Okay, I know I'm going to get some flak from this post, but I'm ready for it as always...
I've been playing D&D (in its many forms) for over twenty years, but I have yet to see a decent one on a PC or console system. It seems that you cannot get a decent version of a paper & pencil game in video game form.
Back in the late 80's there was an amazing game released for the Amiga, Mac Colour, and other "advanced systems" called Dungeon Master. It was far and away the best CRPG I had seen w/ beautiful graphics and sound. But, no one cared about it because they were playing a pathetic piece of tripe called "Pool of Radiance". This game had lackluster graphics, lame sound, and a plot a five year old could have written. But, that wasn't why I hated it. It's interpretation of the AD&D rules was quite bad. Even worse was how it spawned eight more games w/ it's same game engine. Sad.
Later, the same company (SSI) came out w/ Eye of the Beholder (and two lousy sequels) meant to copy Dungeon Master. They thought they could take a really good idea, copy it, and call it their own.
Let's fast forward a few years (after some other crappy games) and come to the games that I liked the least: Baldur's Gate, et nauseum. This was supposed to have been an RPG, but I felt like I was playing a very poor RTS game. If it had any other games' name on it I wouldn't have minded as much, but this claimed to be a game based on my favourite RPG. Later on, I tried to play Icewind Dale and Planescape and couldn't finish them because they were just too incredibly bad.
Last year, to remind us of the roots of the original incredibly bad AD&D CRPG experience, they came out w/ a new version of Pool of Radiance. It was...okay. They converted 3rd Edition rules somewhat well, but they made it impossible to play a Mage - you could be a Sorcerer, though. Which meant you didn't have to worry about having a high intelligence - It was all about Charisma...playing it was a bit redundant: Wander around - encounter monsters, spend an hour fighting for about 150 XP's, find a place to rest, regain all four of your spells, wander some more, kill things, rather rince repeat. By the time you get to fifth level you just don't care anymore. Blech.
.
.
.
However, all hope is not lost. Just this year, Bioware (the people that gave us that tripe-game, Baldur's Gate) released Neverwinter Nights. Now, this game was good. It wasn't too hard, it had a great plot, good voice acting (althgouh you sometimes wish they would shut up), and an almost flawless interpretation of the D&D 3rd Edition rules. This one was worth the price of admission.
-Ferret
"...thank god that post is over - I thought Ferret would never shut up..."
I've been playing D&D (in its many forms) for over twenty years, but I have yet to see a decent one on a PC or console system. It seems that you cannot get a decent version of a paper & pencil game in video game form.
Back in the late 80's there was an amazing game released for the Amiga, Mac Colour, and other "advanced systems" called Dungeon Master. It was far and away the best CRPG I had seen w/ beautiful graphics and sound. But, no one cared about it because they were playing a pathetic piece of tripe called "Pool of Radiance". This game had lackluster graphics, lame sound, and a plot a five year old could have written. But, that wasn't why I hated it. It's interpretation of the AD&D rules was quite bad. Even worse was how it spawned eight more games w/ it's same game engine. Sad.
Later, the same company (SSI) came out w/ Eye of the Beholder (and two lousy sequels) meant to copy Dungeon Master. They thought they could take a really good idea, copy it, and call it their own.
Let's fast forward a few years (after some other crappy games) and come to the games that I liked the least: Baldur's Gate, et nauseum. This was supposed to have been an RPG, but I felt like I was playing a very poor RTS game. If it had any other games' name on it I wouldn't have minded as much, but this claimed to be a game based on my favourite RPG. Later on, I tried to play Icewind Dale and Planescape and couldn't finish them because they were just too incredibly bad.
Last year, to remind us of the roots of the original incredibly bad AD&D CRPG experience, they came out w/ a new version of Pool of Radiance. It was...okay. They converted 3rd Edition rules somewhat well, but they made it impossible to play a Mage - you could be a Sorcerer, though. Which meant you didn't have to worry about having a high intelligence - It was all about Charisma...playing it was a bit redundant: Wander around - encounter monsters, spend an hour fighting for about 150 XP's, find a place to rest, regain all four of your spells, wander some more, kill things, rather rince repeat. By the time you get to fifth level you just don't care anymore. Blech.
.
.
.
However, all hope is not lost. Just this year, Bioware (the people that gave us that tripe-game, Baldur's Gate) released Neverwinter Nights. Now, this game was good. It wasn't too hard, it had a great plot, good voice acting (althgouh you sometimes wish they would shut up), and an almost flawless interpretation of the D&D 3rd Edition rules. This one was worth the price of admission.
-Ferret
"...thank god that post is over - I thought Ferret would never shut up..."
