• Video

Shadow Realms senior producer explains the 4v1 online RPG mechanics

BioWare Austin took Shadow Realms to PAX Prime, which offered Shacknews an ample opportunity to ask more about what the 4v1 action RPG entails.

Ozzie Mejia

September 16, 2014 2:30 PM

2

The You've Been Chosen campaign that tossed out unusual teasers ultimately led to the reveal of BioWare Austin's latest project, the 4-v-1 online action RPG known as Shadow Realms. While there remains a lot of mystery behind the upcoming effort, Shacknews had the opportunity to ask about it during PAX Prime.

"The core gameplay is very much around this 4-versus-1 co-op experience; four heroes competing against a player-driven Shadow Lord," senior producer Dallas Dickinson told Shacknews. "So a lot of the combat in the game, in fact, all of the combat in the game, takes place in these cooperative matches. But there's a whole other aspect of the game, which is the story. All of the other things you do in a standard RPG, your progression, choosing new abilities, going to vendors, doing crafting, that all takes place in a single-player instance. So you kind of go back and forth between the single-player instance for your deep story and your choices and then to get into the actual gameplay, to earn your experience, to earn your gold, to earn your rewards, you jump into the co-op."

To learn more about the in-game aspects of Shadow Realms, including the ways in which the player-controlled Shadow Lord can affect the playing field and the ways in which the four-player party must work together to succeed, be sure to watch the full video interview below. Shadow Realms is expected to release on PC by the end of 2015.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?