eSports / epic games

Let’s look today at the new game Dauntless published by Epic Games and see if it’s the next Fortnite or just more shovel-ware junk If you’re anything like me, Dauntless likely flew under your gaming radar until perhaps last week. Published by Epic Games—makers of Fortnite—and developed by Phoenix Labs, Dauntless has recently released to all consoles and PC. Open and Free to play for anyone, the game offers players a rare cross-platform multiplayer experience, similar to the game franchise Monster Hunter. I’ve finally got a chance to give it a try, and I’m here to report back to Scorum my thoughts and first impressions. If you want to connect with me on PSN or Steam, let me know in the comments. Now let’s check out this new game. What Is Dauntless In short: it's a free third-person action RPG multiplayer game. Released on all current gen systems, the game has cross-platform play, allowing anyone on any console/system to play with each other. Not many games do this now days. The core gameplay entails players, called Slayers, banding together to defeat large Behemoth monsters. There are two main game systems at play here. The first is the combat where you fight against the large monsters. The depth here is that each weapon type in the game has different move sets and abilities, offering varying gameplay styles and tactics. The monsters themselves all have different staggering stages and different body part pieces that can be cut off to give players more experience and crafting materials. You won’t be fighting little slimes and inconsequential enemies like that in this game. Instead you only fight against huge Bemouths, taking time and strategy to defeat. The second core mechanic is the crafting, where players return to the Realmgate (a friendly social area) to turn that freshly acquired material from defeated beasts into stronger weapons, armor and supplies. This is the carrot-on-the-stick to keep you playing, constantly wanting to upgrade and create even better and more fantastic gear in an ongoing quest to defeat all the Bemouths. There are quests and mastery logs to complete as well. These involve many different specific tasks to complete while fighting monster. They may have you wear certain amour, cut parts off the monster before killing it, and lots of other goals to work towards. Is it Worth Checking Out The game really shines when it comes to combat which is genuinely fun. There is a lot of depth in both the varying weapon styles and the Bemouths themselves. Combine that with cross-platform play and a serviceable crafting system and it has all the trappings to be worth your time to check it out. Since it’s free, there’s no cost to pay, although I’ve yet to see if it’s the dreaded pay-to-win in the later stages of the game. I can’t comment on that. The art style itself works well with the fantasy setting. It looks very similar to Fortnite. Similar style and color pallet, which makes sense being an Epic Games product. The story is generic and forgettable and adds nothing to the experience. The game runs slow and laggy in the social area, which is common in these types of games—especially being cross-platform—but the game runs perfect once you are in match. Don’t worry if you don’t have any friends to play with, the game has matchmaking, allowing you to find people to team up with no matter what Behemoth you are looking to take down. Likes & Dis-Likes Pros:Free & Cross PlatformDifferent style of action gameFun & in-depth combatGood matchmakingBright stylize art Cons:Generic story & settingVery laggy social areaBland charactersForeseeable repetitiveness Uses premium currency Something Other than Fortnite I’ll certainly be leaving Dauntless installed on my system and will jump on from time to time. Be sure to let me know in the comments if you plan on checking it out and want to link up. It’s seems like a nice causal game that you can jump on and play for a quick session or two. Nothing too involved but enough to keep you interested. I’ve always been a fan of the Monster Hunter series, and I would suggest any of those games if you enjoy this style of game and want something more robust and fleshed out. Dauntless is sort of the free streamlined version of those games and that’s not a bad thing. DAUNTLESS DOWNLOAD LINK HERE _______________________________________________________________________________________