Hard to get into, even if you're big into Forgotten Realms or D&D.

User Rating: 5.2 | Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (Collector's Edition) PC
Being a huge fan of both the campaign setting and Dungeons and Dragons in general, I purchased this games in hopes of experiencing one of the first adaptations of D&D 3.X rules. While this game may have managed to put those rules into effect, the amount of effort required to get past all the technical issues, and slowness of gameplay made it impossible to enjoy.

To give an example of the issues dealt with... After painfully installing the game, a number of patches were necessary to deal with various gameplay and install issues, the least of which being the inability to uninstall the game correctly. That likely was the first sign that should have clued me in to the evilness of this game. Even if you want to get rid of it, you'll have difficulty.

Then, once all the various patches had been installed, you begin gameplay and are immediately thrust into a combat situation with a single Player Character (PC) who is battling two relatively powerful foes. At this point, without familiarity with the game interface, its fairly difficult to survive unless you've chosen to build a uber-PC. Add to that, the time it takes for the animations of the individual PC(s) and monsters, and you'll be spending most of your time watching the creatures get to you and attack you then actually doing anything of importance.

Eventually I resorted to installing a tweak that allows the user to manually increase the game-speed. This, at least, allowed me to reduce the excruciating time it took to get through combat. Even then, there appeared very little guidance for the user as to the path they should be taking. So oftentimes, I would find myself entering into battles that were way too challenging for me at the time. Now, for some people that would be a more accurate representation of a dangerous world to adventure in, however I would expect for most people, the idea of a good game is one that tends ot tailor the challenges a PC -can- face, based upon their current level of power.

Despite the various methods of easing the flaws of gameplay, I just never could fully get into the story or care about what was going on enough to really feel engaged. Unless you're really bored and just -have- to play a D&D game in the Myth Drannor setting within Forgotten Realms... I would avoid this game like the plague. There are just too many flaws to waste your money on.