Reviewed: November 11, 2005
Reviewed by: Jeff Gedgaud
Publisher
Atari
Developer
Liquid Entertainment
Released: September 27, 2005
Genre: RTS
Players: 1-8
ESRB: Teen
9
9
8
9
8.8
System Requirements
Recommended System
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Playing Dungeons & Dragons when I was younger meant books, graph paper, all kinds of dice and lots of imagination. Now you can get the excitement, adventure and fierce fighting of the D&D realm in great graphics and awesome game play on your PC.
Dragonshard is how D&D is meant to be played, with you fighting as the human or Lizardfolk faction in a new quest of great danger and even greater rewards. Your quest takes place in the fantasy world of Eberron as you create your army and follow your destiny to capture the fabled Heart of Siberys; a huge Dragonshard crystal that will give your faction the power to live in peace and rule the world; or as the Lizardfolk you will protect your lands from invading humans and others who seek to steal the heart of your survival from you.
Dragonshard is a real time strategy game where you control your armies and Champions to conquer the lands and gain treasure in a battle against your enemies. The main play of Dragonshard is both above and below ground.
Above ground the real time strategy of choosing your army and what abilities they have are important. While the underground part is more like the traditional D&D role playing type of adventuring and gathering treasure. What you gather and the experience in doing so affects what occurs above ground greatly. You need gold and Dragonshards to build your city and the types of buildings in your city affect what abilities your army has.
This is all combined very well in the fun and fascinating world of Dungeons & Dragons. There are three types of games you can play, single player campaign, single player skirmish and online multiplayer. The campaign, also called story mode, is a fight to rule the lands of Dragonshard and to control the Heart of Siberys.
You can play as either the Order of the Flame or the Lizardfolk. The Order of the Flame is a group of humans, dwarves and other mythical races that are fighting to gain control of the lands for the forces of good. The Lizardfolk are the reptile creatures twisted from their original forms by the crystals of Dragonshard that live in the lands of Eberron. There is a third faction that is constantly battling to take control for themselves called Umbragen which are the evil forces of the land.
Your army has different units lead by captains with different abilities and powers with each army lead by a champion with even greater powers. Each faction has a special fighter called a juggernaut that is used toward the end of the story mode to use in battle against your enemies. The Order of the Flames juggernaut is the Phoenix with its great fire weapons and the lizards is the War Felldrake, which uses a ramming ability to destroy buildings. Below ground the captains of the units and the Champion ventures to secure treasure, accomplish goals and gain experience to better command their troops.
Controlling the individual captains and their units is done by clicking on the units and then using the quick commands on the Unit Information Panel to use their special abilities. If an enemy is nearby the units will attack with their abilities without your need to control them directly. If you feel you need to use a different type of attack on them you can control each unit by using the quick commands or use items from your backpack to help units or fight the enemy.
During the combat whether you're above or below ground can be left to the computer, but to win the combat quicker with less loss of life on your side you will often want to use special attacks or use your Champions attacks and abilities yourself. One of the abilities of each champion is a group spell like heal or added strength. They also have an attack that differs from one champion to the next. Using the right champion for whatever section you are going into is one key to quickly finishing that section.
Controlling your whole army quickly is accomplished by using groups assigned by number keys. You can assign groups of fighters to a number on your keyboard then control them quickly in combat by just hitting that number and using the mouse and other quick commands.
All the different quick commands, control keys and ways to assign different abilities with units are done well and makes for fun and ease of control in Dragonshard. Going back and trying a different tactic using the saved games is more often the way to win but controlling the units comes pretty easily with just a little practice. The tutorials are a definite bonus in this regard to help you learn how to control your units and better manage the different aspects of the game.
The graphics in D&D Dragonshard are great with some very well done effects for different spells and attacks being the highlight. In many of the scenes the fighting is quite chaotic and with the variety of spells and weapons flying around it can be some great and confusing fun. There were no glitches I could see at all and the different spells and melee animations were very well done and quite appealing.
The time to program a very creative graphical experience can be seen from the beginning of loading the game. The screens while you wait for loading are really cool with gears turning, crystals glowing and tubes of some fluids being filled. The selection screens also have these different mechanical type devices on them and just adds to the games uniqueness.
During gameplay you can really see the effort that Atari put into the game, the graphics are really good. The whole game is well done with lots of attention to detail of each character and effect being a small part of a bigger and better game.
Dragonshard is a truly fantastic game nothing was spared to create an intense and authentic D&D experience. The sounds in combat and the general things that happen during the game are great. The spells and fighting are highlighted by the clang of steel on shields, spells making all kinds of different noises and the creatures that roar and shriek.
But why did the developer have to add a sound for every time a character goes and does the same thing and only have one of a couple ways of saying it. When you try to open a trunk and your character can't it says one of about three things and that's it. The same thing happens throughout the game and after awhile it gets to be obnoxious. I know it's just a nitpicking thing but in many games this is one of the things that ends up being the most annoying to me.
The game does have a great and wide variety of noises and use of them in combat is great. Atari really has spent their time and effort on all the aspects of Dragonshard and come up with a well-rounded and well-made game.
Dragonshard has some excellent replay value, both for single player and multiplayer. Not only do you get to play the game from the perspective of the good guys for many hours of single player campaign fun but you can start over with the lizard folk who are only trying to protect the lands to which they are born. This plays on different maps for the different alliances so when you complete the game in story mode using the Order or the lizards the game is different when you jump in as the next one.
It makes for new game play using the different types of characters, armies and weapons of each faction unique. When you are playing as the different types of characters you have different abilities and have a different perspective of the goals to accomplish. You can use the skirmish battles to perfect using these different characters and abilities as well as the tutorials or just have fun fighting the other creatures and factions.
There is also the multiplayer battles over a LAN or on the GameSpy site for skirmish and capture the flag fun. Playing on line against others makes the game truly challenging. Although there is a GameSpy site setup I found that I had to wait for others to join. It seems that there is not much interest in the multi player aspects of the game.
Atari's D&D Dragonshard combines both RTS and role playing into a great and fun game. The 3D action and well-done graphics as well as the ease of control and use of both the above and below ground experiences make for a great adventure and real-time strategy experience.
You don't have to follow the story line to play Dragonshard but it adds to the feel and experience of a very well made game that is destined to become a new category of video game. The combining of both the real time strategy above ground and the role-playing below ground works extremely well and will appeal to gamers who enjoy either or both of these genres.