Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited

The Good
The biggest thing I liked about this game is that the developers really tried hard and it shows in the marvelous graphics, very detailed and imaginative game worlds as shown by features such as astounding architecture and really determined effort in the combat mechanics and overall combat environment. This game attains high marks in all categories. It is fun to play, fun to explore, the community is well-groomed, the animations are enticing and the characters, costumes and buildings and landscapes are beautifully designed. The lands of the game are a wonderful to explore and you will never see their like in the real world. In those ways, DDO is extremely immersive.

Also, you do feel the developers love and care for the game and its community. The developers do take the trouble to try to listen and respond to community concerns and regular festive events really add to the sense of fun in the game. I would also like to mention that stealth in this game is done extremely well. As a stealthy thief you really do have a fun time creeping round dungeons struggling not to be noticed, setting and removing traps. It is extremely atmospheric, challenging and dangerous if you like being a rogue character.

The Bad
The biggest thing I did not like about this game is the very weak PvP options. I understand that DDO is not a PvP oriented game but I feel more extensive PvP facilities would have been easy to implement. Perhaps the game caters too much to a younger audience which does not want to suffer or see the griefing of PvP. The other things I didn't like about the game were: The graphics are too bright and glossy and consequently blurred. After about 20 minutes playing my eyes would hurt. I also did not like how the animation for sidestep for characters was done. I found the character's faces somewhat wooden because everything else was so beautifully rendered, especially the costumes. I really expected the faces to have more expression.

I also do not like the instancing used for questing in the game. This is linked to the focus on a less hardcore gaming audience so perhaps I am not their target market. I much prefer a gameworld where the players themselves effect the environment in deep and immediate detail. Otherwise it just does not feel real. Finally, I do not like playing an archer where the arrows do not shoot very far. Many games do this and it defeats the purpose of an archer.

The Bottom Line
A very good and determined attempt at making an engaging D&D mmo which is true to its genre. The game does follow the rulebook of D&D as best as it can. However, DDO seems to be targeted at a softer a gaming audience who would prefer an easier casual gameplay style and who have little interest in PvP. Also, if you happen to like dungeons where the monster AI is tweaked to ensure they will hunt and kill groups of players, then DDO does make a good attempt at this.