Grim Dawn (from the makers of Titan Quest)...

[VictimOfScience]

Sounds great to me. (site link)

Grim Dawn is an action role-playing game intended for digital distribution on the PC. It is being developed by veterans of Iron Lore entertainment, the makers of Titan Quest. Grim Dawn is being built with Crate's own improved version of the Iron Lore engine and toolset; the same technology used to create Titan Quest. As a spiritual successor, Grim Dawn will attempt to better perfect the magical formula of exploration, character advancement, and loot collection pioneered by Diablo.

Players will be thrust into the dark, war-torn world of Cairn where a once proud empire has been brought to ruin and the human race driven to the edge of extinction. Cairn has become ground zero of an eternal war between two otherworldly powers, one seeking to use human bodies as a resource, the other intent upon destroying the human race before that can happen. This cataclysmic war has not only decimated human civilization but is warping the very fabric of reality and, in its wake, giving life to new horrors.

And from their FAQ:

Where can I buy Grim Dawn and how much will it cost?

We plan to release Grim Dawn on Steam and through other digital distribution sites for about $20. In addition to this, you can also pre-order the game now from our website and download it directly from us when it releases. By pre-ordering now, your money will help fund our development and make Grim Dawn a better game. We may also release a box-copy to be sold in stores at some point but we have not yet worked out all the details.

I will purchase my copy now to help fund development. What a great way to get the fans involved and directly assist these great devs in their quest to bring their great game(s) to the world!!

 

[MRG]

Gonna keep an eye on this. I rather enjoyed Titan Quest, having played through several times.

Thanks for the heads up!

-MRG

 

[Bad^Hat]

Could be good, as long as it comes out before Diablo 3 (like that's going to be hard).

The pricepoint is just right for this kind of game, too. Torchlight is going for the same and I've managed to wring a great deal of enjoyment from it despite the regrettable lack of multiplayer. The premise seems relatively unique as well, though it'd probably be a stretch to expect an actual plot.

 

[Shakermaker]

Thought I'd bump this since half a year later quite a lot more is known about this game. The current feature list:

• Combine any of five distinct skill classes each with multiple skill trees in which to specialize. Advance your class mastery up to 75 levels to unlock dozens of powerful skills and synergistic modifiers. New classes will be periodically released through downloadable content.
• Destructible environments give evidence of your massive battles while collapsing stonework and flying shards of furniture can be used tactically to cause further injury to your foes.
• Dynamic Weather brings the world to life with region-specific climates and a variety of weather effects. A sunny day can cloud over with mild rainshowers that builds into a booming thunderstorm. Variable wind gusts blow grass and affect objects like windmills and window shutters.
• Gameplay systems designed to expand for 200 levels of character progression, equipment, and enemies to fight makes for ridiculous amounts of replay value.
• Connect with old friends or make new allies in glorious multiplayer. Specially balanced multiplayer encounters will put your teamwork to the ultimate challenge.
• Collect blueprints that allow you to combine salvaged components into unique crafted items and then, later, use those basic crafted items with higher-tiered recipes to complete items of unprecedented badassness.
• Camera rotation enhances the three-dimensionality of the world and gameplay while levels are still designed so that players are not forced to rotate the camera.
• Refined loot system drops less junk items and ensures more consistent rewards from hero and boss monsters.
• Satisfying enemy damage and death effects with an option to enable blood and gore.
• New quest and conversation system will allow players to choose quest paths and rewards, interact with NPCs in more interesting ways, and an intuitive quest creation wizard will make life a lot easier for modders.
• An NPC faction system lets the player improve their relations with different NPC groups to earn rewards as their favor increases such as merchant discounts, new items, and additional quest lines. However, aiding one faction could turn a rival faction into your enemy. Choose which side you will support!
• The ability to spend money to reclaim skill and attribute points alleviates the fear and frustration of having to make early, uninformed decisions that could permanently nerf a character.
• More features are in the works and will be announced as Grim Dawn nears release.

The screenshots look pretty good as well:

More here.

Could be another good placeholder while waiting for Diablo 3.

 

[Lucid]

Holy tits.
Looks and sounds awesome.

 

[Ennui]

TQ is the best coop Diablo clone there is, I'll definitely check this out. That $20 pricepoint hits my sweet spot juuuuust right.

 

[B_MAN]

$20?
sold.
TQ was good fun

any word on a release date?

 

[Shakermaker]

any word on a release date?

I couldn't find any. Since they're still calling it pre-pre-pre-pre-pre-alpha it'll probably be next year.

 

[VictimOfScience]

+rep Shaker. :cheers:

This is really turning out nicely. I am actually more excited for this than Diablo 3 as this seems to be branching out into new and innovative, interesting directions. And it is cheaper and will be out sooner.

 

[Shakermaker]

Kinda forgot about this game, but it seems to still be in development. There is a new video out with combat footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGP4LT_cYo

 

[Bad^Hat]

Hmm, looks pretty bland.

 

[MJ12]

Not a Diablo kind of guy, but it sounds cool. Too bad that video looks quite boring

 

[StarBob]

I have Titan Quest but I've never played it...

 

[Lucid]

I've played just about every action RPG there is and I think that video looks great.
Pretty game with sufficiently meaty combat and an environment full of things to destroy.

Do want, can't get enough of Diablo clones really.

 

[MJ12]

I never understood the appeal. My friend let me borrow Diablo 2 in high school, and I found it kind of repetitive and boring, I didn't see the drive or point of anything in the game. At the same time I had this other friend who was freakishly addicted to Diablo for years, like, it really ruined his social life during Junior High and High School. Whenever we'd come over he'd be playing the crap out of Diablo. I never understood the game or maybe I never got "far" enough.

I'm mainly interested in this because of the above post Shaker made with those new details and the Victorian-esq apocalypse setting.

 

[Lucid]

Different strokes and such.
I love games like these for the loot, massive amounts of enemies, and the feeling of being a nigh unstoppable God.

 

[Bad^Hat]

I've played just about every action RPG there is and I think that video looks great.
Pretty game with sufficiently meaty combat and an environment full of things to destroy.

It looks fine, but there's very little variety, or if there is they're not showing it off very well. Single attack, single attack, single attack, single attack, frontal cone AOE, single attack, single attack, barb shout thing, single attack, single attack, frontal cone, single attack, single attack, single attack, single attack, single attack. Woo!

 

[VictimOfScience]

I don't recall Diablo being much more than that and it was addictive and fun as ****, so I am pretty excited here. Titan Quest was some serious fun too, so I am totally excited for this, esp. as a downloadable and a cheap one at that!

 

[Shakermaker]

RPS interviewed Arthur Bruno from Crate about Grim Dawn.

We’re busy making Grim Dawn more complex and probably casual-player hostile.

Sounds good.