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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.

Do not purchase - Unfinished product

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 139 / 183
Date: October 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Atari (publisher) and Troikka (developer) have done a great disservice to the consumer public by releasing this game. After purchase, I attempted install on 3 separate systems that met the recommended specs and was never able to get the game to even start. I immediately returned the game the next morning. After a heated "discussion" I was refunded my money. I am not willing to spend valuable time attempting to diagnose a product. I don't do that with a car or television...I am not doing that with a game.

Atari has taken the stance that they will not refund money for the game and has specifically stated that you must fight your retailer to return the game.

The Internet was not made as an excuse for computer companies to release unfinished product. Producing a patch available at a later date over the web to repair an obviously flawed product does not redeem the company.

This product should never have been brought to market in this state.

Needs more patches

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 47 / 52
Date: January 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I waited on this game because the reviews said that it was buggy. Three patches later and it still needs a lot of work. I suspect that there wont be any future patches.

When it works the game is great. There are tons of sidequests and the battles are enjoyable and I like the interface a lot. I'm old enough to have played the ToEE module when it came out originally so this one brings back a lot of memories. If it was bug free this game would be a five star game. Unfortunetly the bugs keep a comin'.

Bugs (playing with patch 3):
My magic user stopped gaining spells about half way through the game. He had an 18 intelligence so why did he stop acquiring spells? I don't know but since that's sort of the point of the magic user it kind of made him rather wimpy.

NPC's always take part of the spoils. You have no choice in this and you can't take these spoils away from them ever. It's all well and good until they become overburdoned and you can't do anything about it.

There are also the classic freeze-ups, slowdowns and spontaneous shutoffs. The game actually seemed to get worse the more I played. I would put this game in the heartbreaker catagory. You want to love it but it just keeps finding ways to make you mad.

A few non-bugs also bothered me. Early on in the game your characters are absolutely PATHETIC at hitting. There're few things more frustrating then having eight characters surround a creature and all wiff. Actually this habit of missing everything lasts well into the game. I also wish they didn't have a level 10 cap on the characters.

Recommended for gamers with lots of patience.

Great game, but unfinished

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 19 / 20
Date: October 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

We got this game almost the day it came out, as we were very excited about it. I LOVE the game itself, as it is extraordinary many ways - I will have a hard time going back to anything which does not have this turn-based style of combat.

The combat interface incorporates pen and paper turn-based style, with full/half/free actions, and an initiative order! While the game occasionally gets a bit confused (I have had five foot step free actions interpreted as full actions, annoying to say the least) overall it works the way its supposed to and makes combat better than any crpg I have seen to date: really exciting from a strategy standpoint.

The radial menu available to all characters is a bit unwieldy in that mousing slows down (particularly in big battles) and is difficult to "catch" the option you want to choose for your mouse wavering all over the place. You can work around this, however, and once you learn how to implement the various options (it took me forever how to figure out how to unlock doors, for example) It becomes easier and faster to use.

However, the truth remains that it is an unfinished game, and it should never have been released as such. There is little to no "finishing touches" ie. no item descriptions, and obviously temporarily named objects which remained in the game.

The bugs are numerous, and some of them are game-stoppers or quest-breakers. Many of them are obvious, so I don't think anyone did any quality testing. I am having to read up on what does and doesn't work in the game, and play my game based not on what I want to do, but on what isn't bugged.

That's just not right - Atari shows (IMO) poor business ethics by charging unsuspecting customers $50 for an unfinished beta version of what WILL be the best crpg ever when it is finished.

SERIOUS issues with this game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 20 / 24
Date: October 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have waited anxiously for months for this game, and now that I've played it for a couple of weeks, and my characters are at 5-6th level. I have to say I am disappointed. I have encountered several of the bugs mentioned (crash to desktop when moving items, NPC's overloading themselves, others). Unfortunately, plotting and game play don't make up for it. The voice acting is uninteresting (as opposed to BG I and II), the items lack the interesting descriptions of the BG series - in BG I and II, even some low-power, magic weapons had interesting little histories written. I wound up keeping some low-power weapons just because I found their stories interesting. I have found little that is that interesting in TOEE. There are a number of odd quirks that do NOTHING to enhance game play. For example, at every merchant I shopped at, you say "let's barter" and the merchant says something like - "I have to help this person who was here before you first. All right. Now let's trade." This happened EVERY SINGLE TIME I TRIED TO BUY SOMETHING. This is just an irritant.
The good news:
I like the combat system, some of the battles are VERY hairy, and I like the fact that NPC's grab a share of the loot - makes you look for balance rather than just snapping up everyone available. But they will overload themselves and there is no way to get them to part with valuable stuff. Suggestion to ATARI - let the PC's buy stuff from the NPC's.
This is a GORGEOUS game visually though, with great spell graphics, movement, and well-rendered characters and backgrounds. I hope that the patch(es) that come out will fix the bugs, but overall, I have to agree with the reviewers who say WAIT FOR THE PATCH.

Wow is this game buggy!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 19 / 23
Date: October 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

ToEE, like NWN when it first game out, is one of the most bug ridden games I've ever played. When switching areas, the game crashes to the desktop about every other time for me. I've got a fast computer too, and the performance on this game is way under par. Not to mention the real show stopper bugs like hired party members taking all the loot until they can't move.

However, I still give this game 3 stars. Character creation is excellent. I love their adaptation of pen and paper RPG's to the computer. You play a small sequence, then view a short cut scene where a DM like character narrates based on what choices you made and your party alignment. As far as plot and gameplay, ToEE is excellent. With a few patches, this game could be much more enjoyable though.

A few things I would like to have seen which won't be addressed with patch still exist though. I would definitely like to be able to zoom in during fights without dropping resolution. Being able to map the controls to different keys would be really nice too.

Why do all the RPG game companies try to sell us beta software? RPG game fans will buy anything that says D&D, five expansion packs, whatever they try to sell us. The least they could do is test their software before releasing it.

Too many bugs to count

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: October 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

A good game but way too buggy. There are so many glitches that the game is almost unplayable. Atari should be ashamed for relasing such an untested, unfinished game. Their technical assistance is nonexistent and the game's bulletin board is deluged with disappointed customers. Atari has lost my trust. I will never buy another game from such a shoddy company again.

What a F#@%ing Shame!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 20 / 27
Date: December 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

What a disappointment!

After a solid week of playing this game, watching the screen freeze up as the map scrolls (and by the way, I have a very nice system...Athlon 2400, a 128 MB NVidia Card and 800 Megs of RAM, so it can't be my system...oh, and ZERO spyware to slow my sys down), dealing with the spells which last hours on end, dealing with the paralyze spell for my undead minions that never went away, and finally, and heartbreakingly, not being able to level up my Ranger to 10th Lvl because of a glitch in the level up process, I am sad and heartbroken to say that this game was a pretty serious letdown. I played the demo and was hooked...then...then I bought the game...

However, the concept behind the game is great. In fact, if they would fix the damn bugs, it would be a great game! The world map is a little amatuerish and linear, but the dungeon is well rendered, the spells are gorgeous, and the character development is the best ever. The weapons system is great, combat flows well, and overall, its a wonderful game. Its just a sad fact of life that Atari sux, and I for one will never forgive them this. I've pretty much stuck with Microsoft (Freelancer) and EB Games (Battlefield 1942) and think I'll go back to them.

If you're jonesin' to play the old Greyhawk thing again like I was (I played it on paper 20 years ago...I think it was more fun then...), then try it out, but buy it on Ebay or from EB Games or Game Spot or somewhere where you won't have to pay full retail for it. You can buy my copy...its going up on Ebay tomorrow...

A very disappointed Jimmy The Chu...shame on you Atari!

Game unfinished

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 17 / 22
Date: November 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I disagree with the other reviewer who thinks that everybody's computers are bad except for his. The bugs in this game are all in the gameplay...spells that last forever, spells that don't work, broken quests,and too many story glitches to count. Most damaging; the main battles (including the final one) in the game is broken if you approach it in a certain way. If you go on the Atari's bulletin board, the comprehensive bug list posting is over 30 pages long and growing by the day. They are supposed to release a patch, but my patience has worn out. I have taken the game off my computer and wil never play it again. Nor will I be buying another game by Atari or Troika.

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.

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