Dungeon Hunter: Alliance

Much like Asphalt: Injection, Gameloft’s other PlayStation Vita launch title, Dungeon Hunter: Alliance isn’t a visual powerhouse. It’s evident that both games are merely iOS ports with minimal enhancements. Needless to say, it doesn’t come close to using the device to its full potential.

The most notable visual drawback found here is a lack of definition. Character models tend to have a minor blur effect about them, and most of the environments are repetitive. While it’s nice to be able to go into a forest and other areas without being stuck inside of one specific dungeon, certain ones blend together. It’s a rather simple yet serviceable design, which can be partially attributed to the randomized environments that must be generated. Still, the game should look better than this on such a powerful handheld.

This dungeon crawling production could have been more efficiently optimized, which leads to thought that more time in-development wouldn’t have been a bad thing. What we’re treated to is a button-mashing experience that doesn’t lack frame rate and screen tearing issues. It simply can’t handle the amount of enemies who frequently dot the screen. Also, when the speed boost ability is blessed onto the player, the game stutters as it tries to keep up with that enhanced movement speed.

If one word had to be used to describe the audio presentation found within this cartridge (or digital download file,) it would be lackluster. What’s there is once again serviceable, but it’s far from being noteworthy or impressive. The same sound effects are used over and over again, and even they tend to lack fidelity. Something resembling both a slash and a splat is used to create the effect of fantastical weaponry hitting its target. This happens to be the main sound byte that is used for melee attacks and it’s very basic, without much quality. In fact, it sounded like there were hints of static in it at times.

In many ways, Dungeon Hunter: Alliance feels outdated, and this is one of the most obvious. Not only does it lack a great variety of sound effects; it also tends to feature basic orchestral music. Adding onto that is a lack of real voiceover work, as the only time it ever pops up is in the background. Characters may speak a brief one-liner as you pass, but that happens to be about it. Their speech bubbles are always just that – text. Sure, the writing is half-decent, but the world ends up feeling less alive than it could have without these elements being implemented or focused upon.

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is a relatively simplistic and uninspired experience, which ends up being forgettable. It doesn’t push the proverbial envelope, delivering a game that is far from a must-play. Not only that - it also fails to take full advantage of the handheld’s capabilities, proving to be more of a poorly optimized port than anything else.

In the end, it’s tough to recommend Gameloft’s dungeon crawler to most gamers. The people who will get the most out of it are also the ones who will dissect its parts the most, and that happens to be hardcore RPG audience. Those folks will be wise to how this is a rather mediocre and very overpriced release at its $40 price point. Why Ubisoft would decide to ask that amount of money for a game that previously retailed for much less is tough to gauge, but it makes Dungeon Hunter: Alliance harder to recommend. This experience certainly doesn’t compete with a lot of the other Vita launch titles, some of which cost far less than it does.