It's been a difficult day. I'd been sent to find Legend of Grimrock 2 news, and so journeyed out through the secret basement underneath PCG towers. I puzzled my way forward, avoiding the spectres of former editors, the skittering of malnourished freelancers and the unstable, towering pillars of graphics cards. Eventually, I came across a five-foot tall snail-beast, moving square-by-square in a rotating pattern that I could skilfully kite to avoid taking damage. "Could" being the operative word. Instead, I thought "bugger this", then returned to my desk and followed a hyperlink to Almost Human's latest dev update.
"The events of Legend of Grimrock 2 will happen on the Isle of Nex," writes Almost Human's Petri Häkkinen , "a secluded island faraway from civilization. An island is a perfect place to setup an unforgettable dungeon crawling experience because we can mix indoor and outdoor locations seamlessly while still maintaining that atmosphere of mystery and danger, and the density of interesting things that is at the heart of Grimrock." Expect woods, swamps and ruins to feature heavily.
According to Häkkinen, monster AI is being extensively rewritten. "As a result monsters are now smarter and they know how to use their larger numbers to their advantage. The repertoire of tricks they know has been expanded greatly. For example, some monsters can call other monsters for help and can use group tactics against you."
In addition, the skill system has been redesigned for more flexibility, and in-game items have been expanded to offer secondary powers. Spellcasting and potion crafting systems have also been streamlined.
There'll be new stuff, too. "Grimrock 2 also has new spells, a new playable race (with portraits to go) and a new character class. These combined with over a hundred new items, 22 new monsters, new environments, day to night cycle, plus as much more as we have time to crank in, means a lot of new stuff to have fun with!"
For a full explanation of the new features, check out Häkkinen's post , or squint through the darkness of these further Nex screenshots.
