Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard (Windows)

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Description

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.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "龙晶" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
• "Dragonshard: Кристалл Всевластья" -- Russian spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Covermount: PC Action
• Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Setting: Eberron
• Dungeons & Dragons (D&D / AD&D) licensees
• Physics Engine: PhysX

User Reviews

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Critic Reviews

GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands)	Nov 07, 2005	87 out of 100	87
Gameplay (Benelux)	Oct 29, 2005	86 out of 100	86
GameSpot	Sep 21, 2005	8.5 out of 10	85
2404.org PC Gaming	Oct 02, 2005	8.5 out of 10	85
IGN	Sep 22, 2005	8.4 out of 10	84
Game Informer Magazine	Nov, 2005	8.25 out of 10	82
PC Games (Germany)	Sep 26, 2005	77 out of 100	77
Jeuxvideo.com	Nov 07, 2005	15 out of 20	75
JeuxVideoPC.com	Dec 03, 2005	14 out of 20	70
Computer Gaming World (CGW)	Dec, 2005		70

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Trivia

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Among the game's other features, Atari claimed that this was "The First DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Real-Time Strategy Experience". Not quite true... Blood & Magic came earlier, released in 1996, as did Fantasy Empires in '93 and even Shadow Sorcerer in '91.

Awards

• Computer Games Magazine
  • March 2006 - #6 Game of the Year 2005

Information also contributed by PCGamer77

Related Web Sites

• Dragonshard (Atari's Dragonshard website)
• Dragonshard Enclave (fan site dedicated to the game with news, information, downloads and a forum)
• Dragonshard Game Guide (on Game Pressure)
• Wikipedia - Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard (article in the open encyclopedia)