Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter Review

The past few years have been really boring and dry in the eyes of the fans of the Dungeons & Dragons video game series. The reason behind this is the lack of advances or releases of a new game in the series. The only way you could get to play the Dungeons & Dragon games was if you opted to play one of the older releases, or if you were privy to a good internet connection, then you could opt for the horrendous action-RPG Daggerdale or Dungeons & Dragons Online. These were still not good options as they are still using the 3.5 Edition rules and are set in the far from perfect Eberron campaign world. Now, you tell me where is the silver lining there? As if to add insult to injury, the Atari went on to delay the upcoming PC game Neverwinter. Can you believe that? You may recall the name, as it was linked to the already published pen-and-paper Neverland and the upcoming R.A. Salvatore novel by the same name that was released last October. After this, many lost hope as the situation just got bleaker and bleaker.

However, after the event of the short beta 'trial', the game took its adventures into the world of Facebook as an RPG and dubbed it Heroes of Neverwinter. From the get go, you could see that the game displayed increasing sophistication that social games possess these days. These include various elements that tie in well, whether you are a hardcore gamer (that is preferring actual combat, leveling, use of items and abilities, etc.) or a social gamer (meaning you would prefer gifting items to friends, fighting alongside your friends and even using your own characters in combat, ). A small disadvantage is that it uses the 4th Edition rules, but if you should strip down the game, you would realize that it's because of the limits on classes and races, as well as the structure of the quests.

On a more positive note, the game does have a number of fun aspects. One of which is the fact that you get to design and create your own character. As expected from previous editions, the 4E rules come with a variety of classes and races to choose from. Unfortunately, our expectations were wrong, as the variety we are used to have been removed from the Heroes of Neverwinter version. Your selection has been limited to only four classes (fighter, cleric, rogue, and wizard) and races (Dragonborn, Halfling, Human, and Eladrin (an Eladrin is essentially the word used in 4E to refer to an Elf)). This small selection came as a huge surprise as it is far less than even the basic Player's Handbook. There are no Dwarves or Gnomes to choose from. Not a trace of the Rangers or Warlocks that we were privy to in previous versions in the selection field, however, they still appear as foes. The reason for this sudden limitation has still not been officially explained, though I can think of a few reasons for it. It may be that they made the limitations due to the Facebook programming restrictions or maybe they are just saving other classes and races for future expansions of the game. No matter the reason, though, it is still a sad change to see as one of the best aspects of Dungeons and Dragons is the aspect of choice to be whoever you wanted to be, but now that has been limited.

Luckily, the Heroes of Neverwinter game makes up for the lack of choice selections, with quality turn-based combat. Yes, it is true that the games has been somewhat stripped down, as it provides you with fewer options than you would have had while playing on the tabletop, but despite these factors, the combat is still fun. The game comes equipped with an initiative bar that shows you when each combatant is taking a turn. This ensures that you are able to decide easily on which threats to eliminate first. A very user friendly radial menu has been included to inform you of which abilities, attacks, items, and spells are being used by each of your warriors in each turn. The game, however, could do a better job when attempting to explain how to use the area-of-effect spells because there are aspects of it that you will only figure out if you are observant while you use the spells. An interesting fact that I figured out while playing is that you don't have to focus the spell on a bad guy, and this is not really something that all players will realize immediately. The only complaint that I have found so far is that the enemy crossbow attacks seem to be way overpowered. I am not certain if this is a game fault or just my poor luck.

I'm still yet to qualify to check out the ever-popular adventure-construction tools. Unfortunately, you can't access it until you meet the requirement of getting to level 10 to use them. If I were one of the developers, then I would have done it differently, I would want my players to access these tools as soon as possible, so as to allow them to be able to share adventures and engage in more features with the game. The level requirement is yet another strange adjustment to me, as it takes a really long time to move up in levels in the game.

Much like the popular free to play games and Zyngo games on Facebook, the Heroes of Neverwinter adventure game has a few micro transactions that can help you run through the game quicker. You can opt to purchase Astral Diamonds and use this "currency" to hire adventurers or even upgrade gears. You can also purchase healing items that can be used to resurrect you after you die. To be honest, the game tends to be a bit easier if you purchase some Astral Diamonds and the resurrection position as they can assist in a few sticky situations. None the less the game is free to play, and it is possible to play the entire game without spending a dime. Overall, Heroes of Neverwinter is a decent game, but nothing groundbreaking in either the RPG or Dungeons and Dragons genres.

Final Verdict: 6.5/10