The choice is yours: Bruenor Battlehammer, Wulfgar, Catti-Brie, or Drizzt Do’Urden. Who are you going to be? Get ready for Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. From June 22nd, you will be able to step into the Forgotten Realms and get your chance to act as one of the defenders of Icewind Dale against invading beholders, giants, and dragons. For all lovers of the Dungeons & Dragon saga, this will be as good as snatching a Betway Casino Bonus and have a fabulous time trying their luck on the spinning wheel of fortune! The big news here is that the upcoming game is the debut  D&D videogame for Wizards of the Coast.

Wizards of the Coast are veterans of Dungeons and Dragons as a tabletop game. The success of their traditional D&D shot through the roof in 2020. According to the Wall Street Journal, the classic game recorded a 33% boost in sales over 2019 and was the bulk of the $816-million revenue that Wizards of the Coast posted for 2020. Hasbro, its parent company, announced a reorganization of its business structure to support the continued growth of both D&D and Magic: The Gathering.

Both games were announced in December 2019 at the annual Game Awards video game show. The venue was unusual for a tabletop game company, but this was big news. Dark Alliance is developed by Tuque Games, based in Montreal, that was acquired by Wizards of the Coast in October 2019. There had been two previous games,  Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance in 2001 and Dark Alliance 2 in 2004, developed by Black Isle Studios, that later closed down and never came to the third game of the series.

The first gameplay trailer by Wizards of the coast was released on March 16th. Short and sweet, the video runs for little more than a minute and features an Ozzy Osbourne song as its background music. The visuals match the metal style and send a precise message to impatient fans. Another clear message is the choice of the Companions of the Hall as the pivot for the game. Apart from determining the maximum of four players for this cooperative format, the Companions’ presence automatically puts Drizzt Do’Urden at center stage. This is really a no-brainer since Drizzt has been wildly popular since his first appearance in  R.A. Salvatore’s 1988 novel The Crystal Shard.

Salvatore revealed long ago that his hero was someone he made up on the spur when the publisher asked him to substitute his planned hero, Wulfgar, a human barbarian. Pushed by his editor in a phone call right before an editorial board meeting, the author came up with a dark elf character, a drow. In the original concept of the ’80s, drow elves were absolute villains. They were creepy, lived underground, adept at slavery and human sacrifice. Drows worshipped a goddess called the “Spider Queen.”

Drizzt Do’Urden, the aristocratic drow who rejects his people’s evil traditions, quickly became the most romantic hero of the D&D saga. Add a romance with a human, fellow-fighter Catti-Brie, and the rest is history. Now adoring fans will be able to enjoy the new videogame version of their favorite renegade dark elf on Playstation, Xbox, or Steam. Preorders are open for both the Standard and Deluxe versions.

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