Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone

Lets get it out there: I like Hack 'n Slash, and that makes my loathing of Demon Stone all the more grating on my nerves. First: Even for the time when this game came out, it looks like crap. The graphics are incredibly pixelated and the textures scream consoles. But I can get past that, it's all about the gameplay, right? Well... You're going to hate it there too. It's clunky, awkward, and even more repetitive than the usual hack n slash fair. Learning combos is useless in this game, since they don't seem to give you anything and they're just awkward. Targeting blows, and getting characters to do ranged attacks seems like a chore. It doesn't help that the game draws out combat as long as possible, and that the same few enemy units with little variety appear throughout the entire game. So maybe the story is redeemable? Not really. At best, it's extremely light and forgettable, and at worst, it's pandering. It's pretty much a Macguffin quest, with some big name forgotten realm characters (Oh boy, DRIZZT is here!). The thing that really drives me nuts is the unskippable cut scenes. You're probably going to die against bosses a couple of times, and the game will force you to watch the pre-battle cutscene each and every time, without sound. All in all, there are the elements of a decent game here, but they were all poorly implemented and console-ported up the yinyang. This isn't a good ol' game, and I highly recommend avoiding the title.

This game is rather boring, and the story is nothing to write home about. I normally enjoy Salvatore's writings, but this game does not live up to his books. Also, this is categorized as an RPG. If you buy this game, expecting an RPG, you will quickly realize that this game is not one. Yes, it is set in a 'RPG World', and it uses classes/items/spells/skills from an RPG game, but the similarities ends there. This is a pure action-based, completely linear, Hack'n'Slash game, with no real RPG elements whatever. If you love those types of games, maybe you'll like this one, but for me, who love games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, this is a huge disappointment and was really not worth my time.

I really hated this game. It's only redeeming feature is Patrick Stewart's voice-overs. This is a completely linear 3d slasher. It's basically an SP gauntlet with combos. The controls are awful, the combos are boring and entirely unnecessary (you can easily button mash your way through the entire game) and team management begins and ends with level-ups. I mean seriously, who uses WASD movement in combination with a Left Ctrl jump key? It's just idiotic. Look, this may be a decent slasher. I couldn't say. To me it feels like a typical Atari quick-and-dirty cash grab but I don't like slashers so maybe I just don't get it. I love D&D, though, and this ain't D&D.

demon stone is a hack and slash game in the tradition of golden axe or knights of the realm. there's a handful of minor differences, but it boils down to you running down a long corridor killing guys. along the way, you'll earn experience - which you use to make your party stronger and gold to buy gear. sounds good, right? well, no. the only good thing here is that there's a pair of antagonists and they're working against each other. which is about the only entertaining thing going on at all in this game. for the rest, it's a lazy game with iffy mechanics that relies on developer screw for difficulty. what do i mean by that? well: typical scenario? the game will spawn hordes of grunts. kill a couple? more will arrive. on top of that, some of the bosses heal and on top of that, they all have unerring precision. your guys? they're slow, you'll mostly use your attack for nearly everything and good luck with doing anything more powerful. you'll get cut down before you get there. if you're looking for a d+d hack and slash game, you should pick up a playstation two and get baldur's gate: dark alliance. skip this. it's not worth it.

Don't buy. Only playable (I assume) on a gamepad, because it sure as heck isn't playable with keyboard and mouse! Movement control with the latter is the worse I have seen it in any game!