Grim Dawn

Grim Dawn is an action role-playing game for Windows developed by the American company Crate Entertainment , which is set in a fantasy world with references to the Victorian era . It was released worldwide on February 25, 2016. The development studio was founded by former employees of Iron Lore Entertainment , which had previously produced Titan Quest . This creates many similarities between Titan Quest and Grim Dawn.

Game world

The action essentially takes place in the fictional world of Cairn along the coast of an inland sea or large lake and leads the player, starting from the southern tip of the water, along the east and west coast to the north. A powerful empire existed in this region well before the game began, but magical experiments resulted in the invasion of two types of otherworldly beings - called the Ethereal and Cthonian - and, as a result, the collapse of human civilization and near-extermination of mankind. This event is known in the game world as the eponymous Grim Dawn (dark twilight). From the etheric people are used as vessels and as a basis for combat mutants, from the Cthonians and their allied human cultists as a source of blood for rituals. Ethereal and Cthonians are at war with one another.

action

The story and non-combat-related character traits only play a minor role. In the intro you can see how a person who is possessed by an ethereal is supposed to be hanged in order to eliminate the danger he poses. Shortly before his death, however, the ethereal flees the body and the execution is called off. The human being remains with extraordinary powers and now again free will, and the player takes control over him. The first thing is to secure the nearby prison where a group of survivors have holed up. Then you travel north along the west coast and come in contact with the Black Legion, which fights against the Ethereal and Cthonians. The latter intend to use a huge blood ritual to awaken the monster Loghorrean, who is imprisoned under a necropolis far to the north. They succeed in this, so that the player has to defeat Loghorrean.

Gameplay

As usual for the genre, fighting takes up an essential part of the game, you can only control your own character directly . By killing enemies and completing tasks, experience points can be collected, which lead to leveling up at increasing intervals. With each level up, two types of points are collected, which can be invested in increasing three different attributes on the one hand and in combat and magic skills on the other. These skills are divided into six (with add-on: eight) different championships - for example soldier or arcanist - of which the player can choose two, resulting in 15 (with add-on: 28) different combinations; For example, the Soldier and Arcanist championships make up the Combat Mage class. By cleaning and repairing shrines around the world, devotion points can also be acquired, which can be used to unlock various constellations that also improve the character. In addition, armor, weapons and other items are collected and manufactured in the course of the game that strengthen the character.

The player can collect reputation points with friendly factions, which unlocks new quests and merchants offer better items for sale. Collecting (negative) reputation points from enemy factions (e.g. ethereal, undead) leads to more and stronger opponents of these factions appearing.

Downloadable content

Several DLCs , some of them paid for, have been released:

Crucible : August 3, 2016. Paying. New arena game mode.
Loyalist Upgrade DLC : December 22, 2016. Paying. For supporters of the developer, cosmetic items without any playful use.
Port Valbury : December 2016. Free. Adds a new area with strong monsters.

Expansion: Ashes of Malmouth

Ashes of Malmouth

Erstveröffent-
lichung

October 11, 2017

platform

Windows

Game mode

Single player , multiplayer

medium

Download

copy protection

Without ( GOG.com ) / Steam

Age rating

USK

On October 11, 2017, Ashes of Malmouth was an add-on for the game. It connects directly to the plot of the base game and leads the player along the east coast of the game world to the north to the city of Malmouth, overrun by the ethereal. Gameplay changes include an increase in the maximum level from 85 to 100, maximum devotion points from 50 to 55 and two additional championships.

action

While the Black Legion, with the help of the player, has dealt with the threat posed by the Cthonians to the west, the Aetherics on the east coast have been busy breeding mutants from humans in the city of Malmouth to make them fight for themselves. The player therefore looks for a way to Malmouth to drive the etheric from there and destroy their huge factory.

Expansion: Forgotten Gods

Forgotten Gods

Erstveröffent-
lichung

March 27, 2019

platform

Windows

Game mode

Single player , multiplayer

medium

Download

copy protection

Without ( GOG.com ) / Steam

Age rating

USK

On March 27, 2019, Forgotten Gods, the second add-on for the game, was released. It includes, among other things, a new area, a new game mode and a new championship, which increased the number of possible class combinations to 36.

reception

The game received mostly positive reviews. Metacritic gave the main game a rating of 83 points based on 29 reviews.

It had been sold over a million times by the end of May 2017.

Web links

Official website for the game (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Grim Dawn: New Forgotten Gods expansion now available - that's the content. buffed.de, March 28, 2019, accessed May 18, 2019 .
↑ metacritic.com: Grim Dawn PC. Retrieved October 31, 2017 .
↑ kotaku.com.au: Grim Dawn Passes 1 Million Copies Sold, Crucible DLC Hits 200,000. May 27, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017 .

[buffed-forgottengods-1] Grim Dawn: New Forgotten Gods expansion now available - that's the content. buffed.de, March 28, 2019, accessed May 18, 2019 .

[metacritic-2] tacritic.com: Grim Dawn PC. Retrieved October 31, 2017 .

[kotaku20170527-3] taku.com.au: Grim Dawn Passes 1 Million Copies Sold, Crucible DLC Hits 200,000. May 27, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017 .