Numen: Contest of Heroes

[Kardiophylax]

Anyone tried Numen: Contest of Heroes yet? It's probably not anything special, but I noticed it for sale on impulse when I was looking around today. Steam does not appear to carry it as of yet.

http://www.impulsedriven.com/numen (http://www.impulsedriven.com/numen)

People are saying its somewhat Titan Quest-esque, but I don't know. The action looks a little slow from the videos I've seen so far. A lot of fireball slinging. Granted, the gameplay footage is from early on. The trailer I saw was useless. It seemed to be using some artificial time slowdowns and awful music.

Youtube gameplay video I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCeWeQELoWs

Price is $30, a bit steep for an unknown title. Looks way better than then Hazen though.



EDIT: Found a few FAQs on the game. Apparently it is more like World of Warcraft (but make no mistake, this is a SINGLE player game) in its combat, according to their developers, and less like TQ. I suspect what they mean by that is less enemies to kill but each enemy takes more damage/requires more strategy. Here are a few excerpts that may be of interest:

Could you talk about how the combat in the game works?

The combat is not hack’n’slash like in Diablo or Titan Quest. It’s more like offline World of Warcraft. There are over 80 unique abilities in the game - many of them are very specific and have to be used in special ways to maximize their potential. The player has to inspect his opponents and pick his fights.

Can you talk about some of the RPG elements in the game? Are you using the traditional elements or are you changing things up a bit?

The character you play has a basic set of common stats such as intellect, strength or dexterity. As you level up you those are raised automatically but you also get several points to allocate as you see fit. By using weapons or spells you get more proficient at it – if, for example, you keep casting fire spells, your fire magic skill will go up and when it’s high enough it can trigger Fire magic mastery which gives you additional bonuses.


Each god can bestow powers and gifts, can you talk about some of the specifics and do you have a personal favorite?

Some of the gifts are obvious – for example Poseidon can teach his hero spells that are of water or healing nature; while, on the other hand, those who follow Hades will be able to resurrect themselves or even drain energy from dead bodies. My favorite would probably be Water Affinity which makes your spell stronger when casting from water, Brilliancy which allows you to draw magic power from light, Reopen wounds which does exactly what it says or Luck of the brave – you sacrifice a large part of your hit points but get very high chance of finding great loot.

[ttangx]

I saw this a couple of days a while back and didn't think much of it, if you decide to the take the jump and buy it mind reporting back what you find?

The description makes it sound a bit more interesting, a bit like Borderlands?

[Renevent]

I saw this game a few months ago and it looked cool...but it fell off my radar and I thought the game was vaporware. Will have to check it out :)

Someone needs to be the guinea pig! I think I did the last 2-3 games haha!

*edit*

So not much info out there...but a few people at gamespot seem to like it...which is usually a good sign lol.

*edit 2*

So I found the main site:

http://numen.akella.com/

What worries me is the game is released yet there isn't any news since 2009...which (like I found out with the last game I bought) can mean bad news. Also, their forums seem to be down as well (either overloaded or just broken).

[Kardiophylax]

I saw this a couple of days a while back and didn't think much of it, if you decide to the take the jump and buy it mind reporting back what you find?

Hehe, you must have me mistaken for someone with deeper pockets. :) I'm a bit leery of this one and still on the fence. I don't think it will be like Borderlands (which I have). If it is really like World of Warcraft style games, then I expect a lot of cooldowns and spells with casting times that require you to stay still. Based on the gameplay shown of the caster using fireballs, I suspect it could be. I noticed that there isn't much run and gun going on, instead the caster just stands there casting spells at enemies that are right in his face.


So not much info out there...but a few people at gamespot seem to like it...which is usually a good sign lol.

I noticed that. So far the word is some of the quests are hard to understand. I'm not sure if this due to translation (developer is from the Czech Republic) or something else.

I wish people would comment more on the actual gameplay. That alone will make or break the game in my opinion and from what I've seen so far it looks a tad too slow for me.


EDIT: Yeah, that worried me about Hazen too. This one at least has a forum link, though as you said, it's down. $30 is probably too steep for me to take a gamble with right now.

[Renevent]

I might take the plunge...the only thing stopping me is I am getting Red Dead Redemption on Tuesday so too many game purchases will piss the wifey off lol.

Well that and after Hazen turned out to be a total bomb I am a bit weary about purchasing a game like this (so little info). I don't mind lesser known games, but Hazen was simply unfinished and I don't want to drop $30 on a game that won't be supported.

I wish Impulse had forums for each game like Steam :(

[Kardiophylax]

Red Dead Redemption looks pretty good. Hope it comes to PC at some point down the road.

Found another video, I guess it's in Czech, but it appears to be someone talking to the developer and some gameplay footage.

The footage seems to be confirming it as a very World of Warcraft esque combat system. I believe that will make this a pass from me. Oh well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdYWM0VODjA&feature=related

[Renevent]

I actually liked WoW and a SP game with some of it's mechanics sounds cool to me :D

The thing that worries me with these game sites with outdated info seems to be that the devs went under and the games are just being pushed out "as-is" by the publishers.

*edit*

Just purchased it...gonna go cook dinner while it's downloading I'll report my findings later :p

(I have no willpower)

[Kardiophylax]

Just purchased it...gonna go cook dinner while it's downloading I'll report my findings later :p

(I have no willpower)

LOL! Good luck!

[Renevent]

Okay! Put in about an hour and a half...it's an interesting game. The description was correct in that it plays like a single player MMO of sorts. You run around (WASD or with mouse) getting quests and going off to explore the local area. Fighting is MMO like in that you 'engage' an enemy and use abilities while standing there trading blows. I can't comment on how good the system is yet as in the game you start out as a kid with limited skills so your options are limited. It seems pretty standard though so with more skills I think it will get interesting.

The world looks like it is setup in 'chunks' with a base area and a decent size explorable area surrounding it. The town/village functions as a quest hub and and of course the outside area the place to explore and solve quest. So far quests range from kill x of y and/or collect z, find some item(s), and things like that. There's also a main story which drives the game and it seems decent. Only in the second area so not sure if the game opens up more eventually as of course still early to tell.

The story is kinda cool and I like how you start out as a kid trying to prove yourself, but it constantly sabotages itself with what I assume are mistakes from translating the game. Weird stuff too...like the main quest has you doing stuff with your sister, and half the time she is referred to as your brother, then in the next sentence it says sister again...lol. I'm not a big story/dialog guy but that's pretty sloppy.

Can't comment too much on the item system yet...still a kid and looks like most stuff is locked out for now. Only can wear rags and stuff but from what I can tell there's a system with random affixes/bonuses for items. Looks like theres a crafting system too (I'm finding materials).

Graphics are decent and do the job. It looks clean and the animations are good. Nothing amazing but imo it's serviceable and runs nice and smooth.

Sound effects sound ok but are perhaps too sparse. That and the music (while not bad) isn't that exciting so from an audio perspective it's a bit dull.

It's ok so far, it kinda reminds me of the summoner games a little bit which is cool. Some rough edges here and there but if the game opens up a bit I think it could be very enjoyable...but I think I need more time with the game before I can recommend it...at least it's not as bad as Hazen :D

[Kardiophylax]

Thanks for the early comments. It sounds like it's at least a decent title, if not phenomenal. I hope they diversify the quests later though, because, yeah collection quests get old fast even if an MMO when you're powering through them. I'm hoping the game will start having quests similar to some of the better questlines in WoW later on.

Let us know how it goes.

[ttangx]

Just purchased it...gonna go cook dinner while it's downloading I'll report my findings later :p

(I have no willpower)

Haha, sounds like me except I have no more budget left for games :(

A Single Player WoW does sound interesting and if you find the game enjoyable, I may have to adjust my budget a little :D

[xaliava]

any1 found a minotaur yet ? his labyrinth is just endless...

[Jorlen]

I might take the plunge...the only thing stopping me is I am getting Red Dead Redemption on Tuesday so too many game purchases will piss the wifey off lol.

Well that and after Hazen turned out to be a total bomb I am a bit weary about purchasing a game like this (so little info). I don't mind lesser known games, but Hazen was simply unfinished and I don't want to drop $30 on a game that won't be supported.

I wish Impulse had forums for each game like Steam :(

Was thinking the same thing. On all levels. Including the pissing off the wife thing (specially considering I pre-ordered RDR and just bought a new vid card yesterday).

This does look interesting. They should release a demo.

From your impressions it looks like the localization wasn't done very well. It seems this game doesn't exactly hand out quest items and locations, so hopefully these errors in translation won't affect quest outcome, etc.

How free of bugs is it? I'm very much tempted to pick this up. Your impressions are basically the only ones I can find on tha intarwebs.

[Batman]

I had a go at this Numen thing........

I remember hearing about it a long time ago and, as others have said, it seemed to drop off the radar for a while.

Having never played WoW, I have no point of reference there. Probably a good thing!!

First off, I hate WASD controls in rpg games but, seeing as the alternative is scroll button controlled, I'll put up with the WASD.

The game looks quite nice, if a little washed out in it's art style..
The sound stood out for it's absence. I cannot remember a single sound effect in the game. Nothing impressive there then.
The combat I found to be a little laborious. You can only attack one critter at a time, although numerous critters can attack you. More emphasis on tactics and waiting for the right moment here.
Items. Yes, there is loot!!! I was a little surprised to find that the vendors in the starting area were selling level 72 items, especially as I was level 1 at the time. But wait! I wasn't level 1, I was actually level 12 as the game takes your characters. age as your level. But still, level 72 items in the starting area? That's just a tease.
When you take a quest, don't expect to be told where to go. The quest-giver seems to think that you designed this game and therefore know where everything is.

I may well give this a few more hours of play.
Or I may just invest that valuable gametime in Just Cause 2.

Either way, I don't think it's worth the $30 price tag. Wait a month or so and it'll be a lot cheaper.

[MadWasp]

Always respawning enemies in Numen (mmo effect) is very annoying! It's Very boring too. (4 me)
The graphical environment/some loot/equipment are the only pros for this game. That is beautiful, the rest is against (the playing mechanism I hate mmo perception/feelin' -but just me).

I prefer single player style fight: player versus monsters. (Some kind of Story/plot guided line iz good.)
(where slayed ones stay on floor in their own pool of blood) and player feel advancement...If i go back and everything live again/as respawned/(like in an mmo) I feel i did not do anything and I lost my interest immediatelly)

[xaliava]

any1 found the way in labyrinth who leads to minotaur ??

[ttangx]

any1 found the way in labyrinth who leads to minotaur ??

Haha, I'm sorry I just find this hilarious. You're lost in the labyrinth? :D

[xaliava]

Haha, I'm sorry I just find this hilarious. You're lost in the labyrinth? :D

OH yes ! thats one crazy labyrinth with no map !

[heron]

The gameplay is smooth.
The publisher is akella, same as disciples 3.
So far it's a decent game, nothing revolutionary yet.

[Renevent]

The publisher is akella, same as disciples 3..

Holy crap...where the hell is that game? I was looking forward to it like a year ago and I haven't heard anything about it in ages...completely forgot about it :rolleyes:

[Perturabo]

As far as I know, Disciples 3 hasn't been published outside eastern Europe. Had the possibility to play it once and been waitin for it's official release ever since :D

[Renevent]

I love the original games...very fun. I was just reading around and it seems the RU version was buggy and lacked a lot of features, and they are sprucing up the game before releasing in NA...or something like that :D

[heron]

Holy crap...where the hell is that game? I was looking forward to it like a year ago and I haven't heard anything about it in ages...completely forgot about it :rolleyes:

disciples 3 is only in russian, you can check it out over on youtube but I think someone made a english patch for it.

[Perturabo]

someone made a english patch for it.

Which is basically nothing else than a translation via online translator. Have seen it and it's just total crap, especially since every third sentence I read still had russian words in it. Will buy it when it finally get's published, which should be in mid june according to amazon (german version is due to release on june 24th).

[xaliava]

guys answer about minotaur and labyrinth !!!

[OveMelaa]

I tried it. The game was way to slow paced for me. There is plently of items to find tho... To much walking around and doing nothing... Also the skill system in the game did not work for me... it was not appealing at all. Tho i think somone might like this game. It has much potential if your into a slower Action-RPG.

[heron]

after more playing, the game seems a bit dull?! anyone feeling the same?!

[Roland]

Thanks for the reminder, wasn't aware it was available for download/purchase anywhere.

I'll give it a go...I enjoy casually messing with different ARPGs :)

Someday I will finish Loki and Legend:Hand of God lol