Drakensang Online review: does “Diablo 3 in the browser” live up to the hype?

Drakensang is Friendster’s newest addition to its library of browser-based MMORPGs and is currently on the site’s top 10 games list. It is often dubbed “Diablo 3 in the browser”, which is one of the reasons why I was eager to review the game.

The world of Drakensang Online is one that takes place after the demise and near-extinction of several creatures, which have come back in force to haunt humanity. In a struggle for survival, these creatures have called upon forces to rampage against man and humanity needs its own heroes to step forward. That’s where you come in.

Gameplay and mechanics: It started with a clicking spree

In Drakensang Online, players have three initial classes to choose from. You may either be a Spellweaver, Dragonknight or Ranger. Although you are allowed to customize your character, there are only a few options to choose from so the appearance you can achieve is limited. The controls are fairly easy to understand. Most actions may be done using the left-click and you will always be prompted with a message in case you need to right click on anything.

Finding your way around the Drakensang Online world isn’t all that difficult, because aside from the world map, you also have the semi-transparent mini map, which you can toggle on or off. It may also be either on the left side of the screen or in the middle of the screen, which is somehow reminiscent of the Diablo series. I particularly like this feature because I don’t have to turn or zoom in and out of the mini map to figure out where I am.

Characters level up by killing monsters and finishing quests. Drakensang Online combines the field concept of open-world games and the dungeons of instance-based games. At first, it was pretty monotonous for me most probably because all I had to do was click and right click. It consisted mostly of farming monsters, picking up items, finishing quests and figuring out the items and equipment, but they’re mostly done through a monotonous routine of clicking and right clicking. Thankfully, things got more interesting as I got more skills. Although skills could be assigned to the number keys, I enjoyed being able to switch between two skills assigned to my right mouse button. I didn’t really have to aim as much as I would usually do with the non-targeted action RPG’s so it was quite boring during the first few sections of the game, but it got tactical as I progressed and then got more exciting from there. The addition of dungeons also makes things interesting. It breaks the continuous monster-killing on the open field.

One of the things I tried to do when I got to the field was to mob hordes of enemies. Mobbing is usually done by running around the map or field to find monsters to chase you. You continue doing this until you have a big mob of enemies after you, which you then kill off using area of effect (AoE) spells. This is usually a very imbalanced feature when it comes to games that require a lot of grinding. However, in Drakensang Online, I found out that this is not possible since the monsters will cease to chase you after a certain distance. I think this is good because it lessens the monotony of the game and forces players to find new and varying ways of leveling up or getting items.

Audio and visuals: setting the monstrous mood

The Verdict