Developers n-Space and Digital Extremes officially announced Sword Coast Legends on Friday, a new Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game for Windows PC that is set in the Forgotten Realms universe. PC gamers can pre-purchase the game now by heading here, and it's slated to hit retail stores sometime in 2015.
The big selling point with Sword Coast Legends is that one player can serve as the Dungeon Master, just like the tabletop version. That means this player controls the environment and the path the adventurers take. However, that doesn't mean the game sticks to a 4x1 formula. Active DMs can steer the adventure so that it's not only more fun for the players, but more lucrative in both experience and loot.
Nathan Stewart, Brand Director for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast, said on Friday that the former director of Dragon Age: Origins is on the team, as well as individuals who previously worked on the Neverwinter Nights and the Baldur's Gate series of PC games. Sword Coast Legends will also support Modules, thus extending the game's shelf life for years to come.
"We are huge D&D fans and are thrilled to create a modernized storytelling experience in the iconic Forgotten Realms universe," said Dan Tudge, President, n-Space. "Developing a new way to experience such a beloved and culturally influential franchise is a dream come true for our team."
According to the product page, Sword Coast Legends is based on the Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons ruleset and provides six character classes and five playable races. N-Space says that the game is a "return to form," meaning players will enjoy an old-school RPG that includes party-based "tactical combat," the ability to pause time, and an immersive storyline that should satisfy even the diehard pen-and-paper D&D fans.
Customers who love the extra bling when it comes to purchasing a game have plenty to choose from, as the game will ship in five different bundles. The digital pre-order pack consists of just the game, which costs $34.99, whereas the Digital Deluxe Edition costs $59.99 and includes lots of goodies including the soundtrack; the Tome of Knowledge; and the Order of the Burning Dawn cloak, armor, weapons and more.
The biggest bundle, the Limited Edition Collectors Campaign, costs a meaty $349.99 and includes everything in the Digital Deluxe Campaign edition along with several trinkets including a statue of Belaphose (which will have a pose determined by the community), a cloth map of the Sword Coast, headstart access and more. The second largest bundle, the Digital Deluxe Campaign edition costing $149.99, includes five copies of the game along with the stash of goods offered in the vanilla Digital Deluxe bundle.
Sword Cost Legends will be an interesting title to watch over the next several months. Currently, n-Space has a wide variety of games in its portfolio including Bug Riders: The Race of Kings and Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas, both for Windows PC. The studio's most recent games include Suits and Swords for iOS and Android, Skylanders: Swap Force for the Nintendo 3DS and Skylanders: Giants for the Nintendo 3DS.
As for Digital Extremes, the studio is probably best known for its work on the Unreal franchise, Warframe and BioShock. Perhaps we'll see a bigger glimpse into Sword Cost Legends this June during E3 2015.
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