Dungeons & Dragons Heroes

"Very Similar to Dark Alliance"

First off, I really enjoyed BG: Dark Alliance. Despite the fact I quickly ceased to find it intresting when my character was leveled to the point where I could slug it out with the final boss without healing, I really enjoyed my first dozen+ playthrus. So it stands to reason that I would really enjoy this game. I do. I like how you aren't limited to just one Arcane Spellcaster onscreen at a time now [me and my friend always fought over the Sorc in BG:DA], and how you can name your character. I like the Soul Shards concept, with my weapon getting stronger as the game progresses [and how each one is a particular mark in your file, so you can't just save, pick one up, load back, import, pick one up, repeat repeat]. There are a couple issues I have with the game, however, that prevent it from getting a perfect score.

First, it is VERY obvious VERY quickly that you are meant to play with your friends. By about half-way through the Swamp on Normal, my Wizardress was out of Heal potions and surviving by leading trolls in circles. This was pretty much how I was playing until I got to Castle Baele shop. I almost returned the game, but my girlfriend sat down and was enjoying playing, so I played with her, and decided to give it another chance. With my L10-at-the-beginning character, it was a lot more enjoyable, and I was able to fight the trolls a lot more evenly with her rouge assisting me.

Second, the Camera angle is nice, but I'm still waiting for a game where I can have a party member on each side of the dungeon on one TV [and not have this be part of a puzzle solving].

The graphics are pretty nice, I haven't found any noticeable glitches yet [Other than blocking makes your 12 Con 11 Str elven wizard able to ignore a troll hit]. Some of the special abilities are definatly flashier than others.

Continuity is a bit of a gap. Assuming that one follows the D&D rules exactly, the heroes must have been L6 when they fought Kaedin, and lost a level from ressurection. Actually, they must have been L5 because to ressurect someone 150 years dead would require either a L150 Cleric [INSANELY powerful by D&D standards] using Ressurect or a L17+ cleric using True Ressurection. Considering Kaedin was able to kill them with his dying spell, he was at least L14 [Circle of Death]. Okay, that's me being too picky about the game mechanics of D&D as converted into a video game. I wouldn't want to wait 8 hours everytime I cast a spell. Most of the continuity issues fall under the ''D&D to Video Game'' conversion issue, and making the game fun for the players, so they'll be forgiven.

Replay is a little lacking, compared to BG:DA, but overall a very fun game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/25/03