Dungeons & Dragons - Welcome to the Temple of Elemental Evil Review - PC Game Reviews

Dungeons & Dragons - Welcome to the Temple of Elemental Evil Review

of Elemental Evil. The game itself is presented in the standard isometric view popularised by Diablo & its clones except the graphics are much, much sharper. The game itself is presented in the standard isometric view popularised by Diablo & its clones except the graphics are much, much sharper. At the beginning, players can either choose pre-generated characters or invest some time in creating a specialised version of up to five brave explorers from eleven available classes.

The options available are enormous and will please even the most die-hard RPG player. The importance of the new 3.5 rule-set cannot be understated, as these present gamers with a mind-boggling amount of feats, abilities, skills, and equipment to choose from. This results in a game that can be replayed time and time again and still remains fresh.


If a player prefers to follow the path of light and justice, he is given heroic missions and is eventually tasked with destroying the Temple of Elemental Evil. However, since I’m the sort of gamer who prefers to laugh hysterically while slaughtering innocent bystanders, I was eventually sent to take over the Temple Of Evil. w00t! As is normal in most RPG’s, characters start out as rank novices. Naturally, their skills will increase as they progress up to a maximum of ten levels. Make no mistake, this is an intricate game. There are hundreds of spells and terms that will befuddle most gamers including “a random 1d20” & “+1 size on attack rolls”. Fortunately, the publishers have included a detailed manual that covers everything you ever wanted to know about AD&D but didn’t know whom to ask. I know that the concept of having to read an entire manual just to play a game is weird but the extra effort more than pays off. Moreover, exhaustive in-game help can be accessed by simply pressing ‘H’ and pointing to an object.


When the group is not engaged in combat, events progress in real-time. As soon as enemies attack, the game switches to a turn-based mode. Each character has a certain amount of time during their turn, measured by a meter. When the cursor is moved to a location on the battlefield, the meter will display the time left after the character moves there. If the meter is at least half-full, he/she can perform an action like attacking, using a magic item, or casting a spell. This is a tactical combat system that has been well thought out and implemented. The game boasts a vast amount of enemies that are occasionally moronic but most hostile forces require skill and planning to defeat. The depth of the combat is matched by the graphics and sound that are first-class. Every detail in the environment, every weapon, every spell effect has been wonderfully rendered to perfection. The developers have paid great attention to small details like the swaying of trees in the wind, the rippling of water and even sunrise and sunset. The voice acting, a staple of any modern RPG, is believable as are the weapon and atmosphere sounds. The background music is hauntingly beautiful and perfectly compliments the visuals.


The game does have certain issues that prevent it from being the best ever. Firstly, the diversity of the locations and the depth of the plot should have been improved. Some RPG’s like Diablo are completely bereft of any real back-story while others like Baldur’s Gate have deep, rich tales to tell. TOEE falls somewhere in between. It also has a somewhat cumbersome interface that interferes with the flow of play on occasion. The game suffers from a few bugs that cause it to crash occasionally, something that will be fixed by a promised patch. The lack of multiplayer might also bother some players, but TOEE remains a solid RPG that should be played by every gamer who loves the genre.


HIGHS: Incredible complexity, Strategic combat, Excellent animation
LOWS: Shallow story, Sketchy interface, Bugs
NUTSHELL: RPG Heaven
Christof Rating: 89 %