Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
Description official descriptions
An homage to the DOS-based Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box game Pool of Radiance, Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor returns again to the worlds of the Forgotten Realms.
Although the game begins in the city of Phlan, which was reclaimed in the previous game, the majority of the action takes place beneath Myth Drannor, once a beautiful city of peace, where men, elves, and dwarves could live in peace and harmony, which is now in ruins.
Despite its visual similarity to contemporary games that utilized real-time combat (such as Baldur's Gate), the game features a strictly turn-based system, similar to those implemented in Gold Box games. Orisons and Cantrips, straight from the then new Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition rules, have been added. The game features new character classes and races such as Barbarians, Monks, Paladins, and Half-Orcs. Clerics and Sorcerers can cast over 100 spells. The Dungeon Master communicates all important findings and events throughout the game.
Spellings
- 光芒之池II之剑与魔法的传说 - Simplified Chinese spelling
- 光芒之池:迷斯卓諾遺跡 - Traditional Chinese spelling
Groups +
- Dungeons & Dragons (D&D / AD&D) licensees
- Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Setting: Forgotten Realms
- Fantasy creatures: Dwarves
- Fantasy creatures: Elves
- Fantasy creatures: Halflings / Hobbits
- Fantasy creatures: Orcs
- Games made into books
- Middleware: Bink Video
- Pool of Radiance series
- Protagonist: Female (option)
- Software Pyramide releases
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Windows version)
208 People (160 developers, 48 thanks) · View all
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Additional Programming | |
[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 63% (based on 36 ratings)
Players
Average score: 2.5 out of 5 (based on 29 ratings with 5 reviews)
You can call it a "playable disappointment"
The Good
I was actually thrilled by thinking that Pool of Radiance coming back to life, I enjoyed previous Pool of Radiance, so I thought it would be something as good plus the multiplayer...
The Bad
The combat system is horrible translation of old engine into year 2001, using items or spells is a real pain with that menu system, the quests somewhat plain, and overall game is a disappointment on many levels. I will not mention that it runs way too slow on my P4 with 512 ram and ultra graphic card - first time I actually could feel I need upgrade.. or maybe its just game. The manual (at least from the normal edition) is way too small and confusing.
The Bottom Line
Don't go for it, until it hits around 29.99 price barrier. There are really better rpgs now on the market - like Wizardry 8 for example. It just feels at times like Diablo, but with hindered combat system and just again, plainly slow. Its playable anyway, but if I were you, I'd wait either until it goes down in price or someone gives it to me as present.
Windows · by Marina Shoykhet (6) · 2001
Mediocre, boring Baldur's Gate clone
The Good
In the 80's SSI released now classic Pool Of Radiance game, which I played like crazy. It has a huge area you can travel while doing various mission which range from finding objects to slaughtering monsters in the slums.
Pool Of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor contains also a huge area you can go through and it is a sort of a sequel to the classic 80's game, while it's been made by a different company. It's not prettiest flower in the meadow but the graphics look okay, while it does look noticeably uglier than Baldur's Gate, which is a game that comes to mind from this one. And that's pretty much all the positives I can say about it.
The Bad
The huge dungeons are the fall of PoR:RoMD. The idea of large area of adventuring sounds good, but the execution lacks badly. Main feeling I got from playing the game is sheer boredom. You just run around the ruins, kill monsters and rarely meet anyone who you can actually talk to.
This could be okay, but the navigation system is so idiotic, it makes the gameplay more of a chore than a treat. While the game has a map, you can't use it to plot your course, nor can you even get the screen roll so far a way, that you could just click directly in the far away spot you want to go. You are forced to take small sprints at a time, as the screen is pretty much locked to your main character.
As a note, the games map system show a button for world map, which I foolishly thought would actually allow you to access a world map at some point. It doesn't. The designers of the game thought that the VERY small area before you enter the ruins is the world.
Other huge minus are the fights. The system works okay, but it all happens so slowly. It's just not fun to wait for all those pesky skeletons or ghouls to slowly walk towards you.
I won't be giving any roses to music neither. There seems to be only a couple of tracks, which are played over and over again. Mostly the game is silent, but it starts to get pretty annoying when the same battle music starts blasting from the speakers for a millionth time.
The Bottom Line
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is a pretty mediocre and especially boring Baldur's Gate clone. It really has nothing going for it that would make it a fun game to play. When it was originally announced I recall it having quite a hype, but just like many other games with the hype, PoR:RoMD didn't manage to fill any of it.
Windows · by tomimt (397) · 2010
About the original game Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
The Good
If this game plays at all like the original 2001 release, I don't see what anyone is complaining about. It was one of the best D&D games I have ever played and I have played almost all of them. I disagree with one person's recommendation of a warrior in the party. It's better with a paladin that can double as a cleric to help turn the undead and even do a bit of healing. The survivability goes up surprisingly a lot with that combination. A rogue is a must and I recommend a mage. That's the secret combination I found that works best.
The Bad
It was so long I didn't get to finish it and now I can't find anyplace to download it since my new comp doesn't have a disk drive.
The Bottom Line
And awesome action-packed adventure among the ruins of an ancient city of the era when the races lived together and great spells were weaved that has sadly been run down and the magic has become unpredictable. A place where great and ancient treasures can be found...and death for the unwary.
Windows · by Rhaazyk Koch (2) · 2020
Trivia
Bugs
The first US version of this game was a technical disaster: not only that the installer accepted no other drives than C: - one could live with that although it's a sign of sloppy programming - the uninstallation program would accidentally erase some core components of Windows 9x, rendering the system unusable after rebooting. Because of this, the game was withdrawn and re-released with a fixed installer. This delayed the German version too.
Cover
Both the game box artwork and the cover illustration of the tie-in novel are by renowned fantasy illustrator (Gerald) Brom.
Inspiration
The game follows a November 1, 2000-published novel of the same name by Carrie Bebris, both the computer game and the novel sharing a common source of a pen & paper RPG module from Wizards of the Coast.
Awards
- Computer Gaming World
- April 2002 (Issue #213) – Coaster of the Year
Information also contributed by Entorphane and Pseudo_Intellectual.
Analytics
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Related Sites +
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FAQs/Walkthroughs
Several available on GameFaqs website -
Official Game Page
Official home page for Pools of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor -
Scorpia's Strategy Guide
Very indepth with info about all aspects of the game. Includes discussion about the bugs and patches (with links for download).
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Jeanne.
Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, phlux, JRK, chirinea, Wizo, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, firefang9212.
Game added October 5, 2001. Last modified February 29, 2024.