Electronic Arts have officially announced the newest game from BioWare Austin called Shadow Realms, an online RPG game.This new game series is brought to you by the makers of hugely successful titles such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age. 

Shadow Realms is inspired by pen and paper or tabletop role-playing games, explains Jeff Hickman, general manager of BioWare Austin, at a press conference during Gamescom.

Like Us on Facebook

The PC-only title is an online multiplayer RPG where an evil force from another dimension called the Shadow Legion invades modern Earth along with an army of monsters. Brief demos and teaser trailers were shown over at Gamescom.  

Shadow Realms will feature an online and a dynamic four player co-op, where four heroes will "adventure against" an enemy called the Shadowlord which is also player controlled. It is an asymmetrical multi-player game where other titles such as 2k Games' alien hunting game, Evolve which will be released next year and Lionhead Studios' Fable: Legends are also controlled by a fifth player, usually a villain or an AI.

Hickman also expounds by describing the game as an homage to old-school tabletop role-playing games where a game master would control the whole action and flow of the game, depending on the game master's reactions to other players' activities.

This four-versus-one structure will alter and evolve as the story progresses. In a nutshell, Hickman describes Shadow Realm's story as a replication of an actual role playing tabletop game where game masters author an ever-changing adventure game. 

The player controlling the Shadowlord will control every aspect of the game, where he destroys, entraps and possesses. The story continuously updates in an ever-changing world and players are promised that no two trips will be played out the same way.

BioWare will start running a closed beta in September. Players can also sign up for their alpha testing  at the game's website to get feedback from the 4v1 gameplay. Shadow Realms will be released early next year.

TagsBioWare Unveils Newest RPG Game: Shadow Realms, shadow realms bioware, new bioware game, Gamescom 2014, bioware austin, shadow realms rpg game, shadow realms online multiplayer, Electronic Arts, 4v1 gameplay, tabletop games, shadow realms release date, shadow realms beta, shadow realms alpha, mass effect, dragon age, evolve game 4v1, fable: legends game 4v1