We Are The Dwarves
- February 25, 2016
- Whale Rock Games
We Are The Dwarves is a debut with a handful of good ideas but which remains rough around the edges.
Get on SteamWe Are The Dwarves is a real-time tactical adventure game that follows the journey of three dwarf heroes. Equipped with unique abilities, players must navigate through dangerous, procedurally generated underworld environments, battling enemy creatures and solving puzzles to complete missions. The game offers a rich, immersive fantasy experience with a heavy emphasis on strategy and teamwork.
Mac OS
PC
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Playstation 5
Windows
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Linux
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Reviews
- The game offers a unique blend of strategy and exploration, providing an engaging experience for fans of the genre.
- The graphics and art style are beautiful, creating an immersive fantasy world that captivates players.
- The gameplay mechanics are simple yet effective, allowing for a challenging experience that rewards strategic thinking.
- The controls can be clunky and unintuitive, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- The voice acting and localization are poor, with many typos and awkward delivery that detract from the overall experience.
- The game features significant difficulty spikes and inconsistent enemy AI, which can lead to frustrating moments and frequent deaths.
- gameplay206 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 49 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "We Are the Dwarves" is characterized by its unique mechanics and engaging tactical elements, offering a blend of combat, exploration, and puzzles that keeps players invested. While many appreciate the charming visuals and diverse character abilities, some players find the controls unintuitive and the mechanics occasionally frustrating, leading to mixed experiences. Overall, the game presents a fresh take on the genre, though it may require patience and adaptation to fully enjoy its depth and challenges.
“Its charming visuals, thoughtful gameplay, and engaging story create a memorable experience that is worth exploring for any gamer looking for a fresh take on fantasy strategy gaming.”
“The gameplay mechanics are simple yet effective, making the game easy to pick up and play but difficult to master.”
“The strategic elements and unique abilities of each dwarf character make for exciting and diverse gameplay.”
“Tried coming back to it later with a fresh outlook, but the gameplay just isn't drawing me in.”
“The gameplay is so horrible.”
“Interesting atmosphere and story, but lost in poorly executed mechanics, level difficulty that flows between too easy and rage quit, and gameplay that just couldn't keep my interest.”
- story157 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The story of "We Are the Dwarves" is engaging and set in a visually rich universe where three dwarven astronauts embark on a mission to find a new home after their vessel crashes. While many players appreciate the unique concept and tactical depth, opinions vary on the execution, with some finding the narrative too short and lacking in complexity, while others enjoy its charm and humor. Overall, the game offers a mix of action and puzzle-solving within its storyline, though it leaves some players wanting more depth and character development.
“Its charming visuals, thoughtful gameplay, and engaging story create a memorable experience that is worth exploring for any gamer looking for a fresh take on fantasy strategy gaming.”
“The unique gameplay mechanics and engaging storyline kept me hooked from start to finish.”
“The main attraction for me was the story and setting; they've built a fantastic universe, the visual design is top notch and interesting, and the lore and story are pretty cool.”
“The story is barely there and ends with 'to be continued'.”
“It's way too short, way too dull, way too limited, way too unpolished and with close to no story?”
“Commendably creative take on dwarves but the inconclusive story leaves it feeling more like a prototype.”
- graphics141 mentions
- 72 % positive mentions
- 21 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their unique art style, attention to detail, and overall beauty, contributing significantly to the immersive experience. Many users highlight the visuals as a standout feature, with some comparing them to AAA titles, while others note that the graphics enhance the gameplay and storytelling. However, a few reviews mention limitations in graphics settings and occasional performance issues, suggesting that while the visuals are impressive, there are areas for improvement.
“The graphics are beautiful, with attention to detail that really brings the world to life.”
“Right from the beginning, I was impressed by the quality of the graphics and the attention to detail in the game world.”
“The graphics in 'We Are the Dwarves' are great, the engine is beautiful, the sound crafting is impeccable, and the overall presentation is very appealing.”
“Barely any graphics settings at all, including the extremely important fullscreen option.”
“Unplayable flickering on the lowest graphics setting for a Mac that met requirements.”
“Unique and fun tactical mechanics but unfortunate voice acting and lackluster graphics.”
- music32 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 34 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising the atmospheric soundtrack and sound effects that enhance immersion, while others note a lack of variety and volume issues. Some players appreciate the captivating score, describing it as a highlight, while others feel it could benefit from more polish and additional musical elements. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's atmosphere, but there are notable inconsistencies in its execution.
“With engaging storytelling and a captivating soundtrack, We Are the Dwarves is a must-play for fans of the genre.”
“Additionally, the musical score and sound effects helped create the atmosphere of the game world and added an extra level of immersion.”
“A very addictive strategy, atmospheric music, and a very good plot.”
“Virtually no music.”
“I had to turn my volume way up and the voice was hard to hear over the music even then.”
“Maybe, because I played on Linux, but sounds and music were sometimes absent (no sound in space...).”
- atmosphere26 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive qualities, effectively drawing players into a vibrant dwarven community with stunning visuals and a captivating soundtrack. Reviewers highlight the combination of engaging sound effects, interesting locations, and a thought-provoking plot that enhances the overall experience, despite some criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics. Overall, the atmosphere is described as exciting and rich, making it a standout feature of the game.
“The atmosphere is wonderfully immersive, with the player feeling like a true member of the dwarven community.”
“Additionally, the musical score and sound effects helped create the atmosphere of the game world and added an extra level of immersion.”
“Wonderful atmosphere, very stunning and thought-provoking plot!”
“All this gives the game the atmosphere of raw caves, inhabited by gnomes and other creatures.”
“Not only the traditional 'exploding barrels' and 'cover' mechanics (though obviously they exist), but also natural hazards and other effects which really add to the overall atmosphere and challenge of the gameplay.”
“Having played many 3rd person games, this game particularly stands out for its atmosphere, and convenience over every detail, over the same camera and other not particularly important things.”
- stability26 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 92 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, including unresponsive controls, visual and audio problems, and severe graphical strobing that can hinder visibility and pose health risks. Many players found these issues detracted from the overall experience, leading to frustration and, in some cases, refunds. While it may run well on Linux, the pervasive instability remains a major concern for users.
“Runs great on Linux.”
“A fun enough game albeit pretty short (~ 16 hrs), but with a lot of bugs and glitches.”
“Sometimes you click on things and nothing happens (terrible for a game where precision and very specific timing can be so important), or other small glitches, but the biggest issue I run into is that sometimes the game strobes bright rainbow colors all over the screen, making it impossible to see what you are doing or what is going on, and possibly risking seizures.”
“Marring the presentation even further is a large number of visual and sound glitches (objects making no sounds, cutscenes cutting out too fast or too slow) and you end up with a game that is constantly pulling you out of the experience with its clumsiness.”
- humor10 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its quirky minor characters and their colorful personalities, which add a comedic touch to the adventure. The voice acting, described as awkward and emotionless, unintentionally enhances the humor, leading to moments of laughter despite its shortcomings. Overall, players find the blend of unique character humor and unintentional comedic delivery to be a highlight of the experience.
“In any fantastic story, they act as minor characters, diluting the main action with their unique humor and colorful appearance, for which the audience loves them so much.”
“The voice acting is hilariously terrible, with Smashfist being the only voice that actually sounds even slightly like a dwarf to me.”
“All lines were delivered awkwardly (English clearly not being their first language) and in such a monotonous and emotionless manner that I burst out laughing.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is highly optimized, with fast level loading times and a consistent frame rate that remains above 60 fps. Overall, players find the optimization to be good, contributing to a decent and playable visual experience, despite some mixed feelings about the voice acting quality.
“The game is perfectly optimized, the levels load very quickly and the frame counter did not drop below 60 fps.”
“Good optimization.”
“The picture is decent, good optimization, quite playable.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, citing a lack of meaningful progression or improvements, clumsy controls, and disorienting camera movements when switching between characters. Overall, the experience is marred by a sense of monotony and difficulty in managing gameplay mechanics.
“There are no stats, no improvements, it just feels tedious.”
“Click-to-move is tedious, activating abilities is clumsy, swapping between dwarves causes massive camera movements that are disorienting - it's just really hard to control.”
Critic Reviews
We Are The Dwarves Review
The first hour I spent playing We Are The Dwarves, I died about 40 times. Not even exaggerating. I hadn’t made it out of the third level before roaring like a wounded bull and ragequitting for fear that I might smash up my lovely keyboard in anger if I had to play any longer. “This game is awful”, I thought.
60%We are the Dwarves (PC) Review
Where We are the Dwarves fails to deliver is mission balance, plain and simple.
60%We Are the Dwarves Review
The core mechanics of We Are The Dwarves - the actions you can take and the strategies you can employ - are wonderful, well-considered, and fully featured. There’s a depth to the lore and world-building that you rarely see at this scale. But the level design is so constrictive and the difficulty so fierce that it’s a constant fight to have fun.
55%
