Deponia developer announces Blackguards, Daedalic's first turn-based strategy game

Daedalic Entertainment, the development studio behind the point-and-click Deponia adventure games, announced its first turn-based strategy role-playing game today: Blackguards, a fantasy title scheduled to launch for Windows PC in the third quarter of 2013.

The game features a "significantly darker story" than other Daedalic titles, according to the developer, and will be rendered in full 3D. Players will take on the role of a convicted murderer on a journey to defeat a menacing dark force, picking up companions and fighting "scoundrels and thieves" and "lethal creatures" along the way.

"During the wild chase throughout the South of Aventuria, the world of The Dark Eye, there is more to fight than vicious creatures — chapter by chapter a story full of intrigue and surprising twists unfolds," reads the game's description. "But when life and death are in the player's hands, how far will they go to reach their goals?"

Blackguards will include more than 170 different battlemaps and a score of quests both within and outside of the main campaign. Daedalic notes that the game delivers more than 40 hours of gameplay and places strong emphasis on its storytelling elements.

Blackguards will be shown at the 2013 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next week.