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⊙Developer: Nexon ⊙Genre: action RPG ⊙Platform: PC online ⊙Date of issue: undecided

Nexon's new PC online game Dragon Hound was introduced for the first time to gamers through G-STAR 2018. 

Dragon Hound is a hunting action game where the users can enjoy battles just through simple controls newly developed by using unreal engine 4. Players can change equipment at the moving village 웨이마오치, and they have to hunt different types of monsters. When hunting for small monsters, you use personal weapons like gun or bow. On the other hand, when facing a large dragon, you can enjoy the battle by using various heavy weapons like a machine arm with cannons. 

Since it was first introduced through G-STAR preview held in 2016, Dragon Hound had been veiled for a long time. It attracted lots of attention because it was a PC online game of hunting action genre instead of MMORPG in a long time. 

Before playing Dragon Hound, I assumed it was some kind of a monster hunt game. Since it was such a famous game, and most monster hunt games were the same. However, I changed my mind after the demonstration version. Besides the big proposition to hunt monsters, everything else was different. It was more like a TPS shooting game. 

Can Nexon succeed with trying something new from the stereotyped hunting action?　From now on, I would like to talk about my experience with the demonstration version of Dragon Hound at G-STAR and what I thought about it.

■ Gun, gunpowder and large monster - Dragon Hound 

Dragon Hound submitted to G-STAR　2018 allowed the users to experience simple control method and battle for about five minutes. In order to hunt the dragon, the game begins in 웨이마오치. After learning to control while riding on a horse, it told me how to fight. The demonstration version gave the medium mortar that can be used in the middle phase of the game so that you can enjoy the fight with low level of difficulty.

As I leave the village, it taught me the simple control method. The most important thing here was the horse that determined the movement of the player. Basically, the horse moved as the player operated, but during the battle, it moved semi autonomously even when the player didn't control it. As a result, it allowed the player to fight easier without having to move the horse every time the player had to aim at and hunt for the monsters. 

From small weapons to heavy weapons, Dragon Hound offered diverse weapons for the players to fight against different monsters. They include the bow and cross bow that can give special damages to the monster, the heavy weapons that can damage the skin or weakness, and the cannons that can blind the monster's eyes with an explosion. However, it was a bit disappointing that only rifles and the medium mortar were provided in the demonstration version to deal with the dragon.​

▲ Only rifles could be used as personal weapons at the beginning of the demonstration.​

▲ However, as time went by, you can use heavy weapons like the medium mortar.

 In the case of monsters, you can face three types of dragons in the demonstration version, including the small dragon, medium dragon and the large dragon. The small one can be killed with personal weapons and it will easily fall down if you use the medium mortar. 

However, it was a bit different starting with the medium dragon. Not only is it bigger in size, but there were areas that didn't receive any damages and those that did. If you hit the body part, it can give a damage of more than 1,000, but it only left a damage of two digits for the wings and tail. This showed that you will have to attack a certain part of the monster in the future.  

▲ Unlike the small dragon that is more like a lizard, the medium dragon is closer to the dragon. 

▲ The damage given to different parts of the medium dragon is completely different. 

The demonstration version allowed you to get a look at what Dragon Hound will be like. It was a bit disappointing that there was no special weapon other than the strong attack you can make with the medium mortar, as well as the simple patterns shown by the monsters with attacks made using their front paws or tail. This didn't show any of the fun I expected from attacking the monster when I first heard of Dragon Hound. In the case of the large dragon that appeared together with the medium dragon, it was a huge disappointment that I couldn't fight it because it kept giving off sparks. 

However, since we got a peek at the system that identified the weakness of the monsters, if more weapons are added with diverse patterns of monster in the future, we can have more fun attacking the monsters.

▲ Got a peek at the potential to make improvement such as attacking the weakness of the monster in the future.

■ Will Nexon succeed? 

Since this demonstration version focused on simple control and battle, it was not enough to predict what kind of game Dragon Hound is. Also, the battle itself lacked any details because you just repeated the actions of moving and shooting. However, despite all of this, we got a glimpse of what Dragon Hound was like. It was a game filled with desires. 

Besides the dragon, the large monsters, guns, gunpowder, and the moving village all represented steam punk concepts that brought all of our thoughts into one game.

▲ Guns, gunpowder and large dragon are all the collection of our desires. 

However, it was disappointing that the demonstration version ended without having a chance enjoy all our desires. It felt exciting to hunt monsters with gunpowder weapons, but there were no elements of attacking the monsters' weakness that is common in hunting genre. 

But this is only a demonstration version. It has just been introduced and there's still room for improvement. No, it will definitely make improvement. There's already a function to identify the monsters' weakness, which was not found in the demonstration version. Since the basics will get better, it just needs to enhance its details. Next I meet the game, looking forward to a more improved version of Dragon Hound.  

* Provide by INVEN(www.inven.co.kr)