Orcs & Elves Review (DS)
After the successful mobile video game, Doom RPG, id Software's co-founder, John Carmack, turned his attention to a Lord of the Rings inspired fantasy realm. Orcs & Elves sprung from his creative loins, earning high marks from reviewers. Now the adventure hits the Nintendo DS, and developer Fountainhead Entertainment has done a masterful job translating the cell phone game to the platform, delivering a solid role-playing experience with a host of improvements.
Whereas the mobile game occurs in a 2.5-D world, the DS version uses a 3-D engine that runs at a brisk 60 frames per second. But don't confuse this first person adventure with Metroid Prime Hunters or Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Although you view the action from the main character's eyes, you move across tiles, one space at a time. In addition, Orcs & Elves features turn-based combat with the illusion of real time fighting. It seems like you swing that sword or battle axe, but you basically roll a set of imaginary dice that determines whether you land your strikes and how much damage they do, depending on your level and items equipped. As you level up, smaller monsters don't pose as much of a challenge, and getting stronger enables you to combat the game's more ferocious beasts. At the same time, you'll want to make use of the magic potions, weapons and items you acquire along the way, as they increase your strength. Slapping on some nearly indestructible dragon armor, grabbing your all powerful Vorpal Sword and slipping on the Ring of Regeneration (boosts your health +2 for 30 turns) is much better than rushing into a fight with a wimpy sword.
See more screens from Orcs & Elves ...
With that being said, there's a plethora of stuff that you'll pick up, and it's fun experimenting with different weapons as well as magic spells, cast using your talking wand Ellon. Actually, Ellon talks a bit too much, and the story suffers because of it. Characters don't shut up, and most of what they say feels derivative, the sort of dialogue that crops up in all games, books and movies that take place in typical fantasy worlds. You play as a young half-elf, you have a talking wand, there's a dragon, orcs and elves still hate each other and the circle of life rolls on. That's not the say the story is without its moments. We enjoyed toasting a tall mug of brew with a ghostly dwarf (drinking too much produces a cool drunk effect) and bartering with a dragon, but the adventuring (particularly the monster slaying) is a lot more enjoyable than wading through all of the text.
Our big issue going in was whether or not this Orcs & Elves had something to offer over its predecessor, and the answer is a resounding yes. In addition to the 3-D graphics, the game boasts at least five more hours of play time, touch screen functionality (you use weapons and access your inventory with the stylus), three new monsters, three new levels, four new spells, better maps and a other cool stuff, making this a must play for newcomers as well as veterans of the previous game.
Although it's easy to poke fun at the story, it harkens back to a day when hardcore role players locked themselves in their basements and played Dungeons & Dragons with friends, and because of that, Orcs & Elves has an old school charm missing from the latest Final Fantasys. Combine that with addictive combat, and you have one of the DS' best games.
Our Final Score 8
Good
) gespielt und es sieht genauso - wenn nicht noch schlimmer - aus. Ich hab lieber 2d sprites als "3d" 5-kanten-gegner. Auf dem DS ist mir kein Spiel bekannt mit starker 3D Grafik - das hab ich auch nie erwartet auf dem winzling :-D (vllt. Metroid Hunters oder COD4)
