While it does have its share of bugs and bad points, overall this game is well worth buying if you enjoy the genre.

Fans of the original Dark Alliance rejoice, this title takes everything from the original that was beloved, and improves upon them. Then it adds its own little flair to keep things interesting.

This has to be one genre where gameplay counts to the extreme, because if the controls suck, nothing can possibly redeem the game. That said, this game has superb controls and response times. From swinging your two handed bastard sword to picking up that unique weapon, button presses are acted upon instantly and there are no pause times between them.

The game is based on a leveling system, so though most games will have a monotonous grind period where you have to level to keep going, this game proceeds perfectly, keeping you in concert with the difficulty of the game.

Something that in this case goes right along with gameplay is replayability. Of course, with the large number of available weapons and armor, and including the ability to unlock legendary Forgotten Realms characters Drizzt and Artemis, this is one game the Forgotten Realms fan won’t put down anytime soon.

Though the max level of 40 is kind of a downer, it takes an incredibly long time to reach it, and it does follow the D&D ruleset very well. The downside is that, ability wise, there is no reason to reach level 40, and you will fill all of your abilities long before that happens.

Graphics are decent enough, if not beautiful, and they flow well. There is occasional slowdown, more noticeable depending on what weapons and armor you are wearing. I had some extreme slowdown in cases where I was duel welding 2 swords that had fire enchantments. But besides that, everything flows very well and there are no real graphical glitches. They aren’t the best of the batch, but they will satisfy your need.

Sound is quite possibly one of the best things this game has to offer, or so I found. The music is incredibly well done for a video game not of the “console” RPG vein (meaning games like Final Fantasy). The sounds of everything also follow suit, and everything sounds just like it should.

I do have a few things I didn’t agree with, like certain enemies sounding a bit different than you would think, but all in all the sound is beautiful. Keep up the good work!

All in all, this game is a game for not only Forgotten Realms lovers, but even those who are even slightly acquainted with the Diablo style RPG games will love bringing this gem to the light. Buy it, rent it, love it. That is always a good formula for a video game.


Review by Chris Williams.