Focus Interactive took some to show off their wares this E3 with such titles as Sherlock Holmes, Blood Bowl, Of Orcs and Men, and their featured co-op title Realms of Ancient War by Wizarbox. The fantasy set action RPG contains 2 player local co-op where you and a friend will travel through distinct environments battling hundreds of relentless enemies on screen at once. The best thing about it? Finally being able to do this on a console.
There is a distinct lack of action rpgs on consoles, with Sacred 2, Torchlight, and Crimson Alliance barely fulfilling the genre requirements for console players. Realms of Ancient War was described to me as ‘Diablo on a console’. Now I played Diablo on the original Playstation over a decade ago but RAW is a very game and is doing some really cool things. First of all, they answer the number one complaint we all have with these types of games on consoles - how can I play this without a keyboard and mouse? RAW maps attacks and skills to the face buttons, with active skills throwing out massive attacks of devastation across the screen. With the flick of the right analog stick a second set of four skills appears and all of them can be mapped to your choosing. It may seem trivial to the common gamer, but control in an action rpg is the difference between life and death.
Another really interesting idea is the incarnation ability which allows players to posses certain enemies and play as them. We fought an giant ent and managed to get his health down to almost nil, but then were able to hop in the big tree man and start wrecking the forest up. It was a nice touch and something we never saw before so kudos to them for trying something new.
Like most co-op games, playing alone is fine but the proper way to play is with a friend. A warrior, rogue, and mage are all at your disposal to tear through a hefty ten hour campaign that spans across thirty different levels in four unique environments. Realms of Ancient War will scratch that itch that console gamers have while they watch their PC friends play Diablo 3. It releases later this fall on XBLA, PSN, and PC for the very reasonable price of $10.
Watch the video interview below where Thomas Barru of Focus Home Interactive walks us through a level:
