Friday, November 19, 2010

[Review] The Temple of Elemental Evil

The Temple of Elemental Evil is a D&D based computer RPG created by Troika Games. It's created based of the pen and paper D&D adventure version. The game was published by Atari in 2003.

Even if you're into D&D games like Baldur's Gate, Neverinter Knights, or Pool of Radiance, there's a good chance you haven't played this game. It became super popular and isn't mentioned all too often. Why is that? Well, I'll get into that.

First, let me start with why this game is awesome. It features detailed 2D character models and very fluid animations. The maps and ambient effects are very well done.

It has by far, the best adaptation of the D&D ruleset and gameplay out of any D&D based game as of yet. If there ever was a game that truly emulated the pen and paper feeling, it's this game. The battle system is very in depth and allows very strategic gameplay.

So why isn't the game well known? Where do I start?



For starters, the level cap is 10. If you're used to building epic characters level 30+ and soloing dragons, then you're going to find it a little boring when the strongest spell you can cast is Cone of Cold.

There's basically no storyline. You get an opening quest depending on your alignment, then you walk around doing mini quests and exploring the temple. It's not story driven at all, just a dungeon crawler.


But all that's just nitpicky, it would be a great game if it ended there. But the biggest problem with the game is simply that you can't play it as it's intended. Really.

This game is so full of bugs it's damn near unplayable. In fact I would say that if you bought the game as is and installed it right now you wouldn't be able to play it at all. Trokia has released patches that fix the basic game functions, but you still get severe bugs like not being able to loot any corpses, losing money anytime you identify an item, quest and dialog breaks, feats just not working, and vanishing items.

Now, "most" of these bugs have been fixed by 3rd party patches. But the thing is, it take SO MUCH EFFORT figuring out which patches you specifically need to install. If you did something like logical like install all the official patches hoping it would fix the game, you just fucked up. The 3rd party patches only work on unpatched versions of the game. Or require patch 2. Or 1 and 3. It's a pain in the ass. And even after you get it working as best as possible, you'll still get hit in the face with bugs.

Someone really needs to use their interface and combat system to make new games.

19 comments:

ModerneFusion said... [Reply]

really reminds me of Diablo

Dan said... [Reply]

Aww that blows. That sounds like it could have been such an epic game if someone would have swooped in and corrected their crappy coding. Darn :/

Unknown said... [Reply]

It seems interesting, thanks for share, man. Keep updating =)

Luigibomb said... [Reply]

Seems like a pretty cool game.

Anonymous said... [Reply]

well its made by atari so

Sugar said... [Reply]

i follow you every day,,nice posts..:))

textileengineer said... [Reply]

Great RPG experience! (With the right patches and additions) This is one of the greatest D&D adventures ever!

CookingManiac said... [Reply]

great depth in your post, I'll be following for sure! :D

caretaker said... [Reply]

interesting post

tigey said... [Reply]

Nice one, good find

Classically Trained Nub said... [Reply]

Did you just say Pools of Radiance? Like the old goldbox games? HELL YEAH man! I loved those games almost as much as I love the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games. Almost.

dee jey said... [Reply]

interesting post dude

Unknown said... [Reply]

really epic game

Kartoffeln said... [Reply]

Looks like Neverwinter Nights, one of the few RPGs I enjoy.

Anonymous said... [Reply]

nice post i like it!
supportin & following!

Astra said... [Reply]

wow fun interface

Come At Me Bro said... [Reply]

Sweet game!

SW:TOR Holocron said... [Reply]

This game looks cool, I love RPG's like this.

kushman said... [Reply]

I like how your post goes into such great detail. I loved reading it because RPG's like this are my favorite!

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