Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard

I am the only person I know of to own a copy of this and just a few weeks ago pulled out the disc's and started adventuring again into the depths of the underworld! The game does a superb job of blending RTS with RPG. On the surface you have to wage war with large armies and hunt for resources like a typical RTS, but when you send your troops underground they all disappear into the "captain" and give him or her a health boost, so your large army transforms into a dungeon exploring party that fits in with most D & D settings right before your eyes, but don't worry, when you come back to the surface your army reappears! While you are underground you will encounter traps, monsters, gold and gems, it's a treasure trove that is worth the risk because your opponent will have to face the same fate as you! I recommend this game very highly, it's fun, the graphics look good, and it's a unique game that stands out among other RTS games with RPG elements thrown in.

I was interested in computer renditions of AD&D/D&D since the famous early TSR Gold Box games, so obviously I couldn't miss Dragonshard because, even though it was marketed as a real-time strategy, it had the D&D part in it. I love D&D, and I love RTS games, so I expected at least one of two - either I would get rather deep RPG elements in Dragonshard - better than in Warcraft 3 and maybe kinda like in Heroes of Might & Magic at least, or if worst came to worst and Dragonshard didn't have strong RPG elements, at least I would get a solid, decent real-time strategy in a well-thought out D&D setting. However, I had to be more careful and remember that this game came from the infamous epoch when Atari tried to quickly market several games as D&D, abusing the D&D license that it got. Demon Stone was an action game with some D&D-ish items tossed in for good measure, and Dragonshard is a Warcraft 3 clone with some D&D creatures tossed in and with a setting that should [rather distantly, in my opinion] resemble Eberron. Whatever several D&D-like elements are thrown in (mostly dungeon crawling-related) are few, rare, and mostly do not have a D&D feel to them. As a D&D game and as a game with RPG elements this game feels bland and not deep/captivating - a quality that you naturally expect from any game with RPG elements. As a real-time strategy it feels very much like a Warcraft 3 clone that is unable to meet the level that was set by the game it's trying to clone. The fights get rather repetitive quickly, and so do the missions, the game may feel challenging at first but you quickly realize that it's mostly because the controls (and especially the micromanagement part) feel clunky and get in your way more often than help you. After several missions it gets rather apparent that the game is neither an in-depth RTS nor an in-depth D&D/RPG. It feels superficial and repetitive, and tends to leave a bad aftertaste - it made me seriously think that Atari was just trying to find an excuse to market this game with a "Dungeons & Dragons" label - toss a few creatures from the Monster Manual in, name the setting "Eberron", make a few references to some Eberronish locations, add the dungeon crawling aspect (by the way, which might just as well be the best thing there is among all the blandness you get in this game) - and there you go, a D&D RTS game is ready. To cut a long story short, if you're looking for a D&D RPG game, this game is not for you - it's not a RPG, it's a real-time strategy. If you're a hardcore RTS fan and are looking for some solid real-time strategy action, this game is probably not for you either - if you ever played something like Warcraft 3, Starcraft 1/2, or the Command & Conquer series, you won't be able to throw away the feeling that this game is too superficial and does not have much to offer in the strategy and tactics beyond the "amass a huge army, trample the enemy, repeat" routine. You may find the dungeon crawling aspect fun, but only for a while before it gets repetitive as well. For a hardcore D&D fan, this game doesn't have the necessary depth of the setting and a decent enough level of RPG elements. For a hardcore strategy fan, it doesn't have intuitive controls and a great variety of tactical options to give you a lot of food for thought and a lot of strategies to master. If you believe the game may be quite to your taste anyway, I seriously recommend you to give it a try first (not sure if there's a demo out there, but if it is, definitely try it out before buying the full version). When Dragonshard first came out it wasn't worth its full price. I'm not quite positive if it's even worth the $9.99 label it received on GOG... It's very cheap, right, but you probably still don't want to just know that you basically threw $9.99 away, right?

As my name implies I'm a bit of a sucker for D&D games in general, but this one ranks as one of the worst titles I've ever played. Bought this expecting some sort of strategy title, with units you level up, some sort of compelling storyline and a comforting fantasy settings. This title has none of that. If I had to liken it to anything, it would be the first age of empires on a smaller map that railroads you round certain routes. It's set in some sort of proto eberron setting that would be fine except ITS NOTHING LIKE EBERRON as describe in the books and other games in that setting, and the storyline.... not even worthy of that title. One of the few games I've bought in my lif that I didn't bother completing, and one I'd seriously recommend you try before buying!

I thought I would add a quick review. Dragonshard had some potential but like many games, it did not get the additional time or community feedback to raise it up to the level it could have been. 1. The RTS controls are quite bad. A few times there are moments it woks but most of the time you will be yelling at the screen going "Stop attacking and follow orders to fall back... omg you are running back again?!?" 2. There are only TWO campaigns. So no getting to play the Drow : ( The campaigns have their moments but there are no big surprises or plot twists. Additionally both endings go out flat - no punch. 2.5 The Umbragen faction gets all the cool toys and you do not get to use them in the story. A third campaign story would made raised it another star what a bummer. You can still play them in skirmish but considering the story run for the other two factions it feels like the game has a piece missing. 3. The resource model is interesting as people go scrambling when a shard rain happens. That part of the design is pretty neat. Is it worth it, well for the sales going on I picked it up for a low price and bang for the buck it was not bad for 10-15 hour run. In closing it is a real shame, I can see the potential here of what direction it could have gone. There is a world editor there, perhaps if it were as strong as the Warcraft III editor that might have been fan base formed to keep the game going.