Dungeons & Dragons Heroes

"A more in-depth version of Gauntlet..."

I first read about this game on the back of the Neverwinter Nights manual...it sort of peaked my interests, so I followed its development and bought it the day it came out.

D&D Heroes contains much more than many are willing to give it the time of day for, to say the least.

Now, the majority of people who look at this are going to be your typical D&D dorks who shun this game because it's more ''hack n' slash'' oriented rather than ''true'' D&D. Well, their loss. Yes, it is a very hack n' slash-oriented game. But, it contains some very in-depth elements to keep it intriguing and entertaining...It has a mix of elements, really. If you want an all-out multiplayer hack n' slash - you can play it as that. If you want an intricate, statistical-supplemented action RPG, you can play it as that too. Problem is, like I said...most people aren't even giving it the time of day simply for its genre, and that's nothing short of biased ignorance.

Graphics
Okay, so the game doesn't have Halo-quality graphics. Well it's not supposed to...its graphics do their job and fit the bill. D&D Heroes wasn't meant to be a visual masterpiece, and it isn't. But it most certainly scores more than mediocre on this part. The NPC's mouths move in sync with their dialogue, the spells and special moves are decent enough, and fitting towards their descriptions...and one nifty little aspect is the fact that your character's appearance changes depending on your equipment, so you're not stuck staring at the same model the entire game. So not too bad on this part, but nothing spectacular, either.

Gameplay
Here's the highlight, folks. As the title of this review states, D&D Heroes is just that - an in-depth version of Gauntlet. You choose one of four (unfortunately...) pre-made characters...A Human Fighter, Dwarven Cleric, Halfing Rogue, or Elven Wizard, name them whatever you want, and are off on a dungeon-searching adventure. The game, contrary to popular belief, is not ''kill everything''-oriented...yes there's a lot of that, but you're given specific tasks...finding items and what not, for the most part. Though it sounds rather dull, it doesn't seem to matter much...because the gameplay as a whole makes up for it. There's a good balance of beating the crap out of everything and finding treasure; never an over-abundance of either. You find various types of weapons and armor you can equip your character with, and many different variations of each, giving you a good deal of customization. Speaking of customization, each character has their own traits and special abilities you can acquire through leveling up. It's your choice what you want to learn or power-up, so this makes for some decent replay value in the long-run. Aaaaaaand speaking of replay value...The option to have three of your buds over playing along with you is always a very nice feature, especially considering the lack of co-op games for any system these days.

Sound
Not too bad here, either...about the same degree as the graphics. Not an audio festival, but it gets the job done. Fitting battle cries and grunts supplement the growls of monsters and clashing of steel-on-steel combat. Nothing seems too out-of-place, and the voice acting isn't too bad either...the voices fit the characters (although it's mostly the NPCs doing the talking) for the most part, and don't leave much to be desired. The BG music is somewhat lacking though, but that's probably only because the sound effects tend to overshadow it most of the time.

Story
Ehhh...Nothing special here...the plot is rather cliche, actually. The four heroes died defeating an evil wizard 150 years ago, and now, 150 years later, some power-hungry fools revived him and the heroes are revived as well to stop his ambitions. But I didn't buy D&D Heroes for the story...and I doubt many people would. It's all about its gameplay, and that aspect more than makes up for anything else.

In closing...
Rent/Buy? Well, I bought it. I enjoy it a lot and don't regret doing so. But if it doesn't sound too appealing to you, you can most certainly get satisfaction out of a weekend rental with your buds. That's one of the things I love about this game...it has a little something for everyone, and can be enjoyed no matter how you play it, so long as you aren't one of these biased people. I know I'm mentioning that a lot...it's because a CERTAIN SOMEONE who happens to be a D&D freak won't get off my case about buying D&D Heroes...But eh. The hell with him. ^_^; Play it for yourself...You more than likely won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/03