''Joe Dever's Lone Wolf'' is a

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

video game developed by Italian studio Forge Reply and first published by Bulkypix for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

on October 29, 2013. The game has since been ported to

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and

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

. It is based on the series of

gamebooks A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does no ...

by author

Joe Dever Joseph Robert Dever, also known as Joe Dever (12 February 1956 – 29 November 2016) was an English fantasy author and game designer. Originally a musician, Dever became the first British winner of the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' Championship ...

entitled '' Lone Wolf''. The story involves Lone Wolf adventuring to uncover the secret of the Shianti Cube.

Gameplay

While traditional 3D action RPG combat is the main focus on the game, plot is mostly delivered through first person perspective texts similar to the gamebook series. It also includes various supernatural disciplines learned by the Kai to give them otherworldly powers including the ability to psychically attack their opponents and defend against them. Decisions made by the player outside of combat sequence have an impact on how the plot evolves.

Plot

The story takes place between ''Lone Wolf'' books three and four, titled '' The Caverns of Kalte'' and '' The Chasm of Doom''. Lone Wolf is asked to intervene in the Sommlending village of Rockstarn as Giaks have invaded it. But as he tries to help the villagers, he discovers that the invaders have a very precise objective in mind.

Development

A week before the Gamescon gaming convention in 2011, a teaser website was posted with the words "Be Kai", which soon after was revealed by game developer Forge Reply to be an upcoming ''Lone Wolf'' video game. Creator

described the game as the one that finally "got it right". Dever described the game as presenting the protagonist Lone Wolf with a

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esque darkness while still being a "paragon of virtue". The game was developed to be more action-oriented than the books to help translate the story from book to game. Audio production studio 93 Steps was used to create the soundscape of the game, including music, sound effects and voices. The studio was curious to test how many fans ''Lone Wolf'' still had since the books went out of print in several western countries, and used

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to let people play through the original ''Lone Wolf'' book ''

Flight from the Dark ''Flight from the Dark'' is the first installment in the award-winning Lone Wolf book series created by Joe Dever. Gameplay The reader is allowed to choose five Kai Disciplines from a list of ten, and is given meagre equipment. Because the read ...

'', and vote every time there was a choice of direction in the story.

Reception

'' Pocket Gamer'' praised the interactive text that transforms as you make choices into a 3D game with combat done through a 3rd person perspective. ''

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'' gave the game a 4/5 star rating, saying the game was exciting taking on the role of guiding the protagonist Lone Wolf through the adventure, but had trouble capturing the fun of the gamebooks they originated from.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://lonewolfthegame.com, Official website 2013 video games Android (operating system) games BulkyPix games IOS games Lone Wolf (gamebooks) MacOS games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Role-playing video games Single-player video games Video games developed in Italy Windows games Xbox One games