Shocking only the nerdiest of us watching, a brand new Dungeons & Dragons game was announced at The Game Awards. While not surprising on its own, what really tipped the scales was the fact that this latest game would be returning players to the legendary setting of Icewind Dale. Could this be the sequel to the classic series that fans have always wanted?
That's probably unlikely. As you can see in the trailer, this almost looks like Vermintide instead of a CRPG. Still, just hearing the mention of Icewind Dale makes Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance sound incredible. It's been a long time since Black Isle Studios took players to those frosted lands, but the series has never been forgotten.
The trailer, though? That's gonna be a big oof from me. This showed basically nothing of how the actual game will play and it was very strangely edited. What's with the tracking shots from the edge of the weapons? Why is the music so grungy? Is this really the best way to represent a traditional RPG?
There's a very real chance that this new game could be a sequel to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. It would make sense with the name and description. Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is said to be a cooperative hack and slash that will pit players against hordes of enemies. The PS2 era Baldur's Gate games did just that.
It's hard to tell because of how little this trailer really does show. With developer Snowblind Studios having closed in 2012, it's not like anyone from the original team is working on this new game. As was revealed during the show, Wizards of the Coast and Tuque Games are working on this.
After the excitement of the Icewind Dale name wore down, what can you even spot from this trailer? It doesn't look like anything is being rendered in-game, which is always a bad sign. Then again, maybe the title isn't coming out until 2021. Hopefully, we'll see more of this game in short order. It would be strange to leave such an awesome sounding combination of franchises to pure mystery.