Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard

Generic Pub discussion №54: did the kids in the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon ever get back to the real world? It's an endless debate, and one muddled by the episodes in which either a) Venger came with them so they had to lay the smack down on him, or b) they got back and Eric was a bog monster. However, even beneath this discussion there's another deeper, murkier topic: real D&D, real rule-sets, character classes and gigantic imaginary monsters with +4 nerdiness. Dungeons & Dragons: truly the hobby that dare not speak its name.

Now though, we're getting cool with it. And to prove Dungeons & Dragons' potential for life beyond RPG, Liquid Entertainment is taking its rules and eccentricities, and jamming them into a highly promising RTS game. Taking place on the bizarre D&D world of Eberron, a planet that has a halo of giant magical crystals above it that occasionally fall to earth and cause a fracas between four races who want to manipulate its magicalness, Dragonshard is truly a game where genres collide.

Above ground, you wage campaigns with a streamlined resource management system. Technology trees are notable in their absence, but you can still build all manner of bases and juggle your dual resources of magic and gold while amassing your forces. Meanwhile, beneath the ground you control parties of heroes carrying out Dungeon Siege-style chest-smashing, gold-hunting and experiencegathering - dodging rolling boulder traps and generally adventuring and slaying all the unlucky monsters that you meet.

Combat on a larger scale, above the hero-only caves, is much more on a Total War riff - controlling groups of archers, foot-soldiers and cavalry with deft clicks of the mouse - although the presence of a hero (with all the D&D character class trimmings) gives squads a definite edge, seeing as clerics are able to heal them or a ranger might be able to dole out fire arrows to a group of bowmen. There's also a few, extremely rare, adventuring champions that can be summoned should your army need a real boost. So far, Dragonshard is looking a lot more innovative than the basic cut-and-paste job that a developer could W fall into when splicing genres.

We're always in favour of people searching out new ways in which we can bother the goblin community. Consider our left eyebrow raised.

Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard is a strategic role-playing game with cool quests, where players fight for control of a mysterious artifact.

Gameplay

The location is divided into two parts: the wondrous world on the surface of the earth - Eberron and the kingdom in the dungeon - Khyber. The player can move on two levels of the map in special "gateways".

Choose who you want to be:

• Founder of the Order of the Flame
• Brutal Lizard
• The merciless Umbragen

Characters are based in a place of their choice and build fortifications, gathering wood, stone, and other materials required for construction. The hero develops his own army, transforming it from hungry savages with sticks into well-fed and trained warriors ready to think with their heads.

To win:

• Destroy the enemy's towers
• Own half of the checkpoints in the location
• Artifacts - find fifteen ancient items while fighting monsters

Upgrade skills: fireballs, streams of lightning energy, double damage to opponents, energy-sucking, swampy ground - and use them as an obstacle to hordes.