Dungeon Lords: Collector's Edition

The Good
First off, I want to point out, when I first saw the "Collector's Edition", I did not know there was an original version to this game. When I did finally find out that the original really sucked overall, I was really happy with that fact to a certain degree. Because I did not know about the original, I was a little worried about what the "Collector's Edition" would offer. But, once I read more reviews and even played the game, I was totally happy that they did manage to fix the game. (Most of it anyways) There are a few bugs in the game that I have ran into, but nothing serious. Most of which I am sure was just another oversight from upgrading from the original. (Sadly there are no patches for the "Collector's Edition", because they claim this is the FINAL version with everything supposedly fixed.)

Overall, I would have to say that I did like a lot of the newer skills, abilities, spells, even some new Heraldries. (Such as the ShadowLord, mega awesome skills that has)

The Spells system is rather unique. Instead of using a simple Mana or Spell points, you have to buy that spell over and over to get that many shots/changes/spells (What ever) and you can only use that many spells that many times that you bought the spell. (So if you buy 20 Fireball spells, you get 20 shots for that spell, and luckily it does recharge over time.) A lot of the spells are very visually detailed and give good effects to what a real spell should look like.

The RUNE spells are a little different, you have to buy certain Runes to use certain Rune spells. So you may need to buy 3 different Runes to cast that one spell. Some Rune spells require more runes than others. So to be sure you can cast all Rune spells, you have to, not only buy the Rune spell, but also buy the Rune magic or Rune Stones for that spell.

Nether Spells are the same as Rune spells but instead of spell points, you have to have a certain amount of materials to make the spell work. The down side is that Nether spells do not recharge, since Nether spells are the use of herbs and materials to cast a spell. So you constantly have to buy or find materials if you start running low.

The other spells are just as complicated, although once you figure it out, it's not that hard to use. I have to admit that the spell feature is very different from other such RPG type games. Most other games use a form of Mana health or points, where as, this game you have to buy charges for that spell to work.

I do also like that there is very large variety of weapons, armor, monsters, locations, and a vast world to roam in. You will also love the Multi-player system. If you ever wanted to play a really good MMORPG type game (Okay, so it's a multi-player game that's limited to how ever many players over a LAN line) this is a really good game to use that feature on.

In case you are wondering, some of the "Broken" things that are now fixed in this version are as follows...

1.) The Thieves Trial - To join the thieves guild, you had to enter a mansion and find some kind of treasure. This mansion was one of the few maps that was not completed in the original game. Since I have not played the original, I am only going on what I have read from other sources. But, they say that first off, there was no monsters in the mansion and the quest was impossible to complete since there was also no treasure to find. The map itself was complete, just no monsters or treasure. So, the original game, you could not complete the Thieves Trial to join the Thieves Guild. The "Collector's Edition" has fixed this map, so that you can find monsters, the treasure, and of course, complete the quest to join the Thieves Guild.

2.) Some new Heraldries were added. One such heraldry is the Shadowlord. This is a very nice one to have in your list. This allows you to not only become a Ghost form, but also allows you to hover (Sorta like fly) for a short while. This ability lets you cover more ground is less time. The only down side is that you are limited to how long you can fly/hover. But, a very nice skill to have overall.

This is all I will say for now, the rest you will have to figure out on your own. I can't teach you everything, you sorta have to learn about this game yourself. How else do you plan to learn anything? ^_^

The Bad
My major pet peeve was that, even on a very fast system, there is lag time for when you are attacked by monsters. Normally, other action/RPG games the monsters are already loaded up and load up quickly (Such as that of Elder Scrolls games), but this game Lags from time to time, sorta on a time based system as to when you get attacked by monsters. (E.G. after 10 minutes, you get attacked by a group of giant rats) Monsters are not pre-loaded into the map system, the attack of monsters is loaded after a pre-determined amount of time has passed since your last monster attack. The monsters that are pre-loaded are mostly Quest monsters that you have to find and fight. It's not an ultra big deal, but you will see that after a while, it gets rather old, having to wait for the CPU to load what ever monster is gonna attack you.

Also, I have found A REAL BUG in the game. If you all your Stats get to or higher than 200, the game will start to seriously glitch. Your attacks miss more often, you get hit more often, you take a lot more damage than normal, and even your spells fail to hit their mark. So please, on a personal strategy note, please to not set any of your stats higher than 190. Besides, once your stats reach 190, it's nearly impossible to die anyways. Plus, you do considerable damage after this point. But anyways, just a little bug I found out on my own after doing some research. Please keep this in mind when considering to buy this game.

On a personal note, DO NOT USE THE ALT+TAB to go back to Windows during gameplay, doing so will seriously crash the game. It's some kind of protection system that a lot of games have so you can't use memory editor's like ArtMoney or Cheat-Engine.

Although I did not find this annoying, there is no music to listen to, other than the theme intro from the main menu. Personally, I find music a little distracting, but that's just me. Music may work for other RPG games, but overall I just turn the music off anyways. But I just wanted to point this out for you incase this makes a determination for you.

The Bottom Line
Overall, it's not a bad game. The graphics are a little cheap, but believe me, I have seen a lot worse. The worlds are nicely detailed (Grass, trees, walls, doors, people, etc.) the list of spells, quests, weapons, armor, monsters, is very nice, lots of things to do and find. The character development system is very nice and very easy to deal with. There are over 20 Heraldries to find and become. (Remember, you can have 5 at a time, some are based on how long you have been with a guild, while others are based on how long you have had your previous Heraldry.) All I'll say is, if you liked Elder Scrolls - Morrowind, you will love this game for sure.

Remember, you want the "COLLECTOR'S EDITION", not the original. This game comes in a tin case and has the words "COLLECTOR'S EDITION" right on the front, so please make a note of this.

The Good
Let's face it. You've probably heard of Dungeon Lords, and chances are most of what you heard was bad. But if you've passed it by because of all the bad press, now is the time to forget that and go get this game. But keep in mind... you MUST buy the Collector's Edition and not the original version. The Collector's Edition is patched as far as this game is going to be, and it includes most of what was promised with the original.

So... why get it? Simply because it is a great action RPG. It's good at what it does (in keeping with its namesake - Dungeon Lords). After you get through the first dungeon and on with the story you will find a game with great fighting and terrific character customization. Now I'm not talking about making your character's face look cool... I'm talking the ability to build your character through stats and class choices.

The character advancement system is quite good and allows you to create a character that suits your playing style. There are many combinations of class types that can be achieved (no spoilers here) with great perks (heraldry's) and skills.

The fighting (which is the most important part of this game) is done very well. When you are in a battle you can really get a feel for the action. Unlike many newer RPGs that will remain nameless (this review is being written in early 2007) the combat feels like combat, and the foes that you face can be truly daunting. And this is good... after all who really wants to play an RPG where all the battles are easily won? If there's no challenge, there's no fun.

I also liked the different locales in the game, and even though the plot is thin, it's much better than most action RPGs. Quests flow logically within the frame of the story and they are fun to complete.

So in summary, if you are looking for a really fun action RPG, look no further than the Collector's Edition of Dungeon Lords. Get over all of the negative press you've read and play this game. If you stick with it past the first dungeon, you'll play it all the way until the end.

The Bad
There is no music in the game and some people found that disturbing. I personally didn't mind.

By today's standards, the graphics are behind the times. But true computer Role Playing games have never really been about graphics... it's all about gameplay.

The thing I disliked the most about this game is the way it was handled. Instead of delivering a finished product the producers chose to sell the original version, which was really still a beta (not finished) product. This is the main reason that so many people were turned off from playing this game. Then releasing the "Collector's Edition", which was really the finished (mostly) game, was a slap in the face of all those who paid good money for the first, unfinished version. But that's all over now. You can get the Collector's Edition on auction or at stores for a fraction of what it cost when it first came out.

The Bottom Line
Dungeon Lords is a great Action RPG that's truly fun to play from start to finish. You just need to stick with it for a couple of hours and then it will truly start to shine.