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Stormreach touches down February 28

  • By Brendan Sinclair, Tim Surette, GameSpot
  • Posted Jan 5, 2006 10:37 am PT

Atari dates its PC Dungeons & Dragons MMO; online beta reaches quarter of a million applicants.

The time to brandish ye cyber scimitars and virtual vorpal blades is almost upon us. Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, the massively multiplayer role-playing game based on the popular tabletop game, will be available in North America on February 28. The game and its dwarves, orcs, and elves will also be unleashed in the UK, France, and Germany in March.

Stormreach is currently undergoing final testing by developer Turbine, the Westwood, Massachusetts-based company behind the Asheron's Call franchsise and the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online: Shadow of Angmar. Atari will publish Stormreach in North America and Europe.

The game is the first officially licensed D&D MMORPG, and will be based on the 3.5 edition rules of the brand. Players can expect lots of dice-free dungeon-crawling, physical and magical combat, and an encouraged sense of community, all in a persistent realm.

More than 250,000 gamers have already signed up for Stormreach's beta test, but the level of interest is allowing Turbine to be choosy with whom it admits to the program. The developer says the only guaranteed way to get into the beta is to get the preorder bonus pack of the game at select retailers (EB Games, GameStop, CompUSA, Amazon.com, and Wal-Mart are listed on the official site).

The bonus pack includes a poster, a code for a special item to be redeemed in the full version, a DVD of the beta version, and a pass to participate in the beta test for 10 days. Preorders should also get "head start" access to the game several days before the final game arrives in stores.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach has a MSRP of $49.99 and has not yet been rated. For more information on the game, read GameSpot's previous coverage.

16 Comments

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jan 6, 2006 5:13 am GMT

    no thanks.... on to the next game.

  • forever_blank

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 10:35 pm GMT

    By the sounds of things, this game will be a big success with fans of the D&D realms, and old school RPG fans. I certainly look forward to it. Maybe I might participate in Beta.

  • Silvernix

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 4:08 pm GMT

    Oops, maybe i should read before i write. I see we will have the first ever hand and slash / real time mmorpg here. But that makes me think...... will people play this more then neverwinter 2?

  • Silvernix

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 3:59 pm GMT

    I just home we dont get thta same crappy battle system like every other mmorpg has. How about someone do one better on the Matrix interlock system.... OH better yet, how about Neverwinter and KotoR's battle system..... ya know something different. I DO like that this game is geared more towards party only areas. No more respawning.

  • umbrae

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 2:47 pm GMT

    Bah, this game is realtime combat. Might make a good game, but not worthy of the D&D brand.

    homsuplo75 - Neverwinter Nights was the first D&D to actually capture the D&D feel. All the way down to table-top like games, so this is hardly "about time". NWN is several years old and still widely played with a second version due out this year.

  • helluvagood

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 1:34 pm GMT

    koolio

  • homsuplo75

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 1:06 pm GMT

    It's too bad that it took them this long to figure out how to make a game from the D&D world. Especially since D&D is the grand daddy of the genre.

  • amena

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 1:02 pm GMT

    Same here.

  • Sturm08

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 11:57 am GMT

    I doubt it.

  • NeoJedi

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 11:33 am GMT

    WoW will get some competition now, nice!

  • LordOfMidnight

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 11:29 am GMT

    Another MMORPG? Oh boy! I can hardly wait! *sarcasm*

  • slow-pc

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 11:12 am GMT

    Meta .. i would think so.

  • MetaMods

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 11:08 am GMT

    Is this going monthly fee?

  • xrobertjaix

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 11:00 am GMT

    lol ddo not even that good
    killing npc all day boring

  • Donkeljohn

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 10:50 am GMT

    Good luck Turbine, but my friends from AC2 probably won't be joining your new party.

  • THF2

    Posted Jan 5, 2006 10:46 am GMT

    I wish Turbine loads of success with this game. Here's hoping it can compete for some of WoW's market share.

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