Dungeon Hunter 2 Review

Even though Diablo is one of the greatest PC RPG franchises known to gaming we've yet to see any Blizzard-sponsored Diablo titles pop up on iOS. In lieu of that Gameloft steps in with their Dungeon Hunter franchise, which lets players pick up a weapon, raid some lairs and pick up a whole lot of loot along the way. It's a tried-and-true formula for sure, but it's one gamers still enjoy after all these years. Now Dungeon Hunter 2 has arrived and while it offers a solid experience it doesn't really push any boundaries or offer anything you haven't seen before.

Dungeon Hunter 2 follows the traditional mechanics of choosing a character class, grabbing a weapon and then proceeding to wail on enemies in the hopes that better loot will pop out of their corpse once they've been dispatched. The whole game boils down to trying to find better loot, or completing quests in the hopes that you will be rewarded with a shiny new sword or enough cash to snatch up that enchanted gauntlet you've had your eye on. It's the same thing we've been doing for decades and Dungeon Hunter 2 offers no new thrills.

The same goes for the obligatory leveling system and skill progression, as players once again dump points into attributes and special talents in the name of becoming the ultimate wrecking machine. Once more the game offers a truly vanilla experience, falling into all the familiar ruts and rhythms established by the genre. Though the title boasts several hours worth of content the harsh reality is that after you've played for an hour or two you've already seen most of what Dungeon Hunter 2 has to offer.

On top of the uninspired gameplay sits a healthy collection of bugs and glitches, all of which never should have made it into the final build. Whether it's characters continually swinging a weapon at an unbreakable barrel (because they're standing in the wrong spot) or the whole game suddenly crashing for no reason, there are plenty of technical flaws that should have been hammered out by the QA team. For a high-profile title this has all the trappings of a budget game, which is truly unfortunate.

The only real high point to Dungeon Hunter 2 are the visuals, and even they aren't all that impressive. Levels are nicely detailed, and whenever you equip your hero with new equipment it actually shows up on the model in the game. Even so, the characters still suffer from Gameloft's love of chunky, angular modeling, making most people look ugly and causing some pretty stiff animation. It's basically in line with what Gameloft does every time they release a game, so if you've played one of their previous titles you know what you're in for.

When it comes right down to it Dungeon Hunter 2 is too bland, too predictable and too expensive to recommend. While we all want to see Diablo come to iOS this is a clear case where we shouldn't accept a lesser substitute, and Dungeon Hunter 2 is better off being vanquished into the pit of a thousand sorrows.