Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard

For a thousand years a powerful secret has rested safely in the world of Eberron. It is the Heart of Siberys, a source of limitless power. Three factions now are to decide its fate: The Order of the Flame, The Umbragen and the Lizardfolk.

A Dungeon & Dragons logo on the box cover often means there's an advanced RPG inside. Not this time, however. The game is a real-time strategy game mixed with a lot of roleplaying elements.

The RTS part is streamlined in a way that makes this game quite different to play from other such games. The city building part is a simplified; the player doesn't have to build worker units or manage the layout of a city. The resource gathering is taken care of by normal units or even the player's hero. The game has a surface level and an underground level. Above ground units are commanded as in any other RTS, but below ground it's more like a hack-'n'-slash dungeon-crawler. The D&D rules apply, and many of the artifacts and spells will be familiar to D&D fans.

In the single player campaign the player chooses from four heroes before each map, each one with different qualities, and they can be equipped with various items before each mission. During the campaign the hero completes quests and side quests in traditional RPG style. Once they are solved, the player gains experience points that can be spent on upgrading units.

The game also contains multiplayer support and a map editor.