Everything Dungeons & Dragons and d20

It is important that you understand that this review will not be focused on graphics, sound, hardware compatibility or anything of the sort. I will not pour over the installation problems, nor will I spend any length of time telling you about the myriad of promises that were not delivered by the development team. I am not going to talk about the clunky interface or the repetitive game play. Instead, I am going to focus my time on how this game has next to nothing to do with the 3rd Edition rules. I will also go over a few game play issues that make this game difficult and frustrating to play. If you are not a Dungeon and Dragons player, you will most likely not be interested in what I have to say. It won't be pretty.

It is also important that you understand that I am going to spend the next few pages giving this game a thorough beating. I give this beating on behalf of every 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons player in the world. It is my firm desire that this review will prevent anyone else from being wronged by this game. As I write this, I am still scraping the mess of this product from the bottom of my shoe. How I long to use the toothbrush of Bret Barry, the Vice President of Product Development for UBI Soft. Shame on you, Barry! (added note: I understand that no individual can be responsible for the outcome of a large project like this one. However, I stand by my words that anyone who worked on this product should be ashamed of its results)

I am well versed in the development process of complicated software applications. I understand how marketing and finance eventually wins the fight on when to release a product. This is why I feel that UBI Soft (the producers) are to blame for my disappointment and frustration at the PoR product. I would surmise that Stormfront Studios (where the game designers and code monkeys work) was tasked to create a game based on the 2nd Edition rules. I would also surmise that somewhere in the development process, the decision was made to change over to the 3rd Edition rules. It is very clear that the conversion process wasn't given enough time or resources and the game was released prematurely. The producers of the game, UBI Soft, should have fought, and fought hard, to ensure that this product delivered what it was supposed to: a game based on the 3rd Edition rules of Dungeon and Dragons.

One last thing before I go into detail about the problems with the game. What was Wizards of the Coast doing during the production of this game? I can only guess that they had some sort of final approval before the game was released. If that was the case, why did they let this pathetic implementation of their system hit the market? Alas, I do not know. Perhaps someone from Wizards will speak up about it. If they do, I will be sure to publish their response. Let's not hold our breath for an answer though.

The rest of this review is broken into sections. Each section has a detailed list of game elements that violate the 3rd Edition rule system in some way. I am sure that this list is not complete, but it is extensive enough to prove that the game is not based on the 3rd Edition. In fact, it is readily apparent that some of the game features don't use any edition of the Dungeon and Dragons rules.

Races and Classes

There are no Bards, Druids, or Wizards available to choose from during character creation. Perhaps a Druid isn't suited for a dungeon crawl, but if this is a role-playing game, it should be up to the players to decide, right? You also cannot be a Gnome for some reason. Perhaps they just got tired of making 3d models for all of the races.

Despite the popularity of prestige classes, they are completely absent in this game.

Rangers cannot dual-wield weapons. I cannot imagine why they included Rangers without this key feature.

Weapons are subject to class restrictions as in the 2nd Edition of D&D. Sorry folks, there will be no swashbuckling sorcerers in this game.Abilities, Feats, and Skills

The only method for generating your characters initial ability scores is the point buy system as outlined in the Dungeon Master's Guide (page 19-20). This isn't a major problem per se, but since your stats will tend to have 1 or 2 negative modifiers, you have to very careful where you assign them. Strangely, the strict restriction on ability score generation is countered by the Diablo like items in the game that give you multiple ability score bonuses. (My fighter has an amulet that confers +2 STR and +2 CON bonuses)

Feats are assigned to your character automatically based on class. Not nearly enough feats are in the game and the ones that are do not follow the prerequisite requirements as outlined in the Players Handbook (pages 77-86). For example, it is possible to have the feat "Cleave" even if you don't have the feat "Power Attack". According to the Players Handbook (page 80), Cleave requires the character to already know the "Power Attack" feat. The feat "Rapid Shot" is not in the game at all.

Skills are also assigned automatically based on class. You can't even assign the points you earn when your character gains a level of experience.

Elves do not gain automatic proficiency with the bows and the longsword (or rapier) as described in the Players Handbook (page 16).

The Monk does not get "Furry of Blows" as described in the Players Handbook (page 39)

Experience rewards are, to put it bluntly, completely whacked. Don't expect to gain experience as the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual describe. Experience earned from defeating monsters is about 10% of what it should be. I can only believe that this was done to lengthen and increase my frustration with the game. You will spend a lot of your time hacking and slashing to earn experience. Story experience seems fair, but it is far and few between. Baldur's Gate, this game is not.

Character development is virtually non-existent. Why bother creating a character at all? You might as well use the pre-generated ones and save yourself 10 minutes of frustration.

Combat

Remember how much time you spent learning how Attacks of Opportunity worked? Remember the countless battles you went through to master the art of miniature combat in the Dungeons and Dragons world? Forget it.

Attacks of Opportunity are not implemented according to the rules outlined in the Players Handbook (page 122) at all. Basically, the game allows each and every creature in range to attack you if you break off combat. Simple enough, but often you can get attacked multiple times by the same creature in a single round. Attacks of Opportunity are only allowed once per round per character or creature unless you have the Combat Reflexes feat. Strangely, Attacks of Opportunity seem to hit more often than not.

The most frustrating aspect of combat in the Pool of Radiance is the fact that your spell casters cannot "cast on the defensive" as outlined in the Players Handbook (page 125). This means that when you attempt to cast any spell within the threat range of an opponent, they get an Attack of Opportunity against you. This is especially infuriating when you want to cast a touch spell such as "harm".

Although bonuses for flanking are supposed to be in the game, I have great difficulty in determining whether or not I am flanking an opponent. Characters that look like they are flanking an opponent will often not be. There is no clear way to make sure that you lined up appropriately to get bonuses for flanking.

You cannot case spells or perform a ranged attach unless you are in combat mode. In other words, it is impossible to sneak up on a group of zombies and launch a fireball at them from a distance. You must engage the enemy first and hope that you win initiative.

If you are getting your butts handed to you in combat and you want to flee, well, you can't. Every fight is to the death for you characters. However, monsters can flee at will (which, in game terms, looks like they fade away) (Update: Apparently you can flee if you go at least 1 screen away. This could easily take several rounds and a lot of clicking to accomplish. Perhaps a RUN button would solve this problem.

Morale is implemented for the monsters. Monsters regularly fail a morale check and flee from combat. Needless to say, there is no morale system in the 3rd Edition of Dungeons and Dragons.

When creatures are held, my fighter will often do 30-40 points of damage, which is not possible by any published rules that I'm aware of. It has been suggested to me that this was the result of a Coup de Grace. The game doesn't tell you what it is doing, so I didn't realize that it was the likely answer.

Turning undead is strange to say the least. When your cleric turns undead, the turned creature will effectively be held. Your characters (including the cleric) can proceed to beat on the held creature until dead. This does not conform to the turning rules as described in the Players Handbook (page 139-140)Game Play Issues

Although this section isn't directly related to the rules, everything listed here greatly affects the enjoyment of the game.

Your party cannot break up. Every member of your party must remain within 30 feet or so of the party leader. Do you want to use your rogue to scout the area ahead? Too bad, your only choice is to march your whole entourage into every unknown area. Why does this game even offer rogue abilities then?

Dice rolls are obviously rigged. A truly random roll of 1-20 should yield an average of 10.5. However, I roll 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 so often that I can only conclude that the attack rolls are completely rigged somehow. Enemies however, regularly make attack roles over 12. (update: I have been notified that the game designers rigged the dice rolls on purpose to make it harder to hit things on higher levels. If the game included all of the 3rd Edition rules, as it should have, game balance wouldn't be a problem.)

You cannot scroll the screen and click on a remote destination. To walk from point A to point B, you must click, click, click, click your way there. Oh what fun!

Menus are very difficult and counter-intuitive. It is very easy to click on the wrong thing and perform actions that you did not intend to. There is no method of confirming you actions before you execute them. In a turn based game, this should be critical to have in place.

Damage is not accurate. My rogue hit the target (rolled a 12) with a bow and did 17 points of damage. Since an arrow does 1-8 points of damage, the most she could have done with a critical hit is 16. In order to do 17 points, you would have to score a critical and have a feat or magical means of dealing the extra point, which my rogue did not have.(update: I made a clear error here. The critical multiplier on a bow x3, not x2 as I thought. However, it's not possible to score a critical with a roll of 12. Note that this attack could not have been a sneak attack since my rogue was not flanking and the target was not held or otherwise prone.)

What is the point of smashing tables, barrels, beds, crates and rocks? (Update: Some of these things may contain items. This only points out that the game designers intended for you bash on everything just in case something is inside. Hopefully, there isn't anything required to solve a quest hidden inside.)

Some of the barriers in the game are ridiculous. In some areas, crates will block your way to another area. Why can't my characters climb over them or break them (like they can other crates?)

Sometimes, combat mode will be in effect for creatures that are behind a wall or barrier that you cannot get through. When this happens you are forced to reload your game since there is not method of breaking or running from combat. (Update: As noted above, you can break from combat by moving more than a screen away, which is quite a chore)

I believe that you have enough information from this review to make your own judgment about the game. Does it implement the 3rd Edition rules? Clearly it does not. Does this mean that you won't enjoy it? I cannot answer that question. For me, the answer is yes. I cannot enjoy a product that I was swindled into purchasing. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who feels this way. I can only hope that Neverwinter Nights does not make the same mistakes.

Information for this review was compiled with help from the fine folks at the 3EBB forums.

For more information about Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, you can visit the following web sites.

Official Site:
http://www.poolofradiance.com

The Scrying Room
http://www.rpgplanet.com/poolofradiance/

Gamespot Review
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters/products/0,11114,198320,00.html

Thanks to the following folks for their insight in correcting and adding to this review: