User Reviews (1 - 11 of 18)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

The next generation of fantasy CRPGs, despite some drawbacks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 9
Date: September 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I, like many computer fantasy role-playing gamers was disappointed by what news was released about the new Pool of Radiance, Ruins of Myth Drannor (RoMD). It has no bards, druids or wizards, no gnomes, no ability to wield dual weapons, pre-selected feats and skills-you can't choose your own, the game gives them to you, and no real-time combat. The latter was of no consequence, as I prefer turn-based combat, but it was unfair to limit player choices; taking away freedom of choice is a turn-off. The programmers/designers started making the game before 3rd Edition came, and they didn't want to start over. They worked to make a game that may not have had everything a CRPG fan wanted, but had enough elements to live up to D&D 3rd Edition standards and still be a satisfying game. They succeeded!

The game is awesome. The characters are extremely realistic in 3D and the interface is very seamless. You can right or left click to bring up menus and character sheets. Inventory is similar to Might & Magic 6 and its sequels with a graph to place the items, when moving items to it, you see a silhouette of the item before placing it so as not to place it incorrectly. The scenery is stunning and breathtaking, almost lifelike, weapons and armor nicely detailed, and all rendered in 3D. The music is captivating and alluring. You will quickly get into the spirit of the game after just a few minutes of playing. Installing is a treat; you'll be witness to some familiar scenes - I won't spoil the surprises! You can, as with previous CRPGs, use pregenerated characters or create your own party, which is recommended, but you don't roll scores, you distribute points to all six attributes each starting at 8. Not my favored method, but I am willing to adjust. You don't select male or female gender; if you want a male or female character, you must select a portrait that appears male or female. You can customize your party's formation without using automatic selections and the interface even tells you whether or not it is safe to rest in the area. A tutorial is handy for familiarizing yourself with the game, its controls and interacting with the environment and the movable/breakable dungeon dressing. It is worth the time spent learning the tutorial for complete enjoyment of the game. The Collector's edition comes with the POR RoMD instruction booklet, 2 CD game discs, a CD with the beautiful audio game soundtrack, the Myth Drannor novel, custom dice bag, a full set of gaming dice, and a full color folded map. The instruction book is a little too small for my tastes, considering how HUGE the box is they could have made it larger. Please dispose of your preconceptions about this game and give it a try. The game is wonderful despite what it doesn't have. I am completely hooked on this and want no more of Black Isle Studios. You will not be disappointed. Give the company and game designers your support; they may make a future sequel including all the characters, races and choices we want and expect in a 3rd Edition D&D computer game.

Excellent package with non-stop entertainment on all levels

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: December 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I don't agree with the bad reviews for this game and package. I couldn't disagree more. I was enthralled with the game and spent many fun filled hours playing late into the A.M. while delving deeper into the Ruins of the once great Myth Drannor. The game is deep, detailed, expansive and rewarding in many ways. Not to mention the collectors edition has many great perks like the great novel by Carrie Bebris! The soundtrack is also a nice addition. Note though: this is no soft-core RPG. If you are used to playing Grandia and Final Fantasy type RPG's, you may be overwhelmed by this adventure. It is true D&D in form and will be best understood and enjoyed by someeone familiar with the Forgotten Realms setting.

The game features detailed character building and weapon/armor combinations, along with many a spell to learn and master.....this is an RPG collectors delight! I found the added perks of the collectors kit to be a treat. I highly recommend.

The Game is great...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: November 10, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am a big fan of the first Pool of Radiance (AD&D Gold Box) and I am a bigger fan of this game.

The only draw back was getting used to the third edition rules, which was ok, but the adventure and fun is unparalleled to any other RPG game I have played, with the exception to games that came out later (ie Oblivion, NWN etc).

It is a good buy and you will have a hard time finding it.

some will love this game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I personally am enjoying the game.
Despite all the bad reviews, I wanted to try it and I was also tempted to have a D and D module included in the collector's edition. I got it and I found the game is much better than I expected after the recent patch.

If you like to see how table top miniature combat game comes to a life to PC, this game is for you and you will love it. It exactly gives you the feeling of miniature combat and I liked it a lot. I do not play miniature combat game myself but have been very interested and this PC game was my answer for it.

Combat becomes somewhat repetitive but still many tactical consideration makes each combat a pleasant one.

I have noticed that for this game, strategy guide turns out to be very helpful. Otherwise, dungeon is too big and you could easily be lost about the quest that you are following for. In fact, strategy guide is very good and it will add to your D and D collection.

Pool of Radiance

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: October 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have only made it partly through but it seems to be getting better and better. The only drawback to this game is the type of computer system you need to run it.

Great game once you get started

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: October 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I won't say much, but I do want to post a small gripe about the way the game starts. I'd much rather "roll" my stats as opposed to using the points system. This way takes a lot of the fun out of character creation, and makes the character less unique.

I also don't like that you can only have sorcerers, no wizards. Those who don't play the D&D rpg may or may not understand the difference.

Finally, I wish you had more control over your feats and skills. I understand that maybe some of them wouldn't really translate well to the computer environment, but you should have more say-so in the way your characters advance and develop.

I was REALLY looking forward to this game. I had it pre-ordered for months...and as the subject line says, the game itself is great once you get going. But the thing that made me want this game so much was that it used the new 3rd edition d&d rules, and now that I have it, I don't feel like it does really...more of a neutered version. Oh well, I still give it 4 stars, but if anyone at WotC is listening....

:)

There are a couple of reasons to check out this game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: September 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

1. The revision of 3rd edition D&D rules. Normally, I have a lot of irks about D&D 3rd edition and its encumbersome rule system. This game almost completely fixes the rules to be more up-to-date with console role-playing standards. Unfortunetly though, the accuracy/evasion system was not fixed, and thus you will find yourself missing 90% of the time. (This is not an exageration, either.)

2. Perfect emulation of D&D combat. This game has managed to perfectly portray every aspect of the combat system found in pen-and-paper D&D. The best way to describe it is "tactical turn-based." Each unit has an initiative, which basically lets you know who goes first, second, etc. Upon reaching a turn, the unit has an ATB gauge which begins to decrease. During this time, you may freely move your unit around the field. After moving, you may perform some sort of action with that unit. The range of movement and number of actions depends on your initiative as well as conditional items such as any previous actions taken in the same round. (Which means that you can sometimes do multiple actions if they don't require a lot of effort on the unit's part - it all depends on what you do and when you do it.)

As far as other aspects of gameplay go, the game doesn't have a whole lot to offer. It just seems like you lead your party to dungeon after dungeon, pointlessly slaughtering whatever might lie in your path. However, I still find this game very enjoyable. Being that the refined rules system blends in great with the fun combat system, it's easy to get pulled in - even though the plot itself is rather boring.

If you're an avid D&D fan, then you may want to check this game out for novelty purposes. If you end up falling in love with the rules and combat system, then you may also want to check out The Temple of Elemental Evil. (Being that it seems to be based on the system used in Pool of Radiance.)

Wait for the Reviews

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: September 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this game even though I had some doubts about its quality owing to previous delays. The game was supposed to have shipped in the spring of 2000. I can respect a game company's desire to build a quality game even if it means moving ship dates up, but I also know that businesses frequently put pressure on their development staffs to ship at a certain point even if the game isn't ready so that they can begin recovering their costs. Initial reports indicate that this has happened in the case of PoR. Installation glitches, lock-ups, wipe and re-installs have affected some people. During my own installation, I noticed that it said game files were being installed to the Program Files folder even though I had pointed to a different directory. These small glitches indicate a game that has been rushed to shipment. SSI is already talking about patches for the poor victims of even more serious problems.

As for the game itself, I can only say that the initial play has been a little disappointing. The fact that an entire character class, the druid, is not an option in addition to the lack of customization for characters makes PoR pale when compared to Interplay's Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dales series. Graphically, I think PoR is not as good as the Interplay titles. Characters have jagged edges and there are no options for bumping up resolutions and setting anti-aliasing effects in the option menus (I'm running a GeForce 3 card). I think the default and only option is to run in 800 X 600, something I wish game companies would remove as a limitation given the current crop of high performance video cards like the GeForce 2/3 and Radeon. I would rather wait an extra two months for a game and know that I can run it in higher resolutions than get something where the graphics don't make use of the power of the newer video cards. Graphics engines must be able to render in 1024 X 768.

I like some of the menuing that they have done in PoR though. The right click menus enable players to quickly get at weapons, spells, and skills without having to go to a separate screen. In addition, the spell effects are pretty cool from what few spells I've used so far. The combat stays pretty faithful to the table top rules, although I don't there are anything like attacks of opportunity. It is turn based and makes use of an initiative system that should be familiar to pen and paper players. In addition, the character movement is more fluid, something I wish BG had done better.

I would suggest waiting for a thorough review of this title by GameSpot.com or one of the other sites. Resist the urge to go out and buy simply because you are a fantasy RPG nut like me until you've read some reviews by expert gamers. Normally, I follow this advice, but ...

I would have preferred that SSI and Ubi Soft and Storm Front had waited awhile before building PoR, until the 3E rules had been published. I think developers got stuck spending an inordinate amount of time changing the game mechanics as the 3E D&D rules went through their revisions. As a result, I think the dev team lost time modifying game rules instead of being able to continue work an providing for a wider set of features that were truer to the spirit of 3E.

Flawed but repairable

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game expecting I was buying a 3-D Baldurs Gate. Boy was I wrong! ROMD seems to be more like a turn-based Diablo II, with plenty of guys to kill and treasure to pick up, but other than that no real substance.

The graphics are good, certainly better than Baldur's Gate. You first explore outside of Myth Drannor which is infested with orcs and zombies. The locales outside are fairly intresting, in the first area alone there's a orc camp, dark tower, shop, a hidden shelter for elves, a fountain that heals you, and a strange floating rock that may or may not be a Mythal.

However, the most boring part is actually exploring the underground lairs! They're totally bland, with all the rooms looking like any other rooms, except with the furniture rearranged! The encounters differ alot from rescueing friends to defeating a large and powerful foe, but they all have to do with combat. Subquests are little more than treasure hunts, but they are numerous. Talking has no roleplaying to it at all, you cannot intimidate other characters, flirt with them, quite a bit different from Baldur's Gate, all you do is ask them something or tell them something.

The worst part of the game is that you can't customize your character! Things like feats and skills are already chosen for you, even the Ranger's favored enemy! Many of the character classes, such as wizards, druids, and bards, are not available in the game. You cannot choose a prestige class. They've eliminated everything 3rd Edition D&D was made for.

There is one saving grace, however. Despite the game's many flaws, its combat is nail biting and sometimes intense even though it's a turned based game. Most of the battles require you to be a tactian and it may be fun for strategy enthusiasts. Maybe.

I'll give it a two because it is fun for some. Otherwise your playing a game with no soul. It needs heavy patchwork, I can tell you that.

How good is this game?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: October 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Not sure how good this game is. I haven't even been able to get it to install. I went to the message boards on Ubi softs site and have read nothing but bad post about installing, game play, bugs, and not to mention a post or two about Computers being damaged by uninstalling this game. I would stay away till these issues are resolved. Save yourself the headache.

Review Page: 1 2 Next 

Actions