Dungeons & Dragons Tactics Reviews

IGN, GamePro, and JIVE Magazine have all taken the time to review Dungeons & Dragons Tactics. The review at IGN gives it a “passable” 6.5/10:

Visually, the game is okay, although it can be somewhat difficult to determine what each one of your party members happens to be doing at any point in time. There are limited melee animations that seem to apply for everything, whether that’s from hand to hand weapons or ranged items. The same can be said for spellcasting, which seem to have the same basic spell animations and effects. Character models are okay, but somewhat bland, which definitely stands out against the rather impressive backgrounds. At least the soundtrack for the game is rather nice and sweeping, albeit somewhat limited.

Closing Comments
What’s impressive about D&D Tactics is the fact that the game manages to cram almost every aspect of the pen and paper franchise onto a small UMD, but that comes at a price. The menus, combat issues and other exclusions really hamper the experience. If you’re a D&D fan or veteran, there is an interesting game to be found here, but you are definitely going to have to wade through some issues to find it.

The review at GamePro gives it a 2/5:

Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics isn’t a total write-off; torch light spills around corners nicely, how you behave over the long campaign can actually alter your alignment, and multiplayer modes allow for deathmatches and co-op dungeon crawling. But just as a good Dungeon Master knows when to put aside the dice collection and emphasize storytelling over mechanics, so do better role-playing video games have the good sense to make rote tasks like inventory management and equipment acquisition easy to contend with. Unfortunately, Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics bucks such common sense at every turn, and its obstinate insistence on making every last task an adventurer might perform a painful chore sinks any chance it might’ve had to be truly absorbing. Even dedicated role-players are better off with a pencil and some paper.

And the review at JIVE Magazine gives it a 3/5:

The rules for 3.5 D&D are followed fairly well but that can’t cover up the smell of poo this game leaves behind.

I guess if you love overly clunky interfaces and pure strategy games this may be for you. If you love a great RPG with true character development and a story line you should really look for something else.