If you think a mashup of steampunk Homeworld and giant flying lizards sounds like an awesome idea, then you need to check out Dragon Commander, the strategy/RPG crossover in the works at Divine Divinity developer Larian Studios.
I like to imagine that it went something like this: while kicking around ideas for a new game, some guy at Larian piped up and said, “You know what would be cool? Something like Homeworld… but steampunk!” And then some other guy said, “Yeah… and with DRAGONS!” And then everyone else at the table threw up their arms and cheered, and they all went out and got smashed on Hoegaarden.
That scenario may be entirely fictional but the game, at least as it appears in this brief announcement trailer, most definitely is not. Dragon Commander is set in Larian’s Divinity universe but instead of a heroic fantasy RPG, the new game will be a combination of turn-based strategy and role-playing in “an original Art Nouveau/Steampunk world.” Players will step into the boots of the legendary Dragon Knights, leading massive armies of technology and magic in a quest to conquer the Empire.
“We’ve been dreaming about a project like this for many years, and fresh from the success of our latest game we realized that there is nothing that holds us back any longer. The new game blends together our favorite genres and themes, something that is not easy – but the resulting gameplay experience is very rewarding, and it’s also a lot of fun to make,” said Dragon Commander Game Director Swen Vincke. “We have role-playing, we have strategy, we have exploration… and we have plenty of dragons. We also feel that we have finally discovered how dragon combat can work well in a game. We’re pretty much breaking new ground here, and we’re very much determined to surprise the players with what we’ll offer in this game!”
Let me say this one more time, just so we’re all clear: turn-based steampunk Homeworld with dragons. With dragons! You better believe I’m going to be all over this one. First details on Dragon Commander will be revealed at Gamescom, which runs from August 17 to 19 in Cologne, Germany, and in the meantime you can find out a little bit more on Facebook or at larian.com/dragoncommander. Dragon Commander is expected to come out sometime in 2012 for the PC and consoles.
