Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes

by Atari

Product Features

• Experience an epic battle of good vs. evil, as four distinct characters go on a quest a terrible evil
• Rome through 7 unique environments, fighting fiends and monsters you've only read about
• Each team member possesses unique skills and abilities -- and as they gain experience, they'll pick up new abilities to make them tougher & better
• Engage in lethal close-range melee combat using ancient weapons and amazing magic
• You can elevate your character's powers by collecting gemstones & runes

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00008G886
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 23, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,718 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Journey through a world filled with magic and monsters, treasures and traps, good and evil--a world unto itself where heroes are made not born. Take on perilous quests through never-before-seen planes of existence and carve a path to righteousness. Conquer dungeons, search for gemstones, fight monsters, improve your skills and more as one of four distinct Hero characters: Fighter,Wizard, Cleric or Thief. Immediately immerse yourself in solo games or play cooperatively with up to 4 players. Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes gives you a chance to taste victory as only a true Hero can.

Product Description

Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes delivers the incredible gameplay you crave, in a fantasy world waiting for you to conquer it! Stunning 3D graphics, Dolby 5.1 sound, devastating secrets to uncover, and glory to earn -- it's all waiting for you in the world of Dungeons & Dragons!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Close... but not quite there yet, January 24, 2004

By 

Markus Egger "www.MarkusEgger.com/blog" (Spring, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes (Video Game)

This is a pretty decent game. The graphics are good. Overall gameplay is simiar to Baldur's Gate (xbox): Basic D&D rules are used, but player skill is also required. For instance, when you shoot a bow, you have to aim it yourself, but if you hit, the damage is calculated based on D&D rules. Blocking works similarily.

I like the cooperative multiplayer mode this game offers. This allows you to play the game (main storyline) together with a friend. This is the most appealing aspect of this game in my mind.

Unfortunately, the save game system is a bit of a turn-off. Often, the save points seem to be positioned badly. I would appreciate a save point right before a boss-battle. This is generally not the case. Also, going back to a previous save point after having cleared out most of the level is not an option, because the world isn't truely persisted. In other words: Although the game saves that you picked up gold and other things you might have found along the way, it does not save that you have slain the monster. This might be a good way to gain more XP, but it doesn't help your progress all too much. So you will find yourself fighting through a few minutes of silly battle that you have done before, just to even get to the boss-battle. Argh!

I have now played this game on and off. I keep coming back to it, because overall, it is a pretty good game. But usually I end up a few hours further down the story, but frustrated, and it takes a while before I come back and continue, because I dread re-playing something that I have already done before.

I really wish someone would finally come up with a better save-game concept. The conventional wisdom seems to be that console players do not want to save anywhere and anytime. Instead - according to game publishers theory - console players want save points. Well, I have news for them: I do not buy into this theory. I am a console gamer, and I still want to save anywhere. And with a system like the xbox, this is no technical problem at all.

Overall level design is OK. As someone pointed out here: It is pretty linear. I do not mind that, but some people do. Some levels could be designed a bit better. One of the worst level-design issues actually has to do with the save game system. Often, save points are positioned very inconveniently. One boss-battle for instance has a save point right in the area where you fight the battle. But when you move over the save point, a stupid dialog pops up, telling the player that saving is not allowed during boss battles. You then click the button to make the dialog go away, and bam!, the enemy whacks you and you die. I mean, why even put that stupid save point there if it can not be used until the enemy is killed? It would be easy enough to put it right afterwards, especially since the game is so linear.

Anyway: If you like D&D role playing games, you probably want to check this one out, but be aware that it is a bit action-heavier than D&D games on the PC.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good D&D game, October 8, 2004

By 

J. Sheldon "falcon710" (FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes (Video Game)

This game seems strangely reminiscent of games like Diablo I and II for the PC. That is, it's a hack n' slash dungeons and dragons game. I found the game extremely fun, albeit a bit short. I do not consider myself to be an exceptional gamer and I had very little problem beating this game. The graphics are only above average, although the fire and other lighting effects are great. The gameplay is rather simple, run up to the back guys and hack at em with your sword until they're dead. The button mashing gets a bit repetitive, especially since the enemies are just slightly tweaked recycles from earlier levels. The game is much more fun with friends as you can create a party of up to four characters. When playing as a single player, you can control only one of the characters. I was hoping that the computer would control the others, creating a four-person party, but that is not the case. If you liked Diablo and other hack n' slash games, get this one, it's a lot of fun. More traditional D&D fans might not like the combat system. However, the level up system is quite extensive and offers a lot of variety for the different characters. Overall a great game.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but falls short on character and plot., November 3, 2003

By 

Austringer (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes (Video Game)

In a nutshell, it's AD&D wiggled into the Gauntlet package.

Pros:
Good multiplayer game if you've several friends with 3-5 days of free time.
Also fun as a single player game.
Lots of powers to buy up and further diversify each character.

Cons:
Despite the diversity of skills/powers that can be bought up, it all boils down to "look at my new trick for doing/avoiding damage."
Linear gameplay with no means of exploring or jumping ahead.
Gets repetitive fast.
Low replay value.

Finish the game in 3-4 days of solid playing.
Zero character development. Total hack n' slash.
There is no actual story/plot beyond "go kill X again." Yawn.
Mini-adventures/quests are equally linear and inconsequential. Double yawn.
Standing around aimlessly while waiting to heal up.
Backstory is so ridiculous as to be laughable.*

* The backstory has the four heroes killing the Bad Guy centuries ago. But as the Bad Guy is dying in this fight, he gets off a spell that 1) kills all the characters and 2) destroys their weapons by shattering their magic into 20 shards which are then dispersed to multiple planes of existence. Hello? If the guy is so powerful as to be able to cast something like that as he's dying, why didn't he do that right when the heroes walked through the door? It's just outright bad story.

So while the game is entertaining most of the time (the first time through), it becomes tedious in places and won't be one that you go back and play time and time again. Lack of any plot/story makes it a combat-only game rather than an engaging epic, which is the heart of the AD&D gaming system.

I'll be selling my copy after I've loaned it to some friends to play.