Post/Author/DateTime	Post
UniversalSnip 11-22-06, 12:58 AM	I know, I know - it isn't the same. It's important not to play these actually looking for a game of D&D, or looking to put yourself deeply into a character. None of the ones I've tried are actually 'role-playing' games... but if you don't dismiss them on those grounds, there's a solid experience to be had. Baldur's Gate was reasonable, but had a thin plot and some issues with the difficulty curve. There are truly memorable characters buried in here as well - Minsc and Boo much? Baldur's Gate II is the same thing, but vastly better. Icewind Dale I didn't really like. Dungeon crawling has never been my thing, and that's what it was... one endless dungeon crawl. EDIT: I never played Icewind Dale II, for obvious reasons. Planescape: Torment is extraordinary. The plot was captivating and the world was seamlessly presented (it may have helped that I had no experience with the setting - it gave me a sense of wonder.) It harnessed the best things about the D&D system in the interests of being good, instead of creating a pale imitation. I haven't played Neverwinter Nights but intend to. I heard such terrible things about Pool of Radiance I never considered trying it. Did you enjoy any of them/do you agree/disagree? Why/why not/discuss?
Solaris 11-22-06, 01:21 AM	Never did much like any of the D&D computer games. I did like Zork and Rogue, though. Perhaps graphics just can't compete with imagination.
Lorianne 11-22-06, 02:58 AM	I agree that computergames cannot hope to really emulate a PnP RPG. But Black Isle/Bioware has given some very memorable situations in their games. BG I & II were very nice storywise, though they did eventually turn out to be quite linear (not that I really expected them to be anything else, it's still a computer). Icewind Dale was a lot less flexible, really a nice dungeoncrawl with a story attached. Icewind Dale II didn't change much for that, but it was nice to see how they worked out the D20 system in a game. Neverwinter Nights let me down on the point that I didn't really find it very compelling to play alone, playing in a party is vastly preferable (to me). Neverwinter Nights 2 dit this far better, combined with the party interaction (which I liked about BGII), this turns out to be fun to play. I've tried Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, but that turned out to be more of a dungeoncrawl than I ever imagined it to be. I eventually just made a party of fully combat focussed half-orc barbarians who'd just pound everything which came in their way. It seemed the best way to play it for me... All in all, PC RPGs can do pretty well... But some attempts have failed pretty bad...
MrPiskie 11-22-06, 03:04 AM	The original Baldur's Gate I haven't really tried (how sinful of me!). I expect good things of it. Baldur's Gate 2 is fantastic. Not many games have that kind of length, breadth, or level of character development. It doesn't get much better than this. Planescape: Torment is, if anything, even better in many ways. Great characters, an innovative story, a detailed and flavorful world.... There were some things mechanically that irked me about it, though. Icewind Dale: Wandering around and killing things was done well in this game. However, it seemed a little lacking in the other departments. Icewind Dale 2: Pretty good. Better than the first one in the story department, and I frankly like the 3.0 rules better than the 2e rules of most games. Not quite BG2 or Torment, but you can't hit the jackpot every time. Neverwinter Nights: Also pretty good. If anything, has a better implementation of 3.x game mechanics than Icewind Dale 2 (Skills are actually worthwhile sometimes! Even if you're not a rogue or bard!), although dealing with henchmen is a little clunky. Has the added bonus of a huge amount of fan-made material availible online. I'm looking forward to the second one. Pools of Radiance: This game is to the others I've mentioned as empty kleenex boxes are to shoes. You can kind of use the one to satisfy the same need as the other, but not very well, and the attempt may prove physically painful. You're better off avoiding it if you have the chance. I've heard that they made a Temple of Elemental Evil game with a modified version of this engine that fixed some stuff, but I'm not sure I dare try it. I'd also say that there were some pretty decent old-school (read: DOS) D&D games. My personal favorites were the two games set in the Dark Sun setting, Shattered Lands and Wake of the Ravager. They were extremely buggy, but otherwise had interesting stories and lots of obscure corners to dig into.
CharlieRock 11-22-06, 04:25 AM	I liked NWN. Bioware used the d20 system for KoTOR as well. Great game ,that. :)
Azezel 11-22-06, 05:27 AM	I collect old (very old) DnD computer games, and I've reviewed a few (I have se veral more sitting around waiting to be reviewed). AD&D: Pool of Radiance I (http://rpgaddict.blogspot.com/2006/03/e-dnd.html) AD&D: Dragonlance: Heroes of the Lance (http://rpgaddict.blogspot.com/2006/03/e-dnd-ii.html) AD&D: Eye of the Beholder (http://rpgaddict.blogspot.com/2006/09/e-dnd-iii.html) Let me tell you, the general trend has been upwards.
zae 11-22-06, 05:59 AM	I thought Baldur's Gate was far too difficult te first time round, and the second time was more recently and I just didn't really get into the game. Maybe I've come to expect better graphics recently, though that wouldn't explain why I still enjoy "Castle of the Winds" and "Moraffes' World". I vaguely recall BG2 being vastly better, and more enjoyable all-round. And of course... Minsc and Boo. The only other I've played was NWN, and that... I liked the NPCs in it. I liked the toolkit engine, which I believe was the actual product being sold - they just attached a game to it to show what can be done. I liked the PRC that was developed for it, cleaning up some of the many bugs, and adding more options. I look forward to NWN2. Even if the game itself isn't good, there's the toolkit...
frasmage 11-22-06, 07:50 AM	I liked NWN, pretty well done
thanatos_lich 11-22-06, 08:33 AM	I liked baldurs gate II and temple of elemental evil. Baldurs gate I was too hard
Mr. VanderMeer 11-22-06, 09:01 AM	The ones I've played Great games: Baldurs Gate 1 Baldurs Gate 2 Torment NWN Not so great, but still nice to play: Icewind Dale 1 Icewind Dale 2 Return to the temple of elemental evil Dragonshard MMORPG Stormreach Pretty bad, but hey, it's D&D so I played through it anyway: Pool of Radiance
LCD2YOU 11-22-06, 09:12 AM	Hey don't mock Pool of Radiance. That was the game I played when I had to comfort my youngest daughter when she was going through her 1 month of colic over 13 years ago. It started 6:00pm and ended at 10:00pm every night like clockwork. That game kept me sane.
aotrscommander 11-22-06, 09:39 AM	Baldur's Gate I and II were both excellent; the latter being the best, since by then they'd had several games to perfect the art. Icewind I and II were pretty mindless dungeon crawls, but I thoughally enjoyed them anyway. Torment has to be one of the greatest games of all time; while I found it a little buggy occasionally, it had superb plot and excellent character interaction. In fact, it has been only displaced from the dizzy heights it shared with Dungeon Keeper I and TIE Fighter by Knights of the Old Republic I and II, which were both superlative in all respects (even if the latter was cheated out of a better ending by time and money constraints). Neverwinter Nights I was passable, but it lacked the character interaction of the others, and the fun of managing the party Icewind had to make up for it. Still, the modular nature meant I got a good amount of play-time out of it from the community. Neverwinter 2 seems much more like KotR, and while I've not got hugely far in, is warming up to be an excellent game. I've played Pools of Radiance, and thought it was dire for more reasons than I care to relate, but largely as it was flat and devoid of even Icewind's level of RPing or characterisation; I felt no attachment to any of my characters (which is saying a lot for me). This is close to one of the worst games I've ever played period; the only one worse was Star Trek New Worlds, an RTS that lacked basic features, such as a Save game. Temple of Elemental Evil was grossly cheated of it's rightful place by Atari not clearing the many bugs and failure to support it. If you do play it, make sure you get all the fan-patches from the Circle of Eight, as then it lives up to it's full potential as an excellent game (though not quite as good as Torment or BG II).
Gahread 11-22-06, 09:39 AM	BG1 got me hooked into D&D. I never noticed a learning curve problem, but then again, I played a fighter. As a wizard I might have seen more of an issue. I've never finished BG2. Got all the way through the core part, and then got into 3.5 in tabletop. Going back to 2.0 doesn't thrill me, even if I do want to go all the way to (oh wow) 40th level and divine rank 0. NWN1 never got my interest. NWN2, from all I've heard, is my next game buy. Word of mouth from a friend says "This is the most awesome game I have ever played, my life is gone, you should go pick up a copy."
razorboy 11-22-06, 09:46 AM	Baldur's Gate I and II and all the expansions for it were fantastic, some of the best games I've ever played. I would even go so far as to say that they've surpassed many a campaign that I've been in or ran myself. Icewind Dale I and II were good, but not as good as BG series, but then again the focus was more on dungeon crawling and combat rather than quests and plot. Planescape Torment... Well... Simply put the best roleplaying game ever made. Period. The best writing, stellar background hand-painted images. Amazing quests, most involving and intellectually enjoyable plot. Yeah, I'd have to say Torment surpassed any and all tabletop D&D campaigns I've played in. Now, Neverwinter Nights was ok, but the mods for it, as well as the two expansions and several "official" mods (like Witches' Wake) were better than the original game. Hordes of the Underdark was particularly fun. I've bought NWN2 and well... the graphics aren't as good as originally promised, very poor technical performance, and recycled material from NWN1 (voices, sounds, many monster models) make it less than enjoyable. Plot is pretty shallow, but inclusion of more PrCs and FR races is pretty neat. I think that it will have huge potential once the modmakers become accustomed to the new tool set. Until then, neither NWN can compare to tabletop D&D. I'm surprised that people forgot about the D&D RTS game set in Eberron however. It was actually quite fun, and it was a blast taking the party underground for some dungeon crawling action, and then coming back up for some massive battles. The game actually had a decent plot as far as RTS games go, and although the balance of the sides wasn't the greatest, it was fun unleashing some iconic monsters in a large battle.
Ariakus 11-22-06, 09:56 AM	I used to love the old DOS games, I didn't like Heroes of the Lance though. I did like playing the original characters from the books because when I was a teenager I read the books obsessively. But the next 3 in line of the DL series Champions of Krynn, Death Knights of Krynn, and Dark Queen of Krynn I loved. I also enjoyed the Pools of Radiance DOS version gameplay was identical to the DL games. Does anyone know where I can download those games for free? I have lost mine and would love to play them again for nostalgia sake. I have also played the BG2, I enjoyed it though it is very linear, there is no way to expand from the plot at all. Minsc and Boo were a little too much for me though, and he had a tendency to go berserk on the party members in the middle of combat...sometimes that was at very bad moments.
Critical_Failure 11-22-06, 11:35 AM	*stands up* hi, my name's dave, and i am addicted to neverwinter nights
supernerd222 11-22-06, 03:33 PM	I'm only going to review the games I have played. Pools of Darkness (gold box) Like all the gold box games, you got to have a good imagination, and the patience not to get lost in the "Ground breaking" graphics. It tells a good story and is fun to play, but can be annoying if you have no idea about the old rules. I was a bit confused about how something could have an AC of 0, and how you would need to roll a certain number to hit that. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, GBA This has really good graphics for GBA. The game seems a bit short and treasure is too abundant. It is pretty much nothing like D&D. It's a great time waster for the week you'll beat it in, but after that... Baldur's Gate The best on the list. Addictive, fun, and faithful to D&D. Icewind Dale Not as good as Baldur's gate, but still really good. Eye of the Beholder 2 Just a huge Dungeon Crawl. Fun, but with little to offer in the direction of story. Ultima I-IV Come on. These are essentially D&D.
darkness ninja of light 11-22-06, 06:49 PM	I'm surprised that people forgot about the D&D RTS game set in Eberron however. It was actually quite fun, and it was a blast taking the party underground for some dungeon crawling action, and then coming back up for some massive battles. The game actually had a decent plot as far as RTS games go, and although the balance of the sides wasn't the greatest, it was fun unleashing some iconic monsters in a large battle. I totally agree. At first it looked like just another Warcraft III clone, but I loved how it blended D&D with an RTS. It was quite fun and really different!
Mr. VanderMeer 11-23-06, 04:23 AM	I'm surprised that people forgot about the D&D RTS game set in Eberron however. It was actually quite fun, and it was a blast taking the party underground for some dungeon crawling action, and then coming back up for some massive battles. The game actually had a decent plot as far as RTS games go, and although the balance of the sides wasn't the greatest, it was fun unleashing some iconic monsters in a large battle. I didn't forget. It's called Dragonshard and I have it in my list. Category two, It's nice and fun but not one of the great games.
Seeker95 11-23-06, 08:46 AM	Did you like the computer D&D games?Yes I did.
DwarfPcfan 11-23-06, 09:43 AM	I have played the following games: Baldur's Gate 1: Great game but it is the hardest DnD game I have ever played. The best way I found to actually finish it was with a dwarf fighter/cleric with 18 in every stats and using all the books to raise my stats on him. Not enough interaction with the Npcs Baldur's Gate: Great storyline, mild difficulty. Lots of fun with the NpCs. Too easy, if you play with the same intensity as baldur's gate 1 and/or use your character from BG1, you will slaughter every creature in your way with effortless ease. IceWind Dale: Dungeon Crawl with a skeletal storyline, too easy, it was pretty loosy to me. Icewind Dale2: Better, storyline wise and game wise and still left with the same problems Neverwinter: No npc interaction till the expansions, too easy, not enough storyline. A few mechanical problem. All in all I enjoyed it Torment: Best DnD computer game ever, period. Pool of Radiance: worst DnD game ever, period.
Orchomenos 11-23-06, 10:39 AM	I learned D&D through Baldur's Gate I & II. Yes, they are somewhat linear, but how can you honestly put a map where the PCs can potentially go at level 1 or at level 6? Beside, BG II was much less linear. Almost each class had a subplot to become owner of a lair, giving "unique" subquests. And each NPC had his own subquest. I also began Icewind Dale II. I never finished it, that was really too linear.
Mr. VanderMeer 11-23-06, 10:59 AM	Why was BG1 so hard? I didn't have too many problems. Playing a human character and multiclassing was great way to be very good. Due to the experience cap you didn't even lose any levels in the end. You could take three levels as fighter then multiclass to cleric. You were much tougher that way.
Azezel 11-23-06, 01:23 PM	Pool of Radiance: worst DnD game ever, period. You are wrong. AD&D: Dragonlance: Heroes of the Lance was not merely the worst D&D game ever, it is right up there with ET vieing for universal Worst Game Ever. It is Epicly bad.
Shinryouga 11-23-06, 01:25 PM	Come on, roll back the clock people! What about Menzoberranzan, Strahd's Curse, Stone Prophet (troll pc!), Dark Sun, Dark Sun II: Wake of the Ravager (yay the tarrasque!), or even Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands! Alquadim! Come on! Anybody? Hello? As for the newer stuff, I got to say, Torment beats all hands down (my copy of NWN2 comes in next week's paycheck, so I might repeal that statment later). Torment was flat out awesome. Never could finish Pool of Radiance. NWN was good, if a little lacking the faux-social feel of the party, like in Baldur's Gate. Although.... DEEKIN!!! Love to you Deekin!! Seriously, though..... Deekin. Remember his limericks?
Aliquid 11-23-06, 01:28 PM	I actually liked BG1 better than BG2, not saying that I didn't like BG2. I didn't have any problems with difficulty of BG1, but I like exploring, so I did every side-quest possible... and that made sure I got plenty of XP and equipment. Actually, I played the game a 2nd time with a Chaotic Evil thief, I ditched all NPCs from my party by the time I reached level 3, and managed to finish the game... My reputation was so bad that I couldn't walk into a town without the town guards hunting me down and I couldn't shop in any stores, but my hide in shadows was so high that I just went un-noticed all the time. Add boots of speed, and I was unstoppable. Sneak attack, then run away and hide, come back and sneak attack again.... dirty tactics but effective. I found that BG1 had more amusing little NPCs that had nothing to do with the plot. With BG2, the NPCs had nothing interesting to say unless it was directly plot related. NWN was boring in comparison. Planescape Torment is the best CRPG I have ever played (Ultima IV from the 1980s is a close second though). My only problem with Torment was that it had lots of bugs on my machine... which caused lots of frustration. I really wish more games would come out where they cared more about the plot and the depth than the graphics.
a_psh 11-23-06, 02:11 PM	Hey don't mock Pool of Radiance.That's the gold box. I think they're mocking the recent (last 5-7 years) one ("Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor" is the title, maybe?), which is near-universally derided as a bad game.
pukunui 11-23-06, 03:15 PM	Now, Neverwinter Nights was ok, but the mods for it, as well as the two expansions and several "official" mods (like Witches' Wake) were better than the original game. Hordes of the Underdark was particularly fun.I really liked Neverwinter Nights 1. I have the Gold Edition, so I haven't played Hordes. I have played the first sequel, though, and despite having greater control over your henchmen, I prefer the original campaign. I have to say, though, that the original campaign is not balanced for all classes -- it's much easier if you're either a cleric (hordes of undead to turn/destroy) or a rogue (tons of doors and chests to unlock and traps to disarm). Verdict: Great game - but would be nice if it was based on 3.5 instead of 3.0. ;) I've bought NWN2 and well... the graphics aren't as good as originally promised, very poor technical performance, and recycled material from NWN1 (voices, sounds, many monster models) make it less than enjoyable. Plot is pretty shallow, but inclusion of more PrCs and FR races is pretty neat. I think that it will have huge potential once the modmakers become accustomed to the new tool set. Until then, neither NWN can compare to tabletop D&D.I've just tried out NWN2. The graphics are great. I love the character creation process. But the interface is clunky and nowhere near as user-friendly as the original game's ... There are a number of annoyances -- for instance, why did they ditch NWN1's awesome radial menu? Now you have to right-click and hold in order to get a list of options to appear. I do like the teamwork aspect and how you can take direct control of your henchmen, though. Verdict: OK so far. At the moment, I think I'll have more fun creating characters than actually playing them. Come on, roll back the clock people! What about Menzoberranzan, Strahd's Curse, Stone Prophet (troll pc!), Dark Sun, Dark Sun II: Wake of the Ravager (yay the tarrasque!), or even Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands! Alquadim! Ah yes ... Dark Sun. I remember that game. That was probably the first D&D computer game that I ever played. Fun as anything but impossible to figure out the plot (and thus finish). I also remember some Al-Qadim type game with some Aladdin type kid with a scimitar. You were supposed to be able to learn some power-up moves or something, but I could never find the people who were supposed to train you or whatever. Sigh ...
JulesCARV 11-23-06, 04:07 PM	I haven't played the others, but I loved Planescape: Torment.
a_psh 11-23-06, 04:11 PM	I have to say, though, that the original campaign is not balanced for all classes -- it's much easier if you're either a cleric (hordes of undead to turn/destroy) or a rogue (tons of doors and chests to unlock and traps to disarm).Did you try just using a fighter with some multiclassing to get ridiculous saves and improve criticals? Who needs turning when you can drop (I kid not) twenty skeletons with a single Great Cleave? Who needs to pick locks when you have a weapon that does acid or sonic damage?
pukunui 11-23-06, 04:20 PM	Did you try just using a fighter with some multiclassing to get ridiculous saves and improve criticals? Who needs turning when you can drop (I kid not) twenty skeletons with a single Great Cleave? Who needs to pick locks when you have a weapon that does acid or sonic damage? No - to be honest, I never tried a fighter.
a_psh 11-23-06, 05:02 PM	No - to be honest, I never tried a fighter.It's the easiest way to get through the game (with some Weapon Master and Champion of Torm levels tacked on if you want to powergame). Mostly because, unlike D&D, you have like a bajillion encounters in rapid succession, and the computer-game-ness of the world limits how many "tricky" things you can do. The only D&D game, I find, that really made mages really powerful was BG2. That's because BG2 had so many boss battles based around layered protections that the most important job was dispelling them all using one or more of like 10 different spells. Then you let the frothing fighter in to finish off the magically-naked mage with his vorpal axe.
aotrscommander 11-23-06, 05:37 PM	It's the easiest way to get through the game (with some Weapon Master and Champion of Torm levels tacked on if you want to powergame). Mostly because, unlike D&D, you have like a bajillion encounters in rapid succession, and the computer-game-ness of the world limits how many "tricky" things you can do. The only D&D game, I find, that really made mages really powerful was BG2. That's because BG2 had so many boss battles based around layered protections that the most important job was dispelling them all using one or more of like 10 different spells. Then you let the frothing fighter in to finish off the magically-naked mage with his vorpal axe. I went through NWN 1 with a Fighter/Ranger duel wielder and absolutely slaughtered it, mostly. I tried playing Shadows of Undrentide with a wizard (with a I think a class level in ranger) and struggled (the worst was when I ended up acidently getting stuck for ages in the last bit with Deekin as my companion. Yes, he's very fun, but a wizard needs a better tank than a Kobold bard!) BG2 is immense fun for spellcasters; I had a dual class Fighter 8/mage rest as the protagonist, and in the end, of my party, only one character wasn't a caster (though Minsk barely qualified as one!) There's nothing more fun than releasing about three dragon fires and whatever deadly thingy Jahiera was releasing, then splattering what's left with Mazz's arrows, Minsk's two-hander and a judicious Tenser's Transformation (350 hits + Stoneskin? Thank you, very much!)
Cael 11-23-06, 06:36 PM	NWN1 is easiest to finish with a Fighter/Bard/Red Dragon Disciple, I have found. The stat increase and never having to rest, together with the Knockdown lock is just golden. There was enough healing potions lying around that you won't even miss the healing of a Cleric. You just beat things into the ground and get it over with. The second is with a caster Druid. Nuke everything that moves (and a few that don't) and if they are immune to magic, just maul them to death in Dire Bear or Fire Elemental forms. I played BG1. It was OK. Minsc made it worthwhile :D Of the Gold Box stuff, I loved the Krynn series (Champion, Death Knights, Dark Queen), but they were ugly tough at the hardest difficulty levels. Nothing like facing 20-30 chromatic dragons spread out all over the map to humble your level 40 party (basically win initiative and scatter, or die)... Or a bunch of Enchanted Bozaks. The bozos come specially equipped with every buff in the game (1st ed Fireshield!!!!!) and are magic resistant to boot. Nasty. The Savage Frontier series (Treasures and Gateway) was notable as the first to include NPC interaction with your PCs (or one of them). All-in-all good games, if a bit tough. Running into dragons made things hairy when you don't have Dragonlances... Beholders, like in the Krynn series, were the single most dangerous foes in the game. For the chap nominating Ultima... I think Ultima 5 was the best, with 6 a close second. 4 is so-so, but 7 really rocked, even if it did have a clunky engine and was full of bugs. Ultima 1-3 never really engaged me, and 8 was just stupid. Someone fell off the Prince of Persia tree and hit every branch on the way down on that one. Ultima Underworld I and II, though, were where its at. Talk about superb for its time...! It had better graphics and storyline than Elder Scrolls 1 (Arena), which came out at around the same time, if a lot more limited.
a_psh 11-23-06, 06:40 PM	There was enough healing potions lying around that you won't even miss the healing of a Cleric.I rest anyway, because actually ever using a consumable item you find is a sin. ;)
Cael 11-23-06, 06:45 PM	I rest anyway, because actually ever using a consumable item you find is a sin. ;) Yeah. I did that too, until I realised that gold is as plentiful as water in that game... :)
a_psh 11-23-06, 06:50 PM	Yeah. I did that too, until I realised that gold is as plentiful as water in that game... :)... and all the best gear is things you rip out of someone's cold, dead hands, anyway.
jeffepp 11-23-06, 10:27 PM	Come on, roll back the clock people! What about Menzoberranzan, Strahd's Curse, Stone Prophet (troll pc!), Dark Sun, Dark Sun II: Wake of the Ravager (yay the tarrasque!), or even Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands! Alquadim! Those ARE the NEWER games! Gold box, now those were games! Total sand box, IF you could find (or fight) you way there. Its a shame that Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures (FRUA) came out just before the net (and was still 1st ed) so that it never had the chance to reach it's full potential.
Daiben 11-24-06, 11:08 AM	Sadly enough I've played nearly everyone ofthe D&D pc games since the late 80's and they have always been personal favourites of mine, even if the quality does suffer at times. Here's my (long) opinion on them; The gold box series (88' - 92'). There were 13 games total in this series with 4 different story line arcs + Unlimted Adventures (basically a toolkit); The Pools series (5 games if you include Hillsfar), the Krynn series (3 games), the Savage Fontier series (2 games) and the Buck Rogers series (2 games). These games were the first time for many people, myself included, to experience D&D in an electronic form. All the games followed the same format, basically wander around dungeon, city and outdoor mazes fighting large battles. They were repetitive and lacked much in the way of interaction or player choices, but the storylines and tactical combat generally made them fun to play. The original Neverwinter Nights MMORG (91') was based off this engine but was only available to AOL subscribers. The Dragonlance Action RPGs; Heroes of the Lance (88'), Dragons of Flame (90'). These games were sidescrolling action games and a pretty poor attempts to take the D&D license to wider audiences. They were one of the few games that gave you control of the heroes from the Novels and had some interesting ideas overall but were pretty bad overall. The Eye of the Beholder series (1990-1993). This series was heavily inspired by Dungeon Master on the Amiga. They were 3D (step movement) dungeon hacks focused heavily on combat and solving puzzles. EOB1 and 2 were probably the only games to surpass Dungeon Master in this genre and EOB2 is still often rated as one of the PC RPGs ever. The series was a strong influence on Ultima Underground which in turn inspired games like Castle Wolfenstein and the whole 3D shooter industry. Unfortunetly the team left after 2 (to create the under-rated ) and EOB3 and Dungeon Hack were a big drop in quality. The Dark Sun games (1992-1993). These were actually quite good games that were never popular due to bugs, a clunky engine and the difficulty of getting the games to run (this was pre-windows days where memory setup was always a difficult issue). The games were similar in style to Ultima6&7, with a good story line and fun turn based combat. They also offered far more environmental interaction and player choice than the gold box series and even much more modern D&D games like Baldurs Gate 1. With a better engine these games could have been classics. Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace (1992), A weird attempt to use the Spelljammer license that kind of combined the gold box series with Elite (a classic space trading game from the 80's). It didn't work... Basically all you did was fly from planet to planet trading and fighting random battles vs other spelljamming ships. There was a weak storyline that had you fighting storyline specific spelljammer battles but even these weren't really any different from the regular battles. On completing the final mission you are rewarded with one page splash screen of text basically saying "you won". A strong contender with Dragons of Flame as the worst ever D&D game. Stronghold (1992). This was a strange title. If you've ever played Populous or Settlers then you'll know the style of gameplay. The focus is on building and maintaining your city/stronghold with no direct control over your minions. It was actually fairly good for its time but the lack of missions or storyline made it get repetive over the long term. Its also interesting in that its the very few PC D&D game that uses the D&D system (basic, expert, etc) as opposed to the AD&D 1e/2e or 3e/3.5e systems. Fantasy Empires (1994). Another empire building RTS type game made in the period before Dune2/Comand and Conquer set the standard for RTS games. The design wasn't very good and from memory in didn't really have much to do with D&D. The Ravenloft & Menzoberranzan games (1994-1995). These 3 games were more modern updates of the EOB games were more free 3D movement (as opposed to the blocky step movement and 90 degrees turns of the EOB games). The games were better than EOB3 but suffered heavily from bugs (familar story here?) and the stories didn't really seem to get players involved. These were sadly the end of SSI's D&D games which roughly consisted of about 30 games in total.
Daiben 11-24-06, 11:10 AM	The Infinity Engine Series (1998-2002). The BG games are rightly classics and brought the then nearly dead RPG genre back to life on the PC although the games were not perfect. BG1 followed the formula of "walk here kill this, rest and repeat" a little too much with environment interaction and ways of completing quests being fairly limited. BG2 greatly improved the storyline and character interaction but still suffered slightly from the RTS style combat. Overall though the strengths of both games heavily outweighed the flaws. The Icewind dale games were both about equal with BG1 but were not as well received due to lesser character interaction and the lack of quest choices. the BG games gave more of an illusion that the player had more choice in the games progression. In the IWD games favour was more focus on team building and big battles. Planescape was nearly in a category of its own. It used the same engine but the character and story interaction was so enhanced that it felt like a different game. On the combat side of things the flaws of the infinity engine show through but that barely detracts from the experience overall. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (2001). A major disappointment following the release of Baldurs Gate. The early previews of the game gave the impression it would be combining baldurs gate with better combat and ultima style interaction. The end product was nothing like that though. Almost no story line, people to talk to do or things to do other than wander around the dungeons and fighting. The combat itself was even worse being incredibly slow and requiring almost no tactics to beat. A pretty sad comeback for Stormfront Studios who previously did Stronghold and went on to do Demon Stone. The Temple of Elemental Evil (2004). My personal favourite, basically Fallout meets D&D. This game had the potential to be the best ever D&D game but thanks to internal factors (i.e Atari) the game was released incomplete and heavily bugged. Even in its unfinished state the tactical combat was the best of any D&D game, the dungeons were fun to explore, there were multiple solutions to quests and BG style dialogue trees. The game felt far too short though (maybe a fault of being too faithful to the original material) and it was obvious it lacked a lot of polish. I would rate it lower than the BG games and planescape but I actually enjoyed playing it just as much. A followup D&D game based on the engine would have been awesome but Troika's departure and Atari's business direction destroyed any hope of that. There's still always hope for fan mods though.
Daiben 11-24-06, 11:19 AM	The were a few PC games I've never played though; War of The Lance (87'), Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse (94'), Demon Stone (2004), the 2 more recent command and conquer style RTS games and the mid-nineties heavily bugged D&D empire building game with first person perspective 3D battles. Unfortunetly the names of the later 3 escape me right now. There was also another strange strategy game/dungeon crawl that used the Dragonlance setting and classic heroes. I played it briefly in the early nineties and can't remember much about it other than it not being very good. Its only after I wrote all this that I finally realised just how many damn D&D games there actually are... Theres even a whole bunch of non-PC ones from the 80's that I've never even seen. I guess the real reason for my long winded posts is simply to bring back the memories of any other old timers like me who grew up playing the 80's and 90's D&D games, long before even 2e was introduced into an electronic form.
EternalZzyx 11-24-06, 11:23 AM	i like all the D&D computer games i have played (BG I&II, Icewind Dale, NWN, Pool of Radiance 2 and Planescape: Torment)... but that i think is not because they were D&D. a special mention is deserved for Torment though, that is right at the top of my list of my all time favourite games, and it is very difficult to get hold of now... also BGI deserves a special mention, because that is what started it all for me when i got it bundled with my first DVD drive.
EvilVegan 11-24-06, 11:57 AM	Come on, roll back the clock people! What about Menzoberranzan, Strahd's Curse, Stone Prophet (troll pc!), Dark Sun, Dark Sun II: Wake of the Ravager (yay the tarrasque!), or even Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands! Alquadim! I played all those! I loved the spiritual hammer bug in Menzoberranzan (it was a throwing/returning weapon with no cool down, you could just speed mash the button to kill things and while they were dying if you kept mashing the button during the death animation it would give you full XP every time you hit them!) but I got stuck at the end because I got drizzt killed early on (purposely!) and it just let me run around the last room with no way out and no end sequence :(. But SSI games are the shiz! Pools of Radiance (The original, non-suck one) Curse of the Azure Bonds Secret of the Silver Blades Pools of Darkness Buck Rogers! (D&D IN SPACE?! This game series was amazingly good!) Champions of Krynn Death Knights of Krynn Heroes of the Lance Gateway to the Savage frontier? (Owned it, never played it.) Bring back the top down 6-party, turn-based, 16-color combat! (If atari had any class they'd have done a short sequence where you're magically enchanted and the graphics go all wonky and it plays like one of these older games for a fight or 2). Hillsfar! (Elder Scrolls 4 : Oblivion totally ripped off it's lockpicking system from this 17 year old game!) Eye of the Beholder I & II !!!!! And Ultima 1-6 are not D&D! PFFFFFFT! But I did play them all the way through 9 and online for 3 years. Religiously! I still play ultima 7 part II every once in a while. As for newer games: I never got out of the first town on baldur's gate, didn't get out of the tomb area of Torment, i hated NWN1 (playing 2 reluctantly now, it's really buggy!), I liked making characters in temple of elemental evil (got to the end once, fighting a major demon at 10th level is not really my thing), and I deleted pools of radiance after playing it for about 30 minutes. I haven't really liked a D&D game by Atari and I really want the rights to go to a more respectable/dependable company. If it wasn't for the fact that I typically find a game crashing bug within the first 30 minutes, on multiple computers, without trying to do so I'd probably have had more time to get into them.
Slyde Shadowdart 11-24-06, 04:32 PM	I've played and liked just about every D&D game since the first Baldur's Gate. The only one I haven't liked (and in fact, I despise it ;)) is Temple of Elemental Evil.
UniversalSnip 11-25-06, 10:29 PM	It's worth noting there's an unofficial patch for torment that fixes a ton of the bugs.
Cael 11-26-06, 05:03 PM	The were a few PC games I've never played though; War of The Lance (87'), Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse (94'), Demon Stone (2004), the 2 more recent command and conquer style RTS games and the mid-nineties heavily bugged D&D empire building game with first person perspective 3D battles. Unfortunetly the names of the later 3 escape me right now. There was also another strange strategy game/dungeon crawl that used the Dragonlance setting and classic heroes. I played it briefly in the early nineties and can't remember much about it other than it not being very good. Its only after I wrote all this that I finally realised just how many damn D&D games there actually are... Theres even a whole bunch of non-PC ones from the 80's that I've never even seen. I guess the real reason for my long winded posts is simply to bring back the memories of any other old timers like me who grew up playing the 80's and 90's D&D games, long before even 2e was introduced into an electronic form. That was War of the Lance, I think. Where they statted Tanis as a 9th level Fighter and Gilthanas as a Fighter3/Wizard 1... Talk about your mixed up parties...
Cael 11-26-06, 05:11 PM	I played all those! I loved the spiritual hammer bug in Menzoberranzan (it was a throwing/returning weapon with no cool down, you could just speed mash the button to kill things and while they were dying if you kept mashing the button during the death animation it would give you full XP every time you hit them!) but I got stuck at the end because I got drizzt killed early on (purposely!) and it just let me run around the last room with no way out and no end sequence :(. But SSI games are the shiz! Pools of Radiance (The original, non-suck one) Curse of the Azure Bonds Secret of the Silver Blades Pools of Darkness Buck Rogers! (D&D IN SPACE?! This game series was amazingly good!) Champions of Krynn Death Knights of Krynn Heroes of the Lance Gateway to the Savage frontier? (Owned it, never played it.) Bring back the top down 6-party, turn-based, 16-color combat! (If atari had any class they'd have done a short sequence where you're magically enchanted and the graphics go all wonky and it plays like one of these older games for a fight or 2). Hillsfar! (Elder Scrolls 4 : Oblivion totally ripped off it's lockpicking system from this 17 year old game!) Eye of the Beholder I & II !!!!! And Ultima 1-6 are not D&D! PFFFFFFT! But I did play them all the way through 9 and online for 3 years. Religiously! I still play ultima 7 part II every once in a while. As for newer games: I never got out of the first town on baldur's gate, didn't get out of the tomb area of Torment, i hated NWN1 (playing 2 reluctantly now, it's really buggy!), I liked making characters in temple of elemental evil (got to the end once, fighting a major demon at 10th level is not really my thing), and I deleted pools of radiance after playing it for about 30 minutes. I haven't really liked a D&D game by Atari and I really want the rights to go to a more respectable/dependable company. If it wasn't for the fact that I typically find a game crashing bug within the first 30 minutes, on multiple computers, without trying to do so I'd probably have had more time to get into them. NWN1 ran fine in my computer until I downloaded the latest patch, and then it all went nuts... :( BG ran fine on my comp too. Don't know about the rest. The worst by far was the Dark Sun series. I went all the way to the Tarrasque fight in DSII and wham! bug... :( In fact, I ran into the same problem with Realms of Arkania III: Shadows over Riva. Last fight and wham! bug... I never played U9. I didn't even know it came out. After U8, I was so disillusioned. I actually managed to kill a guard in U8, and I was hoping to get his uber halberd. All I got was a stupid dagger. That dagger had a reach of 20ft and does 2d100 damage...! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??? Give me U4-U7:2 anyday...
Fortebraccio 11-26-06, 06:35 PM	I've played a lot of D&D c-games in the last 15 years... the ones that I enjoyed most are Warriors of the Eternal Sun, OD&D game for the venerable Sega Genesis/Megadrive, Dark Sun 1 and recently The Temple of Elemental Evil (the Circle of Eight are doing a magnificent job in revamping the game, and I'm impatient to play their "Keep on the Borderland" mod). Too bad I missed Torment, I heard that it can rival with Star Control 2 and Darklands for immersiveness and gameplay.
Aliquid 11-26-06, 06:41 PM	Too bad I missed Torment, I heard that it can rival with Star Control 2 and Darklands for immersiveness and gameplay.I missed it first time around.. After hearing people talking about it on the boards all the time.... I started wishing that I did play it. Lucky for me, my wife was listening to my regrets and bought it off ebay for me last Christmas :)
Max the Immortal 11-27-06, 05:51 AM	The Dark Queen of Krynn and Pools of Darkness (not all of the gold box games were ported to mac): Loved them. Wasted many, many hours playing them. Baldur's Gate: Couldn't really get into it. Icewind Dale: Decent hack 'n slash diversion. Neverwinter Nights I: Pretty fun, but a bit clunky. I didn't like how you can only have one henchman. Neverwinter Nights II: Awesome. Tons of fun. I like the plot, I like the action, and I like the character interaction.
Ariakus 11-28-06, 10:13 AM	What about Stormreach? I just bought it over the weekend and I have to say so far I'm addicted. It's tough to gain levels and good equipment, but otherwise I love it so far. Many, many adventures to go on either solo or you can invite others to join a party...you can customize your looks, create a bio for your character, you can customize your character sheets such as stats, skill, and feats.
Shinryouga 11-28-06, 12:14 PM	I myself am tinkering with the 10 day free trial of Stormreach, and I must say, I enjoy very much!
Daiben 11-28-06, 12:24 PM	stormreach is pretty fun if you enjoy the online RPG style of play. I've played guildwars, anarchy online, WOW and DDO and so far stormreach has been the most enjoyable for me personally. Although the bugs and the overall lack of content can be annoying I still really like the emphasis on teamwork and completing dungeons as quests as opposed to wanding around plains and forests beating up wild animals for hours on end just to level up. For people who enjoy the PvE style of gameplay over PvP stormreach is a solid choice. Just keep in mind its all about action and teamwork than 'roleplaying' situations and that the game requires more physical co-ordination than some other online RPGs.
Cael 11-28-06, 03:38 PM	What about Stormreach? I just bought it over the weekend and I have to say so far I'm addicted. It's tough to gain levels and good equipment, but otherwise I love it so far. Many, many adventures to go on either solo or you can invite others to join a party...you can customize your looks, create a bio for your character, you can customize your character sheets such as stats, skill, and feats. Well, I have a moral objection to playing online games like WoW and Stormreach. It is not enough that they gouge you of $100+ for the game, they want to gouge another $30/month to play it. No thanks. I'd rather buy a game for $100+ and play it forever for free. Considering that my friends and I still play AOE2:Conquerers via LAN, that $30/month could have been very, very painful on the pocket...
a_psh 11-28-06, 03:40 PM	Well, I have a moral objection to playing online games like WoW and Stormreach. It is not enough that they gouge you of $100+ for the game, they want to gouge another $30/month to play it. No thanks. I'd rather buy a game for $100+ and play it forever for free. Considering that my friends and I still play AOE2:Conquerers via LAN, that $30/month could have been very, very painful on the pocket...Either you just multiplied everything by two or you live in Canada.
Cael 11-28-06, 06:41 PM	Either you just multiplied everything by two or you live in Canada. Futher than that ;)
Aliquid 11-28-06, 09:54 PM	Futher than that ;)Australia? New Zeland? Bahamas? Barbados? Bermuda? Cayman Islands? Fiji? The Carribbean? Singapore?
THETUNNELRAT 11-28-06, 10:15 PM	The old ones were great. Savage Frontier games from the mid 80s to way early 90s back were SSI had them. The original Pool of Radiance , Dragonlance , Eye of the Beholder and Dungeon Hack were the best. Pool of Radiance, Forgotten Realms, 1988 Heroes of the Lance, Dragonlance, 1988 Curse of the Azure Bonds, Forgotten Realms, 1989 Secret of the Silver Blades, Forgotten Realms, 1990 Champions of Krynn, Dragonlance, 1990 Pools of Darkness, Forgotten Realms, 1991 Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Forgotten Realms, 1991 Death Knights of Krynn, Dragonlance, 1991 The Dark Queen of Krynn, Dragonlance, 1992 Treasures of the Savage Frontier, Forgotten Realms, 1992 these were the days I had all of them and more I fell pound for pound they were better than any new ones out story wise.
Barnwellknight 11-29-06, 09:01 AM	Games I've played: Baldur's Gate I & II (and the expansions) Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (my first D&D CRPG) Icewind Dale II Neverwinter Nights Temple of Elemental Evil The Entire AD&D Gold Box games: that's right, I've played Dungeonhack, the first Pool of Radiance, all three of the Eye of the Beholder games, Hillsfar, Curse of the Azure Bands, Silver Blades, Pools of Darkness, Gateway and Treasure of the Savage Frontier, and Menzoberran, and any others that I forgot to list Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone All of them are very good. The only things I didn't like was the AD&D rules. My favorites: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (yes, I loved it!), Icewind Dale II, Demon Stone, and Temple of Elemental Evil. However, I enjoyed playing all of them.
sad_raven 11-29-06, 12:35 PM	Ahh, yes...Dungeon Hack. The name describes it perfectly. I got it in a big red box of SSI games and played it on my grandfather's computer. There were many, many family gatherings where they only saw me long enough to eat and open presents. I liked how you could customize the parameters of the random dungeon before starting. The high score board was neat too, since it said what killed you and the level on which you died. The box also had Unlimited Adventures, and I remember trying really hard to make campaign worlds and dungeon maps. I'd get frustrated and just end up browsing the art galleries. As for the newer stuff, Bioware's Infinity Engine series: Best Games Ever!
Cael 11-29-06, 03:14 PM	Australia? New Zeland? Bahamas? Barbados? Bermuda? Cayman Islands? Fiji? The Carribbean? Singapore? One of them :)