The Temple of Elemental Evil

"Forget what it says on the box... you need a DEIFIC PC to run this game... read on to find out why"

Well i play D and D as a random hobby with my friends every now and then. And let me tell you, for the the first 3.5E game, this is pretty damn good... I mean, you sawe Baldurs Gate (The First AD&D game) which had its upsides definately, but it wasn't _too_ close to the rules in some respects now was it? Then Pool of Radiance (The First 3E game), came along. It had a pretty good character set, nice graphics... believable storylines... and the worst ever gameplay (even worse than Neverwinter Nights, i tell ya). Now of course, i know this is only one persons opinion, but i think a lot of people agree with me when i say that Temple of Elemental Evil (ToEE) is the best game that has yet been the first of its edition. This isn't saying too much though, as its Bug List is about as big as the day is long (except in December... stupid Daylight Savings Times...) but thats really all its got bad for it. The storyline is good, the gameplay is fun and easy to control, theres no ClickFest2003 action going down, and most of all, theres eeeeeeeevil afoot. Now without much further ado, onwards with the review!!

Gameplay: _8_

Yes, as with most D and D related games, people always look to the gameplay, hence this probably getting the biggest section of my review (watch me proove myself wrong people, just watch...). In all other D and D related games (except Pool of Radiance, but i'm refusing to speak of that game right now) there is always the finger numbing; point, click, miss, point, click, miss, point, click, hit, point, click, die; but in ToEE, you have turn based battle, which is much closer to the actual D and D PnP game. Of course, you lose some challenge, but thats where the tough enemies come in.

Also, there is the amount of different things you can actually do in combat; You can attack and run, or mutilate and step backwards... you could run like the blue blazes and trip, or you could cast a spell and hitch your robe around your ankles as you step over the freshly Fireballed HobGoblin. All in all, you won't get bored with the game.

You will however, get bored with the big bug list... so far, ive noticed that i have to reinstall the game every time i want to play it, the maximum scrolling speed reverts to being as slow as a dead snail, crafting magical equipment crashes the game, the list goes on. But soon the lovely men and lasses at Troika Games will make us up a little patch which will get rid of all these insistant little problems, and the game will be grand.

Throughout the game, there are various NPCs which can join your party, demanding a share of the treasure. This is annoying mainly, but the extra muscle is always useful.

You can also create your own equipment (anything from a +1 Dagger to Gauntlets of Ogre Power)

Story _7_

For a game thats based on a module from real D and D, there is a surprising lack of story. You get great little quests and missions beforehand, including marrying the farmers daughter, converting a miller's son, killing off some pesky little child... er... i mean Goblin <_<. But despite all your murderous intents, there are lots of quests to do. Heck, you can even make the game so that your starting quest is to burn down the church, or to kill a Bartender. But this is all great until you first step into the Temple of Elemental Evil itself. Then the story takes a nosedive. You go in to the place as there is no other place to go. You get told of some kind of evil being there, so you go to beat it up... or join it... but i believe that sounds a bit on the lame side hm?
For those of you who have played the Module (by the same name) then you will already have had the game played for you once, and you probably died somewhere in the dungeon didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?! No? Aww nerts...

Audio/Video _6/8_

Meh, when you get good gameplay, good story (mostly) and a decent life span, you don't expect good music right? WRONG! Well... mostly. This game has its own scripting, i.e., each different character can have its own voices which sound like what you want (instead of having Male1, Male2, Female1 etc... you have Burly Swordsman, Seer, Intelligent Woman, Sneaky Thief etc...) and for the most part, the voices are pretty good. You also have different voices for each of the NPCs you can pick up along the way and they sound pretty good.

As for the Graphics, they are pretty good. You can't see obviously where the pixels collect, or where a frame shudders and the range of colours (1006 i believe) is quite impressive. The movies are perfectly done as well, showing a lot of detail for the most part and having a nice narrator voice to go with them.

Replayability _6_

Well... its the sort of game that you won't exactly have to replay. Its more of a game thats If-you-like-it-you-will-want-to-play-again. Along these lines, i reccomend buying the game if you have experience D and D games before, rent it if you are dubious, and try the PnP version if you are hopeless.

Overall rating: 7
Nothing really was a downside to this game... you need to get the patch as soon as you can to sort out the bugs though, after that, the game should be bliss.

As for needing a Deific PC to run the game, this is brought about mainly by the computer freezing and going slowly every now and then (i have the reccomended settings).

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/22/03