Dungeons & Dragons Online: StormReach (DVD-Rom)

List Price: $14.95 Discount Price: $3.79

Features:

• Be a champion in private quests focused on adventure, not grind.
• Survive unforgiving dungeons, fiendish traps and foes that punish the foolish.
• Create a custom hero from five races, nine classes, and hundreds of skills, feats and looks.
• Fight using active combat where skill matters and seconds count.
• Experience classic D&D role-playing based on the v3.5 rules.

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Kiss my STR score! [Posted on 2007-12-25]
This is like playing Pen and Paper D&D, but you get visuals beyond poorly-drawn sketches. Its like tabletop without the expensive pieces and confusing rules.

It has streamlined the rules to make them a part of the background, useful only when its time to buy gear and level up. The rest of the time is spent swinging swords and spells at crazy monsters and exploring amazing landscapes.

The graphics are amazing and detailed. I didn't really notice the attention to detail until I was exploring a farmland covered in mist and heard the squish of moist earth being stepped on. Its truly amazing. Weapons have many appearances, making you sometimes choose between the weapon that's statistically superior or the one that looks really friggin awesome (its best when you get a statistically superior weapon that looks really friggin cool!).

If you're a DnD-style nerd that ever enjoyed Runescape, WoW, or NWN, This is for you.

Extremelly Addictive, Intense and Rewarding [Posted on 2007-12-30]
First off, I'm a bit shocked the low ratings this game has gotten. Most of the ones I've read are completely undeserved and without merit, IMO.

Second, I had NEVER played D&D in any form or shape before; yet this game drew me in a few minutes. Sure there's LOTS and LOTS of things to learn, but that's what makes this game fun -- i.e. it requires thinking, planning, etc. It's definitely *NOT* geared for the folks who just like to shoot/kill things for the sake of it. Neither is for those who like to do things by themselves -- most if not all quests/adventures are team-oriented.

Third, many have cited the lack solo play. This, while partially true, IMO is what makes this game stand above the rest of MMPORPG's. I'm a team-oriented person and take great satisfaction when my group/team achieves certain goals not by individual skill, but as a team where every team member does his or her job. Also, as I understand it, D&D was never meant to be a solo game, thus why this is reflected in the online version.

Fourth, the graphics are stunning! I'm impressed how beautiful and (sur)realistic the graphics are -- even in my 1.5-year-old computer with little or no game-enhanced hardware.

Fifth, this game becomes extremely challenging once characters reach level 7 or so. However, this is when all the learning (or mistakes) done in the first levels surface and become obvious. So, just as in real life, every action has consequences, so think before you choose (feats/enhancements).

In short, I believe this game is worth EVERY penny. It's very fun, graphically attractive and definitely NOT for the first-person-shooter and/or the instant reward crowds.

Better after 2 years, and getting better every mod. [Posted on 2008-04-01]
Let me start out saying that I bought DDO without any background in DnD at ALL. I've been with DDO since launch, after the second module (Titan) was released, I left due to bugs and just flat out being bored. I went to WoW with a few friends and that didnt last long, but thats neither here nor there. I came back during the last "Welcome Back Weekend." The level cap had increased, and the quality of people had improved as well. Turbine has come a long way since launch, and I absolutely love the game. Granted you need to know a decent amount about DnD to start a viable character, but anyone can do that with just a little research. MOST of the community on my server (Khyber) is helpful and welcoming to new gamers. Teamwork is a must in most quests. Guilds are numerous, yet most are still of high quality. The only let down I can see is the minority of players who, dare I say it, are the "elitists". Thats anywhere you go, so it doesn't constitute the deduction of a star.

Recommendation: Go to the website, download the 7-day trial, and TRY it. Hopefully you love it as much as I do.

Pretty Great [Posted on 2008-06-05]
Fans of D&D based role-playing games - such as Bioware's Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights series - will find a lot to like here. I never played the pen-and-paper game, but I felt instantly at home. The races, classes, skills, and spells are exactly the same, with the difference being that your party members are other players, not the computer A.I. The dungeons and monsters are very well done, the graphics are the best I have seen in an online game. Its quite easy to find people to group with, and the players are, by and large, intelligent, friendly, and mature. I'm not saying its perfect, but this is a pretty great translation of Dungeons and Dragons to an online game. There is an over-arching story, but the emphasis is - as it should be - on small groups of adventurers, exploring fearsome dungeons for treasure and glory. Highly recommended!

Unique game & Good Community [Posted on 2008-07-14]
This game has been out for a while out but one couldn't tell. The graphics are pretty well done overall. The landscape is gorgeous and mosters are very cool looking. The community is very friendly even is sparse in some servers. It's a shame this game is not more popular which is mostly due I think to a bad start and poorly written reviews.

Dungeons will keep you on your toes when you run them for the first time. Traps come out of nowhere, doors slam shut separating you from your group and leaving you to fight angry creatures alone. Puzzles and hidden doors also populate dungeons all over the world. Knowing your enemies is important; some creatures can only be defeated with certain weapons.

Character creation is pretty customizable. You can build all sorts of interesting characters. Unfortunately most choices are set once picked so there isn't much room for error. But like most other games players have created character builders online where you can test your builds on "paper" before you put time into a character.

The combat is not click and forget like most MMORPGs around. It is something more like a third person adventure game. You can dodge attacks, melee and projectiles, if you are quick enough on the keyboard.

Overall this is a pretty unique and interesting game. It's not perfect by any means, but what game is. I would definitely give it a try. You can find it pretty cheap here on Amazon and the first month is free like all MMOs. [...]

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