Pools of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor
$19.95		(Win95/98/ME) (Retail) (POOLRADPR)

Publisher: UbiSoft

Animated Blood and Violence

The Legacy of Authentic D&D Gaming Continues

Featuring the new Dungeons and Dragons game rules with new races, classes, spells and over 100 hours of gameplay. Players may choose between the genuine turn based style role-playing or focus on action with a timed-turn style of play!

Malevolence is afoot in the Forgotten Realms world. Something horrific has re-appeared. A new Pool of Radiance has been discovered beneath the city of New Phlan. A wave of pure evil now emanates from the Pool of Radiance, cursing all it touches.

Swept up by the mystery and enlisted by the good wizard Elminster, your party is charged with a quest: find out what is behind this vile resurgence and put a stop to it! But be warned, brave hero, for the source of this evil lies in the ruined Elven city of Myth Drannor, one of the most mysterious and dangerous places in all the Forgotten Realms.

Game Highlights:

• Features the latest Dungeons and Dragons Rules
• Includes over 90 spells plus new D&D monsters and items
• Multiplay and Single play dungeons
• Characters can rise to the 16th level of experience and cast 8th level spells
• Timed-Action Combat system and non-linear quests
• Unique multi-player game featuring Random Dungeons
• Adventure into the ancient city of Myth Drannor and face foes never seen before

Experience the Re-Birth of a Legend: A New Pool of Radiance has been discovered and you must gather your heroes and put a stop to the re-awakened evil

Over 90 Spells and Dazzling Spell Effects: Cast Sorcerer and Cleric spells including orisons and cantrips all straight from the New Dungeons and Dragons game rules.

Fluid and Naturally Moving Characters: Realistic 3D rendered characters, monsters and NPC's that animate in breathtaking landscapes and environmentals.

Requirements:

Win95/98/ME: Pentium II 400 or faster (Pentium III 500 recommended), 64 MB RAM or greater (128 MB RAM recommended), 8x CD-ROM drive, DirectX 8.0 compatible sound card, 1-6 player support via LAN & Internet (56K modem or faster required), DirectX 8.0A or higher, 3D video card with D3D support (12MB Voodoo2 / 16 MB other)

Raves:

Pool of Radiance uses a delicate combination of gorgeous 3D graphics, numerous highly detailed animations and one of the sleekest interfaces I have ever seen in an RPG to create a truly profound and enjoyable role-playing experience. - IGN.Com

Pool of Radiance not only promises to resurrect the gold box series of Dungeon and Dragons games but also be the first to feature the new 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules. - Gamespot.com

... multiplayer modes should provide hours of replay value in this beautiful-looking game - PC Gamer

Reviews:

Quandary Review by Rosemary Young

"It is quite a long game so it’s a long journey to your ultimate destination, fraught by many, many dangers in the form of scorpion-like Arraccats, snake-like Nargas, Lizardfolk, Orcs, Drow, and all manner of Undead. In fact the game is heavily focused on combat with very few friendly characters to interact with to divert you from your constant battles. After a couple of encounters at the beginning of the game where you meet a handy trader who’ll give you a tip or two and Beriand the Sorcerer who starts you on the right track and gives you a much longer list of tips and quests, most everyone and everything else you meet is out to make mincemeat of you."

"...the [combat] system uses a drop down menu type interface. Right click to open a general character menu from where you can choose combat options, spells or weapons, then navigate this short list to open up the drop down menu of your choice which is a text list of items or spells. (You can cut out one step by using keyboard shortcuts.) So if you choose magic, all magic items in your inventory will appear … if you carry too many items the list goes on forever, you might even have to select ‘more’ to get the next ‘page’. If you are not equipped with the magic item you want then you have to complete this process twice, once to equip it and then to use it."

"Of course, if you are performing these acrobatics with the time limit on your turn ticking away it’s very possible that you’ll make a mistake and fritter away your turn. Practice might make perfect and, maybe, using the keyboard shorcuts that you can program, it would be possible to fight with the ‘timed’ feature adjusted to your liking. I adjusted it alright, right down to ‘off’ and, much to my amazement, after floundering during my first courageous attempts, I got to quite enjoy the combat."

"In fact this game improves with age. For instance, it gets more interesting and varied when you leave the first set of dungeons. This is when the story kicks in more prominently, and you meet a few extra characters who have information and quests for you. It becomes immediately more involving. Also there’s a lot of diligent exploring to take care of, and the graphics are pretty good, if a bit repetitive in the dingy dungeons. Though I must say that these dark areas make the spell effects look quite spectacular. My Sorcerer well and truly earned her keep letting go with fireballs and sending streaks of lighting into the fray. Area spells work wonders in this game both visually and practically, and the game engine lets you take careful aim so you (or your friends) don’t get hurt."

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