concept has a lot of
potential,
especially when you consider that parties of five are actually ten when
dragons
are included. I do have reservations as to their survivability in large
scale
encounters (and especially in PvP) but found them relatively hardy when
working
my way through the various enemies I fought.

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lang="EN-GB">Having been provided with a range of
character, decked out in some rather fantastic looking armour (as well
as 4
hulking dragons to choose from) under the tutelage of Lee Dale
(Infernum's
Country Manager) I made my way to some of the higher level game zones.

 

lang="EN-GB">The vast majority of the game still
revolves
around quests we've played many times before and while this is a
disappointment, the games combat does make them, for the most part,
enjoyable.
Double-tapping forward allows you to sprint incredibly quickly, while
holding
down shift and left or right will let you jump in that direction. The
dodge
isn't as smooth or as well animated as the likes of Guild Wars 2, but
it does
serve its purpose. On top of this, each profession has it's own skill
based
dodge that propels them forward or backward though the Guardian is the
exception to this, where it has a rather useful parry instead.

 

lang="EN-GB">What really makes Dragon's Prophet stand
out
is the fact that it makes use of varied combos that chain on from a
variety of
skills. Although you can't physically move while casting spells (I
actually
like that as it adds a tactical element of movement versus attack)
there is a
lot of skill behind making use of the combo's available. My particular
favourite was drawing enemies to me with my auto-attacking bolt,
placing a fire
pit on the floor before using an area of effect freeze spell to hold my
adversaries in the flames. It was an attack rotation that allow me to
take on 3
to 4 enemies significantly higher level than me, with some tactical use
of my
dodges and 'blink' like ability.

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lang="EN-GB">I could happily see myself investing
time
into Dragon's Prophet just on it's combo system alone as it adds an
extra
tactical layer to a genre that relies too heavily on single use, fire
and
forget skills. Similarly to Age of Conan, you find yourself paying
attention
and timing your skills.

 

lang="EN-GB">The most exciting prospect on offer
though
has to be the Sky Islands and Strongholds above the world you level up
in. As
PvP areas you can access from any of the main hubs, you can fight over
territory and land with the victor able to charge taxes to anyone who
has built
a house in the area (though the victors can't destroy your home, they
can tax
you out of it). This system might be in its infancy but it does have a
lot of
potential when it comes to full scale turf-wars.

 

lang="EN-GB">Two things I wrote down prior to leaving
the
booth was that the game looks great at maximum settings and runs
incredibly
well (though the Alienware hardware might have something to do with
that) but
also that the in game store seems unobtrusive. You have the option to
purchase
diamonds to use in the store or you can accumulate Dragon Tokens while
playing.
The exchange rate on Dragon Tokens isn't great, but it does allow you
to spend
very little in the game, though it'll likely take Infernum some time to
drill
down the value of time versus tokens.

 

lang="EN-GB">If you're looking for an MMOG that plays
similarly to a mix of Tera and Aion, you really can't go far wrong
here. The
fact it's free to play should give any fan of the genre the opportunity
to jump
in and have a play, even if it's just to have some fun with the combo
system.
It isn't fully polished and some ideas have yet to be truly realised,
but I’ll
be watching Dragon's Prophet with keen interest, especially when it
comes to
the Sky Islands and use of dragons.

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