When you think of action RPGs like Diablo and Dungeon Siege, you'll probably think of a swords and sorcery type setting featuring dwarves and dragons, but how about one based on a 1964 Russian sci-fi/fantasy novel with political undertones?
In Hard to be a God, based on the book of the same name, two planets have taken divergent paths. One is essentially medieval in nature, while the other is much more recognisable as a modern Earth. As an agent from the modern planet, you're sent to investigate the other -- armed with modern technology.
Thunderbolt writes: "To save running over old ground, may we direct you to our Hard to be a God preview, because not a lot seems to have changed since ploughing through the early code for a glimpse of what was to come. When given the chance to view games before release you have forgive the lack of presentation and instead take what lies after it. Usually the AI won't have been fully coded, there may be clipping issues and not all features will work as expected. Sadly, I didn't realise that Hard to be a God had been decided on the seemingly unfinished preview."
Hard to be a God,the upcoming sci-fi/fantasy RPG from Akella, has some big shoes to fill. Not only is it based on a novel by the Strugatsky brothers, it's the second game adapted from the Russian sci-fi giants' work in recent years, following on GSC Game World's hit STALKER: Shadows of Chernobyl. Recently, Denis Epifanov was kind enough to talk to Gaming Target about the upcoming release.
Avid Gamer writes:
"We respect that Akella are a smaller studio, but a better effort needs to be made if they wish to succeed. They haven't made a bad game, but simply one which falls into convention and makes no effort to shout 'look at me.' Instead Hard to be a God huddles up in its comfort zone. The game is easily playable and technically stable but could have been improved with an extra couple months of polish or better planning."
