Reviewed: May 1, 2006
Reviewed by: Tyler Whitney
Publisher
Atari
Developer
Turbine
Released: February 28, 2006
Genre: MMORPG
Players: Online
ESRB: Teen
7
8
7
7
7.6
System Requirements
Recommended System
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
“Lighting Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lighting Bolt!” Many of you just chuckled. For those uninformed, this comes from a Live-Action-Roleplay (LARP) video, where several Dungeons and Dragons fans are reenacting scenes from a fairytale world. Hey, at least they are getting exercise and some sun, right?
For the fans who aren’t quite into donning felt hoods and wielding duct taped swords, you can always sit in the comfort of your home, and dive into one of the latest MMOs to hit the market - Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. DDO is brought to us by game industry vets Atari (that’s an understatement…) and Turbine. The latter developers created Asherons Call, a pretty solid 2nd-generation MMO in it’s own right, and they are also slated to work on the upcoming LOTR online adaptation. Bringing to virtual life two epic worlds of fantasy, is quite a task. Lets see how their first endeavor turns out.
DDO begins like most MMOs, you choose your race (Dwarve, Halfing, Warforged, Human, and Elf) and also select from an array of classes that include Barbarian, Fighter, Rogue, Mage, Bard, Cleric, Paladin Sorcerer and Wizard. While there are a few modifiers to your general appearance, many other characters will look familiar as you adventure.
Once you begin your epic quest in the lands of Ebberon, a handy tutorial walks you through the basics of movement, combat, magic use, and even the extremely important role of the Rogue. This latter class can unlock chests, scout out traps (and bypass them) and more importantly, allow your party to progress. And the party is EVERYTHING in DDO. This seems pretty odd to an MMO veteran like myself. “You mean I can’t solo missions?” Well, pretty much anything beyond the first few, you are dead meat.
Like the original concept and heart of D&D, you need to band together to surmount deadly foes and obstacles-FUN! However, when you can’t find a party, or aren’t in an established guild, you may be hard pressed to stick with this heavy grouping theme. There aren’t vast areas to just kill (or “grind”) out XP, no fields of wolves or raptors to cleave over and over again.
Thankfully, if you have to spend a large amount of time hopping from random group to group, you can use the great in game voice feature. Most of my parties used this, and even those that didn’t talk or have a mic, they would still type and listen well enough. Add to the fact that a lot of these players were around for the popular beta phases, they already know most of the ins and outs, which isn’t so hot when you think about it…. Some missions felt like we just needed to go from A to B, and get that XP, loot and the like-and get out to rinse & repeat. Not exactly what I would call an “epic” adventure.
The missions themselves are pretty interesting though. They usually are multi-tiered, with trigger events, unleashing giant spiders, or opening a door to a spike-laden impalement. Other times, you may discover a latch to a hidden treasure chest, that offers a unique quest item reserved for each member. A nice touch is the ability to warp instantly out of most missions upon completion, saving you the tiresome task of running back through a labyrinth of empty tunnels.
Every mission is also instanced, meaning only your party is present in that particular realm-so you don’t have to deal with annoying camping of parties for something to spawn, or the general crowd. However, you also lose that all important “massive” feeling you get from seeing people combating monsters, saving them from death (nothing like healing on the run!) and more.
Worst yet, beyond the missions, there really isn’t anything to do. No crafting. No buying a house. No PVP raids. Just an endless stream of solid dungeon crawling-which some argue isn’t much different than Never Winter Nights was, leading many to coin DDO as “NVN 3D.” And even then, you don’t have to pay a monthly fee of $15 bucks, just to hang with your buddies in a virtual area.
Combat may be DDO’s saving grace, so don’t give up yet. The sense of real-time action- in terms of aiming your weapon and actively dodging-is really fun. Still, the long-standing die roll still comes into play, which should be pretty familiar to gamers versed in RPGS. Throw in some magic and healing spells, and you have a pretty solid combat system.
Death isn’t as harsh as most MMOs either. Your ghost gets a chance to scuttle back to your respective shrine (that allows for saving during a mission) along with the party member who has your resurrection stone. A bit cumbersome, but no real long term effects from death, like exp debt, loss of skills etc.
Graphically, DDO is pretty sharp looking. You first notice this glowing effect (similar to Oblivion and Fable), that seems to dance across the screen, playing off your character, the trees, buildings and so on. The player models themselves are more realistic looking than say WOW, but not quite as true-to-life as Everquest 2. Some may think they are a bit rounded, but they show a good deal of variations, from the massive Warforged, to the diminutive Dwarf. Sadly, only the helm and upper chest armor affect any graphical display, so some of variety is lacking in that respect.
Weapons come in your basic sets of swords, maces, staffs and so forth, and are solidly constructed, and animate smoothly. Enemies are also pretty dang cool looking I must say, from shaky skeletons, to the oozing (and dividing!) slimes, you have a classic selection of fantasy monsters to hack ‘n slash. Some of these baddies can get pretty massive later on too.
The environments are also excellent, while appearing a little “gamey.” By that, I mean the layout of Stormreach is such that it doesn’t seem like a living, breathing city-just a bunch of doors and sewer drains to enter for adventure. It almost feels like a D&D version of Disneyland. So while there aren’t glorious vistas or elaborate forest to explore, you don’t have to worry about getting off track. More and more, this game reminded me of the layout of City of Heroes, with its instanced zones, urban realm, and linear approach. Speaking of the instanced areas, these are surprisingly varied, ranging from spider infested catacombs to murky, sprawling sewers.
Overall, DDO is a good-looking title, that fairs well against its main competitors in the clogged, fantasy MMO market. It will be awhile before we see truly stunning graphics, considering the amount of real players the game must render, and the always troublesome lag issue.
Sound in DDO compliments the pleasant graphics nicely. The melodic lute and strings provide a nice, soothing backdrop as you explore the areas. However, this shifts to a rather foreboding tone when dungeon crawling, that also dynamically changes during encounters. This latter effect is akin to the repeating track in Star Wars Galaxies, and here again, it mildly gets on your nerves.
Sound effects are robust enough to handle most of the action; creatures shriek, your part members cry out, and the ever-present clang of metal resounds throughout the area. Lastly, a really nice touch was the fully voiced dungeon master (DM), who brings home that ever-important D&D flavor. While I would have loved a James Earl Jones (or Patrick Stewart!) type, this guy gets the job done setting the mood, and carrying the player along each respective mission.
Being an MMO, this sucker has some pretty good replay. Not to mention the fact they are releasing updates every few months, the amount of content is continually being added. However, as DDO stands now, this is one of the more shallow MMOs on the market-even COH has more going for it, although it has been out quite longer.
Power gamers be warned, you will burn through the content before your free month is up, leaving you with a $50 game and nothing really to play, other than to roll another toon and slog through the quests again. Overall, if you are into a meatier experience, go with WOW or Everquest 2.
Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach stays true to the faithful genre of its name, but can it really last against the other much deeper, and more diverse, MMOs out there? It has some solid graphics, an enjoyable instanced mission system, and handy integrated voice, but ultimately falls short due to lack of content.
DDO has a tough road ahead, and no doubt many of its servers will be shutting down and consolidating as gamers are turned off by paying for meager updates and expansion modules every so often. However, if you are a rather casual gamer/D&D fan, you will probably like this title, better yet if you get your fellow LARP geeks indoors, and online with you.