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Temple of Elemental Evil

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 40 / 99
Date: May 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Troika, a group of RPG veterans who have worked on such great games as Fallout, and Arcanum, are about to release a game we have all dreamed about.

Working with WOTC, and even Gary Gygax himself, Troika is recreating the Temple of Elemental Evil so that it will be the first 3.5 edition Dungeons and Dragons computer role playing game.

Total faith to the 3.5 rules, and total faith to Gary Gygax's classic module is what Troika is making in their development house. Expect classic turn based RPG action, in a module that will delight both old and new fans of CRPG's.

This game is not out yet, nor is any demo, but with Troika at the helm, expect this game to be handled well. These guys know how to make a good RPG, and with the Temple of Elemental Evil as source material, it is hard to go wrong.

Troika + Gygax + D&D = RPG hit

The Game NWN Should have been

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 50
Date: September 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The rightful heir to the throne the Baldur's Gate series once held is almost here!! When are developers(and publishers) going to realize---it's the gameplay, stupid! That's the reason that NWN and its expansion packs are headed directly to the bargain bin. That's why BG2, a game that was completely 2D while everything else was 3D was one of the best reviewed and best selling games ever. That is why This Game is going to do well, and deserves to do well. These guys know their gaming fans. They want rewarding gameplay, multiple detailed storylines, gorgeous graphics(even if they are mostly 2D), and a game that feels like its filled to the brim with character. Not bland environments that bore the gamer to sleep.

If you ever played Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, or any other roleplaying game, and just wished it had more depth--then Temple is the right game for you. Please, buy this game! Don't let the mindless clones like UT take over the gaming market! Buy this quality product and make a statement you want substance over nice packaging and snazzy-sounding features on the back. It's what's inside the box that still counts, right?

Awsome!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: September 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

just awsome in every way finally did it right you will not be dissapointed in this game at all!!! yes there are some bugs all game have some but are normally fixed with a patch!!!! once we get it this game will be perfect. Finally a true d&d game

4 or 5 star game if not for the bugs

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 87 / 94
Date: September 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

ToEE is not worth a premium price in it's current state. I recommend waiting for a patch (though it is uncertain if Atari/Troika is going to fund a patch) or waiting for the game to hit the bargain bin. Infested with bugs and gameplay issues to include:
-Setting screen scroll speed to 5(fastest) brings everything to a crawl.
-Traveling with NPC's can cause the game to lock up at the world map.
-NPC's inyour party loot themselves into an overburdened status and can barely move in combat.

-Some quests cannot be completed because NPC children were removed from the game.
-Ironman mode "Save and Quit" does nothing. "Return to Game" actually saves and quits.
-No description for the effects of magic items.
-Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat. +3 damage/hit/armor and elemental damage enchantments do not work. May also increase the armor check penalty.
-Craft Wondrous Item feat. Many items cannot be made due to SPELL_NONE being listed as a spell requirement.
-Clerics are not getting domain spells beyond first level.
-Metamagic feats for Sorcerers do not work.
-Monsters spawn in walls while resting.
-Wearing chain boots or gloves can reduce combat movement to 10'.
-Magic weapons negate the Weapons Finesse feat, causing you to use strength instead of dexterity bonus.
-Good clerics sometimes spontaneously cast inflict wounds instead of cure wounds.
-Poor pathfinding and formation holding. Characters will deselct themselves and not move with the group. Wizard/Rogue end up out front when zoning.
-Druid spell Produce Flame gives unlimited attacks against a single target.
-Magic and Greater Magic Weapon give permanent, instead of temporary bonuses.
-Greater Spell Penetration Feat does not seem to be working.
-Crash to Desktops and may not run due to copy protection scheme.
-No feedback from developers on the official forums.
-Other small annoyances.

Promising, but lacking some basics

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 15
Date: September 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Temple of Elemental Evil, for better or worse, is unlike any game you have ever played. This is a true, nut-and-bolt recreation of pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons. The rules are extremely complicated and detailed, and the game takes place in turns. Thus, it plays more like a turn-based strategy game than past RPGs like Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights. A simple combat against five bandits might take 60 seconds in previous games, but it can take 10 minutes in this game. In general, the pace of this game is very slow. I think that Troika did a great job of making a game that is both faithful to D&D rules and fun, but the game is really lacking some basic features.

By now, you have probably figured out that this game is not for everyone. It isn't. If you don't like +1 bonuses, die rolls, and inane rules, then you are going to hate this game. However, if you are like me and you like a lot of this stuff, then this game seems like Nirvana. It's almost a perfect recreation of D&D, and it's very efficient. All of the rules, feats, skills, spells, and actions have been distilled down into a simple set of menus and screens that you can access with a few mouse clicks. For the most part, it's intuitively set up and very easy to use. The radial menu system works great. If you know the D&D rules well, then you will be at full speed in no time.

It's impossible to overstate what an accomplishment this is. You just right click on a character and by navigating the mouse, you can either drink a potion from your inventory, use the "Power attack" feat, or cast a Magic Missile spell. The ease of use is one of the reasons why the game stays fun.

Combat in ToEE is the most fun and satisfying part. The battles are extremely hard and they require you to utilize all of the tactical tricks that you can think of. The turn-based system is what allows you to do this and get anything out of it. I enjoyed the combat in this game more than Baldurs Gate or Neverwinter Nights for this reason. The game doesn't blow by too fast for you to use your abilities without pressing the space bar over and over.

This game has surprisingly good graphics. The pre-rendered 2D backgrounds are simply the most beautiful that I have ever seen. They are not only gorgeous, but full of variety. The monsters are also richly detailed, not to mention menacing. The monsters are also the best that I have ever seen in an RPG. My only complaint with the graphics is how tiny your party is on the screen. You can hardly tell your characters apart without squinting, and you can't tell what they are carrying or wearing by glancing at them. The inventory screen is also very unattractive and the items are very bland. Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights have much more attractive inventory screens.

I love the soundtrack for this game, but the voice acting is pretty sub par. A few of the characters have good voice acting, but for the most part, it's not very good.

This game does have some problems that slow it down unnecessarily. One of them is the inability to set hotkeys. Customizable hotkeys was one of the great things about Neverwinter Nights. Unfortunately, in Temple of Elemental Evil, in order to give a command 20 times, you have to go through it in the radial menu 20 times. It gets old. The map screen stinks, because you can only place a limited number of flags on it, and because you can't use it to jump to a spot on the big screen, Finally, the manual that comes in the box is totally inadequate. You need to buy the Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook to understand a lot of what is going on (if you don't already know). I see this as being a huge flaw for someone who is not intimately familiar with the rules.

I really enjoyed this game, and I hope that we will see more Dungeons and Dragons games from Troika. As I said previously it is not for everyone. If you like planning and strategy, then I think that you will like this game. You might want to get a strategy guide with it, because this is also the hardest D&D game ever made.

do not buy this game.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 10
Date: September 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

game is unplayable constantly crashes to desktop

still havent heard of a patch to make it run.

Full of Bugs

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The game looks good and has a very nice user interface system for issuing commands to characters. BUT THE PROGRAM IS FULL OF BUGS AND SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN RELEASED IN THIS CONDITION. Don't buy this game until they do something about the bugs.

- monsters spawn where you can't reach them and you can't exit that part of the dungeon while there are active monsters. You have to exit the game to actually leave the dungeon and if you saved while trapped ... then you'll have to start over again. Very frustrating.

- Ironman mode menu system doesn't work

True D&D Action

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've really been enjoying this game. The only problem I've had so far was that I had to install it twice because the computer didn't read some stuff the first time. I've had no other bugs or problems so far. If you don't have XP then maybe you could, I can't say.

Other than that it ROCKS! The graphics are very well done, and the monsters are also very well rendered. The attention to detail was so awesome. They have bugs flying around and mice scurrying around on the floor of a dungeon. The torches look real with realistic flames and sparks! This is a turn-based RPG so please be advised. The battles go well, and it's so nice to be able to plan your attack. Sure it's slower, but then you can use proper formations and not end up with your wizard in the front or other frustrating things that happen in real time action.

I'm running this on my 900mhz AMD system with Windows XP, NVIDA4 420 with 64megs of ram, 512megs of ram and I'm set on 800x600 @16 bit and I've only gotten lag when facing many adversaries and it's still not too bad.

All That Potential . . . Wasted.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: September 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Due to Atari rushing this product out the door, the consumer is left with a horribly buggy game that had the potential to rival BG2, NWN, etc. I have no problems with the engine itself. The help files are minimal, leading to some confusion, but once you get the hang of it, it's quick and intuitive. Sadly, nothing else about this game can be described as quick.

To start with, it's laggy. Scrolling on the overhead map is a chore. Many spells and features do not work properly, do not work at all, lead to critical systems errors, and so forth. Check out the game forums sometime - it's a laundry list of serious problems that make gameplay difficult or impossible for many users. These bugs are not only on low-end machines, either. Even with a 1.7Ghz with 512MB of RAM, this game crawls.

Most the bugs have nothing to do with system at all. Fundamental problems with spells, quests, etc. dwarf these other problems.

Currently, there is no *offical* patch coming from Atari. The work involved in making this game playable would be enormous. For everything good about his game - and I was hoping to enjoy it - you will find five things that make you want to throw it out the window.

If this game is patched and playable, I'd give it a five. As it stands, it's more frustrating than enjoyable.

No problems yet

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Love the character generation, basic game play and the rules. I haven't had any problems yet, and my Ironman menu (as previously mentioned) works just fine. It runs smooth, no lags - one of the best D&D games I've played thus far. Who knows, perhaps I'll run into some problems later...

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