Review – Dungeon Hunter: Alliance Review

It’s the second iPhone-game-in-a-PS-Vita-costume release to tumble our way from Ubisoft’s factory line and it’s every bit as depressing. Dungeon Hunter is a series born and bred on iOS but has tarted itself up for PS Vita with a new subtitle and PS buttons dotted around the UI. Oh come now, you spoil us, you really do.

In fairness, this trotted its stuff on PSN a year ago, so it’s not a complete shock to see Dungeon Hunter: Alliance hoping we have short memories for its Vita bow. It’s not a horrible game either. It’s essentially a Diablo clone of the walk through dungeons, slash at enemies, collect loot mould without ever threatening the dizzying heights of that game. Most games where you collect loot rub the Addictionus Maximus gland in most gamers, however gently, and Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is no different.

Still, tickling of the addiction gland does not a great game make and Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is definitely not a great game. Its biggest problem is how formulaic and dull it becomes. You can earn skills, level up, meet NPCs, take part in quests but you can also mash buttons, sigh at the generic fantasy monsters, note how everything looks the same and wonder if Dungeon Hunter: Alliance ever dares to put its foot down and stamp its own identity on the dungeon loot template. Spoiler: it doesn’t.

There’s nothing else here to recommend either. Visually it’s got too many scars of its multiple iOS-to-PSN-to-PS-Vita surgeries and the rearpad use is a token gesture rather than a gameplay revolution. Multiplayer should be okay, as boredom tends to be when shared with more than one person rather than suffering alone, but we suspect the community for Dungeon Hunter: Alliance will sag soon after its release. We couldn’t find anyone for our day one hack and slashing.

Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is a bland port of a bland game doing bland things on an exciting system. Nothing else to see here. Move along.

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