dothack Infection is part one of a four part RPG set in a MMORPG gone wrong. Parts of the game world are becoming corrupted, and people are going into comas. One of your friends has had this happen while playing the game, and you enter to find out what has happened to them.
Check out the Segment7 Guide to dothack which includes information on raising grunties and enemies found throughout the game..
One player, 12 named savegame slots, requires 658K, vibration and, analog control.
Support widescreen at 480p.
Included with the game is a 45 minute anime movie that elaborates some of the background of the game. It doesn't contain any spoilers, so you can watch it before starting the game.
Rated T for mature sexual themes, mild language and violence.
When you start the game, you are presented with a desktop screen, where you can check email, read the news, or play with various backgrounds on your desktop. You can earn more backgrounds through playing the game.
Inside "The World", the MMORPG, there is a bulletin board where you can read up on events inside The World, and learn some back-story. You'll find hints about where to find special items, mini-games, and plot information.
Your character is a Twin Blade (you don't get to pick your class), and you'll meet Blademasters, Heavy Axemen, Heavy Blades, Long Arms, and Wavemasters. Twin Blades and Long Arms have moderate skill ability, Blademasters, Heavy Axemen and Heavy Blades hit harder, but have less skill ability, and Wavemasters have high skill ability, but don't hit very hard. There are a variety of weapons and armor to equip, each allowing you to use different skills.
Instead of magic, dothack has skills. By equiping various weapons and armor, you'll recieve the ability to cast various "spells" or perform special attacks. Skills may fall under eight different element types, where monsters of a particular element are harmed by a particular counter element.
You can buy and sell items from stores, or trade with other characters. You can also upgrade some items at springs outside of town.
If you're not strong enough to finish a plot-line area, you can instead just run around in a regular area to gain experience. You are able to invite other people you've met in the game to travel around with you to help you on your quests.
Midway through the game you get to breed grunties which can either trade with you like another NPC for very cheap, or let you zip across the areas of the map danger-free. You collect grunty food from the game areas then feed the grunty to customize it.
dothack is a fun game, but there is no flexibility to the plot-line, so you aren't able to go about plot events your own way. The pacing is good, and the real world/game world events mix things up quite a bit, and add to the mystery. I also like how you can simply run off level up on your own, outside of the plot.
I will be buying parts 2, 3, and 4.