Such an approach would require so much time and effort that it would distract from the reality of the experience instead of enhancing it. Of course, most tabletop D&D gamers don't play through their battles instant by instant. Baldur's Gate can be paused to give the player an opportunity to think through each character's actions, allowing for coordinated group attacks and thoroughly believable defensive strategies. Though diligent in its adherence to the twisting arithmetic that drives the D&D rules, Baldur's Gate allows the player to break down party combat into the smallest possible time units and it simultaneously applies the actions of all characters and monsters in a real-time stream. Baldur's Gate (1998) and other D&D-based games fashioned on the Infinity engine use a computer-enhanced yet ultimately more accurate method of translating the Dungeons & Dragons combat system to video gaming. It is also appropriate to compare this official Dungeons & Dragons game to contemporary releases, in terms of its mechanics if not its narrative elements. Gamers may find themselves paying attention to the text simply to figure out where to go next, instead of truly playing the roles of their characters in the adventure. Though the story has a few bright spots, plot development is linear, sparse, and often awkward. Most of the adventure takes place in these ruins, removed from the city and any sense of cultural depth it might provide. A new Pool of Radiance has appeared now, far away in the deserted ruins of Myth Drannor. This newer game is set about ten years after the events of the original adventure, in which the soul-stealing evil of the first Pool of Radiance was silenced and the city of New Phlan set free from its power. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is not blatantly irreverent in its renovation, but it never approaches the unified experience of the late-'80s classic. Unfortunately, like other aspects of this game, the various graphical and audio styles don't always mesh and the overall presentation often feels disjointed.īy its very title, this game demands comparison to the Gold Box original. The audio is decent, with some excellent monster noises and good ambient sounds. The quality of the backdrops is mixed, as some of the overland locations show careful craftsmanship while many of the underground areas are inorganically angular and feel very computer-generated. Ruins of Myth Drannor also features several impressive visual spell effects, with colorful bursts of light and tumbling, wispy fogs. The characters look quite good, fluidly animated and delicately shaded, and their appearances change according to the armor and weapons equipped. The graphical technique is oddly reminiscent of The Sims, featuring 3D-modeled characters and objects against an essentially 2D backdrop. When the game is running smoothly, it does have some appeal. Most significantly, Ruins of Myth Drannor does not accomplish the depth of story, the detail of character customization, or the engulfing campaign world that made the original Pool of Radiance such a memorable adventure. While Ruins of Myth Drannor arguably follows the official 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules, it tends to bring out the weaknesses of pen-and-paper play instead of enhancing or simplifying the experience for a single computer gamer. But as a computer translation of role-playing's most important and familiar system, which also brazenly claims the heritage of the original "Gold Box" Pool of Radiance, this release fails soundly. As a conventional isometric dungeon crawl, Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is not a terrible game.
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