Hazen: The Dark Whispers

[ASYLUM101]

Anyone heard of this game? Played it? I just saw it on steam today, kinda disappointed by the lack of MP/coop, but the pics look half way decent, and it's only 9 bucks.

[Jayaa]

Anyone heard of this game? Played it? I just saw it on steam today, kinda disappointed by the lack of MP/coop, but the pics look half way decent, and it's only 9 bucks.

I picked it up earlier today. The graphics are a bit cartoonish, but beautiful in their own way. The gameplay is "meh". I haven't gotten very fair with it yet, but; you can't choose the apperance or gender of your hero. Thus far no voice acting either. They kinda dropped you right in the middle of the game and I can't seem to find any backstory yet.

There only seems to be 5 (or 6?) skills in the three tress. I wouldn't really call them trees, actually. It's the standard warrior skills, wizard and archer. It appears that you need certain weapons in order to use those skills. Understandably. But it would be kind of nice to have my warrior toss out some spells. The website claims you can do just that. I don't see any way least I have a staff in my hand?

It's cheap, though. I could find some lasting value in it. If you're an action RPG fan (whicih I'm sure PLENTY of you are since you're here?) then is might be worth looking into. If the price was higher I'd say wait until there's far more of a definitive review. Again, I have only played all of 10-20 minutes of it. I'll be playing more, for sure.

Hopefully people have more to add! I just love the graphics of it, though. Even the starting gear seems pretty nifty.

[Renevent]

Just bought it...I'll report back soon :p

[Kardiophylax]

I just saw this on Steam tonight without ever hearing of it before.... first bad sign. I dug further and found some other issues that jump out.

The animations look over exaggerated based on the trailer I saw on gametrailers. Shooting the bow looked, well painfully slow, and swinging some of the weapons looked unrealistic to say the least. A lot of the video was of the same exact area on the map just demoing different spells that were less then impressive visually.

I do not see a forum or any type of discussion area on their site. The "Download" link on their site appears to do absolutely nothing. Also their FAQ says the game will release Q1 2009. Either a typo or they missed their deadline big time and haven't updated their site in a year.

The class system sounds overly generic. Warrior, Mage, or Archer paths, or a mix of all three. Hmm.... *yawn*.


In general it looks like what it is, a $8.99 title. It's no Grim Dawn killer, not even a Torchlight killer. The gametrailers folks tore into it pretty bad. I know a lot of people aren't into ARPGs these days, they are way too "cool" for them now. Yet somehow people play WoW endlessly, forever grinding the same bosses for gear that will be replaced with the next latest and greatest a few months later. It boggles my mind.

If some of you who bought it have other impressions, let me know. Right now it looks like a pass for me, similar to Loki and some other ARPGs that are dead and gone.

[ASYLUM101]

I do not see a forum or any type of discussion area on their site. The "Download" link on their site appears to do absolutely nothing. Also their FAQ says the game will release Q1 2009. Either a typo or they missed their deadline big time and haven't updated their site in a year.

The class system sounds overly generic. Warrior, Mage, or Archer paths, or a mix of all three. Hmm.... *yawn*.


Lol, that's what I was thinking. I tried checking their site out, but there's not much there haha. Broken site, outdated, ugly. So I just dropped the Q here to see if anyone had heard of it, cause I sure as hell haven't and I don't have time/money for that. If it's good, cool, if not I'll skip it like I did Greed.

As for Loki, lol. It's an interesting game, I played it for a bit, and some parts are really cool and interesting then others are just like ughhhhh. amirite?

[Renevent]

Feels like an unfinished tbh. The game has the most annoying controls ever...right button moves but you can't hold it down to keep running. Left button attacks but doesn't move...just feels so clunky. I dont see any hotkeys for the mouse so even the melee skills need to be used with the hotbar (unless I am missing something). Graphics are ok and it *looks* like it could be a bit of fun for under $10...but even after only 20mins of playtime it really feels underdeveloped.

I'll write a bit more when I get some more playtime in (the wife is cutting my gaming short tonight :p ) but at least for now I wouldn't recommend it. The controls or just teh suckage...

[Kardiophylax]

Feels like an unfinished tbh. The game has the most annoying controls ever...right button moves but you can't hold it down to keep running. Left button attacks but doesn't move...just feels so clunky. I dont see any hotkeys for the mouse so even the melee skills need to be used with the hotbar (unless I am missing something). Graphics are ok and it *looks* like it could be a bit of fun for under $10...but even after only 20mins of playtime it really feels underdeveloped.

I'll write a bit more when I get some more playtime in (the wife is cutting my gaming short tonight :p ) but at least for now I wouldn't recommend it. The controls or just teh suckage...

Sounds like stuff that should have been covered in some sort of tutorial or in-game manual. I'm guessing they skipped that though.

I double checked and the trailer I watched is 15 months old or so. I'm sure there have probably been some improvements since then. I guess I should have noticed, but it was their third "newest" news update from the top and I assumed they'd released it recently in anticipation of the game's release... bizarre.

The graphics look decent... in screenshots, but that old video was not impressive. I think I'd rather play and enjoy Din's Curse's innovations and the poor graphics then this, if I was itching for a new arpg to play today. As it stands though, I can wait for Grim Dawn and skip both.

[Jorlen]

Any more impressions on this? $9 on steam, I'm quite tempted, but there is very little press for this game.

EDIT: Hrm. Looks like some people aren't very happy with the game so far in this discussion (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1244857&highlight=hazen) on the steam forums.

Some comments:

"I got it, it works fine for me. The game really doesn't seem to be very well-developed though. You're basically thrown into an area with hoardes of skeletons, a merchant, a quest and a gambler. From there it's pretty much kill skeletons till you die, go back and buy stuff, etc. I can't see anything unique about it and not having the ability to move any other way than right-clicking every spot you want to walk to is getting pretty annoying. I haven't given it more than a 15 minute chance though, so I'll stop until someone tells me it gets better. I really have to stop buying games the day they come out."

"Basically all you need to do in this game is click beside a group of enemies and press "A" to attack the nearest skeleton or undead... Having said that I actually like the idea of pressing A over hovering over an enemy and clicking on it, seems to be a step in the right direction for normal attacks, certainly... but the game isn't even average. If the animations and graphics were touched up i'd say it would be that little bit more enjoyable but as is it's just not standing well."

Controls make or break a game of this type for me, because I'll be playing it a lot. Sounds like two things, not only are controls uncustomizable, and the defaults kinda blow. I'll keep me eye on this one and see if future patches fix it up. The game website is also very disappointing, with news dating back from last year, no forums, very little info. I expect the reviewers to rip this one a new a-hole unfortunately.

- Jorlen

[zidders]

I managed to play this game on a friends computer, and my advice is...don't get it.

The controls are buggy, the games overall plot is non-existant, and the simple fact of the matter is that there are a LOT more impressive 'free to play' action/rpg's out there to play. I can understand that with todays software, it's becoming easier and easier for people to develop games....but that doesn't mean that those games are going to be any good.

It's just another really half-assed action/rpg in a sea of really half-asses action/rpg's. It really sucks that some developers seem to think of this genre as a cheap and easy way to get their foot in the door.

This is why i'm looking forward to Grim Dawn...even if they aren't able to sink the funds into it that they were able to with Titan Quest, at least we're dealing with people who seem to honestly love the genre and want to make the best game they can. I'm sure there are a lot of other games they could have developed as their first title.

Hell, even if this is Crates attempt to get back on their feet, and are just falling back on something they've done before (im not implying that they ARE), I don't care. Runic did the same thing, and we got a really good action/rpg out of it...so what's wrong with Runic doing the same? They know what they're doing, and I know that we're gonna get a good game out of it.

Certainly one better looking and playing than this one.

[Perturabo]

Don't know - I bought it this afternoon and played it for a while. The controls are somewhat hard to get used to - not buggy but so very different. Standing with a melee in a crowd of enemies I just keep on pressing A - hoping there are no barrels or chests to destroy 'cause for some strange reason "A" prefers destroying them - even if that means crossing half the screen, passing some 50 enemies. The bosses are big and mean and definitly unfair. Just faced a giant spider that throws you to the ground or hurls you around rendering you helpless - even unable to drink a potion. After my 20 potions had gone to zero, I died some 20 or 30 times before being able to kill this beast. So having a stock of 100+ potions seems to be more than an option.
Can't call the game buggy, the only problems I encountered were some graphic bugs in the starting town. Walking with right is annoying at the beginning, but one might get used to it. Bottomline for me is that it's defenitly not worth its money. Maybe 5 bucks but 9 is still to much. What worries me most at the moment, is the following:

Hazen is split on four different Episodes. Every one of them will be a standalone game, so you don't need to have Episode 1 for instance to play the second one. However collecting all the parts will lead you to new challenges and secret places with quality rewards and interesting quest to solve. You will also have the opportunity to unlock some special events and go through the entire world.
Discover the beauty of episodically Hack'Slash game, a world that grows more and more (adding more content and features on each chapter (episode).
Expand the game downloading patches (adding content for each episode).

So this is not a complete game as we will see both the release of further parts (one will have to buy) and patches including more content. That the developer by now knows he will release more contet by patch instead of including it right from the start sounds like more DLC coming along the way :furious:

[Scryer]

I just purchased it, Avencast had some pretty Clunky controls with the whole WASD movement but I finally got used to it and beat the game.

But I took a chance with Trine and was very happy with the results, hoping for the same thing here.

[ASYLUM101]

But I took a chance with Trine and was very happy with the results, hoping for the same thing here.

What's that supposed to mean?

Trine has a lot of popularity, many good ratings and people talking. This... has nothing. Not even a proper website.

[Scryer]

What's that supposed to mean?

Trine has a lot of popularity, many good ratings and people talking. This... has nothing. Not even a proper website.

True, but I didn't read up on Trine at all, I saw it recommended on this site, saw it being sold for $5.00 on Steam and bought it, therefore I took a chance, this game Hazen is no different.

[MadWasp]

I think Hazen is better than Torchlight.
There is some good idea.Nice and smart quests especially after level 4+. Hard boss fights. Cool skeli, mobs gfx, 3d modelling, beautilful hi-res textures. However right move/left click attack is a pain solution. Skills are weak. There is no teleport(way back to home? No relicks nor runes, recipes. Unfortunatelly 1 sized equipment. (I prefer tetris.) Anyway great deal of equipment, and wide range of wariety, addictive collecting.

I'm testing it right now. Worth to try anyone who likes arpgs.

[heron]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASNr4nnYStc

looks decent.

[MadWasp]

Too short one. Not repetitive. Lifetime is 2 days. Not rewarding for months/years...

No scale of hardness. Only one normal difficulty.

Later bosses are just boring potion drinker parties. Final boss 200+ hp potions, with average war gear. :) You have to kill him 2x. As you cant kill an undead lord so simply... Second time is a nightmare....

staffs gives(in close combat!) lot better damage than two handed fighter equipment (sword/mace/hammer). It's laughable.

Maps are useless, there is no details. The game looks like basically beta.


Still TQ:IT king among arpgs nowadays!!!!!

[Kardiophylax]

Still TQ:IT king among arpgs nowadays!!!!!

It's good to be the king. ;)

Here's to Grim Dawn being the new king some day.

[MadWasp]

It's good to be the king. ;)

Here's to Grim Dawn being the new king some day.

I'm on it. :D
Roger that.

[heron]

Here's my review after defeating the first boss. (no spoilers)


action and pace of the game is slower than the normal H&S titles.
weird controls (cannot hold down button to move around, must use both for movement and attacks)
music mediocre so far
horrible typeface on the fonts
designs for the monsters, armors, weapons are not bad
no voice overs on the english version


Will add more later.

[MadWasp]

Here's my review after defeating the first boss. (no spoilers)


action and pace of the game is slower than the normal H&S titles.
weird controls (cannot hold down button to move around, must use both for movement and attacks)
music mediocre so far
horrible typeface on the fonts
designs for the monsters, armors, weapons are not bad
no voice overs on the english version


Will add more later.


What's up with this project? :)
Finished it off?

[heron]

I think the game is pretty good except for the controls.
Seriously, if they won't let us move with the mouse while holding down then at least have WASD for movement. All this clicking for movement plus attack gets super tedious after awhile.

Another thing, the camera rotation sensitivity is sluggish.

[ASYLUM101]

I guess I'll keep an eye on this game, in case someone makes a WASD mod or something to make it playable. I'm not gonna bother spamming my mouse click just to move.

[MadWasp]

I think the game is pretty good except for the controls.
Seriously, if they won't let us move with the mouse while holding down then at least have WASD for movement. All this clicking for movement plus attack gets super tedious after awhile.

Another thing, the camera rotation sensitivity is sluggish.

I played it with fixed camara view.

I prefer fixed visuals and concentrate fire to pure combat.

and oh yes the control was absolutelly terrible and always(too fast) spawning mobs too.

[Kardiophylax]

Based on the feedback I'm hearing, it sounds like $8 only bought a handful of somewhat entertaining hours. I think I'll go rent 8 movies instead. :)