Starting life as an Xbox console RPG, Doom & Destiny has set its sights on targeting a new, more mobile, audience, by becoming available on your Nokia Lumia.
Released in 2011, Doom & Destiny (the console version) has proven to be a successful Role Playing Game (RPG), receiving four stars out of five from over a thousand reviews and ratings from players.
The Windows Phone version has received much of the same praise, receiving four and a half stars out of five, but from a markedly reduced rating count. However, it’s only been available for a couple of months, so that’s to be expected.
When you first play Doom & Destiny, you’ll notice it has a Japanese feel to it, quite similar to Final Fantasy of the 16bit era.
As you start out, you discover that you play a group of four friends who love RPGs, which is ironic, considering you’re playing one. The opening scenes find you looking for a friend who’s gone missing in a fantasy world full of danger, mixed in with some comedy along the way.
OK, maybe comedy is too strong a word to use, but they try.
As you look for your lost friend you encounter beasts that must be slain. Fortunately, each of your friends has a specialty. The warrior, magus, ninja, and of course, the pirate, all have their own abilities that will prove useful on the battlefield.
Well, I’ve yet to find the strength in the pirate, but the magus has a kick-ass magic missile!
As you navigate this dark, mystical environment, you will find items that will be useful; such as pizza for restoring health, and wine which does the same. But you’ll also find weapons in the form of old bones, a hammer or a shovel – even a 2×4 plank of wood. If you can swing it, it’ll knock the head off of a killer-skeleton – so use it.
At many points in the game you’ll read tombstones, or posters, that will often have funny, witty, light-hearted text on them, often causing the characters to back and forth with a whimsical banter. Sometimes it misses the mark, but mostly it’s a nice break from slashing monsters and wandering around a dungeon hacking monsters.
Although, hacking monsters if quite fun. Once locked in combat, you decide whether your characters have enough health to stay and fight or to escape. You can also choose whether to use your weapons or to use any skills you may have; like those magic missiles I mentioned earlier.
Controlling your characters is somewhat, erm, different. For the most part, moving around is really simple. Just place your thumb somewhere on the left side of the screen and move it in the direction you want to go, as if you were using a control stick on for Xbox controller.
Picking up items and interacting with the environment is easy, too. Just press somewhere on the right side of the screen.
However, looking at inventory items and character info can be a little tricky. Rather than pressing the screen with your right thumb, you need to plant it down and flick left, right, or down. Each movement will perform a different task, and once in that menu, you’ll need to use the left thumb to scroll between items.
That said, the game is quite fun and totally worth the FREE price tag that Doom & Destiny is marked with. Just ignore some of the typos you’ll find in the game.
Doom & Destiny is available for Nokia Lumia 800, Lumia 900, Lumia 820 and Lumia 920.
What do you think of Doom & Destiny? Let us know, using the comments section below.