User Rating: 8.6 | Dungeons & Dragons Heroes XBOX
I also disagree with the GameSpot review. I haven't completed the game yet, but I feel like I've logged enough hours to know that this game isn't Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance's little brother. Four distinct classes to choose from, the ability to play co-op with four people at once, beautiful CG cut-scenes (and not-too-shoddy ones from the game engine... they're better than the almost static images from BG:DA), a controllable camera with a zoom-in/zoom-out function, special attacks that you can easily map on-the-fly to the buttons you choose, surround sound (although it can be a little *too* directional at times)... there are a considerable amount of improvements over the reigning console hack-and-slash champion. The frame-rate inconsistency is pretty conspicuous on single-player, though, and I wonder what it's like when four people are dungeon-diving at once. Maybe I'm just not as good of a player as the GameSpot reviewer, but playing on Hard difficulty has provided enough of a challenge for me. I found myself really lacking in health potions in the early game because I didn't realize I only had one shot at the opening storekeeper, and that after he left, I wasn't going to be restocking until considerably later. Gold balance hasn't been a problem so far. There's also a Nightmare difficulty level for all the tough guys out there. In short, Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes has some nice improvements over BG:DA in areas that really mattered to me, like more character classes, a zoomable camera, and map on-the-fly special attacks. It's not perfect, but it also didn't deserve to be ranked over two full points lower than BG:DA.
