Why You Can Trust CNET Dungeon Hunter 4 review: Epic gameplay if you have the patience
While Dungeon Hunter 4 has all the elements to make it a great action RPG, the freemium model can be so aggressive that it gets in the way of enjoying the game.
Dungeon Hunter 4 (iOS|Android) is the latest installment from Gameloft's popular hack-and-slash RPG franchise, and it gets a lot of things right but may discourage some with an aggressive in-app purchase model.
Dungeon Hunter 4
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
All the right ingredients
As hack-and-slash Diablo-like RPGs go, Dungeon Hunter is one of the best franchises in the genre for smartphones. Set in a medieval fantasy setting, you'll be charged with picking from four character classes, then fighting your way through hordes of demons. You can choose from two ranged classes that include a bow-wielding Sentinel or a spell-casting Warmage. On the melee side you can be standard knight called a Battleworn, or a two-weapon-wielding Blademaster. Each of the classes have separate skill trees with unique attacks and passive enhancements that give the game replay value as you try each class.
Dungeon Hunter 4 follows a mostly linear storyline with quests that move you through the game. While you can explore the map that's available to you, parts will be blocked off until you complete your current quest chain. There are also side-quests you'll find on your journey, but they tend to revolve around either defending an NPC against several enemies, or going into a small dungeon (that's the same wherever you are) and defeating the enemies there. But even with the somewhat repetitive side quests, different themed areas give you some variation while you explore.
To succeed in Dungeon Hunter 4, you'll need to constantly upgrade your character as well as the weapons and clothing you find. Every time your hero levels up, you'll be able to spend a skill point on your class skills. One of the Sentinel's power attacks, for example, shoots three arrows at once, and the more points you have in that skill, the more damage it will do. How you spend your points can make or break your character, so focusing on specific powers makes a huge difference in the game.
The game uses a gem system for upgrading weapons and armor. You'll find items that have available open slots where you can place the same shaped gem. Gems give you bonuses to attack damage, add fire damage, and other elemental attack types, along with healing and mana-replenishing abilities. Just like skills, how well you survive out in the world also relies on how you enhance your items with the right balance of attacking and defensive attributes.
To add still another common RPG element, you can craft items with elemental stones you find in the world. Unfortunately, the stones are few and far in between, so even crafting your first weapon will be when you are well into the game.
The freemium model rears its ugly head
Even with all the ingredients for a great hack-and-slash RPG, Dungeon Hunter 4 has one big issue: the freemium model constantly bugs you to spend real money. The currency you can buy in the game are diamonds and come in several tiered packages, depending on how much real money you want to spend. Upgrades have timers, but if you spend a few diamonds you can upgrade immediately. Want to remove a gem from an item? It will take five minutes, but you can always spend diamonds to speed up the process. As I played the game in testing, it really started to feel like everything in the game was for sale.
It's not just upgrades. You also can buy powerful equipment and unlock skill slots to make your character unstoppable. I've never liked when developers let users buy their way to the top of any game, but Dungeon Hunters 4 is particularly shameless in getting you to part with your money for a little more power. Even during loading screens the game will advertise items you might want, but like everything else, it will cost you real cash.
The single most egregious in-app purchase element, however, has to do with healing potions. You start the game with three healing potions, but if you use one, it doesn't regenerate for eight hours. Eight hours! Healing potions are a big part of staying alive in a hack-and-slash game, so you will definitely need them. But once your three healing potions have been exhausted, you'll need to spend 20 (you guessed it) diamonds to get more if you're unwilling to wait through the recharge time.
Conclusion
Dungeon Hunter 4 has all the right elements for a great action RPG, but suffers from aggressive advertising of in-app purchases. I was able to play the game fairly well without spending a cent, but there were definitely rough patches where I felt underpowered, and the only way to improve my character was to spend some real coin. Eventually I got past the rough patch (with a lucky drop of a powerful weapon), but be aware this game will tempt you at every corner to pay for shortcuts.
Frankly, I would rather the developers charge me $9.99 up front to do away with all the in-app purchase shenanigans. In other words, this game would be worth an inflated price (compared to most apps) if it weren't so underhanded in the ways it tries to take your money.
Still, if you're a hack-and-slash RPG fan and love leveling up, upgrading items and skills, and battling your way through an epic fantasy storyline, Dungeon Hunter 4 has it all. But along with the class skills you obtain in the game you're going to need to learn another important skill: patience.