Demon Stone is an upcoming third-person action game from Atari for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game is set in the popular Forgotten Realms universe created for the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game and has been on our radar since word of it hit earlier this year. Developer Stormfront Studios, which has cut its teeth on games such as Blood Wake for the Xbox and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for all three consoles, has been hard at work crafting a game that marries action role-playing elements with D&D lore. We recently had the chance to get a look at a work-in-progress version of the PlayStation 2 game and were pleasantly wowed by what we saw.

Check out this in-depth Developer Interview. Click the "stream" option for a closer look.

At first blush, Demon Stone's story appears to be a classic tale of heroes out to save the world, but that's just part of the tale. There's an uncomfortable twist to the narrative that complicates matters a bit. While it is technically true that the heroes you'll play as in the game--Rannek, a fighter; Illius, a sorcerer; and Zhai, an elven rogue--are on a quest to stop a pair of feuding demons from wreaking havoc on the land as they try to kill each other, it's also true that your heroic trio is responsible for unleashing the demons in the first place. (Oops.) The game's opening cinematic shows the pair of hellions--the charmingly named Ygorl, the Slaad Lord, and Sereka, the Githyanki General--being trapped in a Demon Stone by the wizard Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, voiced by Patrick Stewart, as their fight starts heating up.

Theoretically the pair would have stayed in the stone indefinitely, but, during the dramatic opening level, the trio of fighters accidentally releases them in one of the best "d'oh!" moments we've seen in a while. Once the gravity of the situation becomes clear, the three find themselves on an adventure to stop the feuding demons before their fighting lays waste to everything. Mint-condition Demon Stones aren't that easy to come by, however, so the trio has to trek to find a stone and then track down the surly demons and convince them to hold still for a moment while they're sucked into the stone again. As you'd expect, it's not going to be an easy task to accomplish. Add in a bit of geographical drama--the places you have to visit aren't right next to each other--and you have a mightily epic quest with a lot to do and kill.

The basic structure of the games sends you on a fairly linear course through a series of levels set throughout the Forgotten Realms. Your objectives will be logical progressions of the story and will revolve around making your way to the stone as well as finding Ygorl and Sereka. You're helped along the way by quite a few familiar faces from D&D lore, including Drizzt D'ourden, whose cameo is extra special since you'll get a chance to have him in your party and play as him for a short stretch of time.

Rannek, Illius, and Zhai will form a party out to stop two warring demons from sundering the land.

Demon Stone's gameplay draws heavily from role-playing-style games but has a strong emphasis on action to ensure you won't be battling through menu-driven attack scenarios. The combat mechanics are pretty close to the system Stormfront used in The Two Towers--every character will have a light and heavy attack and a kick. You'll be able to block and throw projectiles, as well. Rannek and Zhai will have a limited number of ranged attacks, but Illius' magic bolt will never run out. You will perform fight combos via simple button combinations. In addition to those core moves, you'll be able to trigger super attacks for individual characters as well as a team super that uses all three members of your party, or you can call on one of them individually for a hand if you're in a bind.

These traditional brawling elements are supplemented by the ability to switch between the characters at any time. This ends up being extremely useful, as they all have strengths and weaknesses based on their classes in combat. However, the trio also has unique abilities you'll need to manage to get past certain obstacles. For example, Zhai can be temporarily invisible when she stands in shadow and can also jump to access new areas; Rannek gains a powerful punch that destroys obstacles; and Illius can use magical force balls to destroy certain obstacles or damage enemies. The role-playing elements of the game come into play at the end of a level as you come to a menu that lets you upgrade your character or items by using the experience and gold you have earned. Stormfront has included a user-friendly system that will let novice gamers who are unsure of the best purchases to make simply select "auto buy," which will sort out the most logical purchases for your crew. Anyone looking to do a more involved tuning of their crew can go in and do their own tweaking.