IGN reviews ToEE
IGN reviews ToEE
Review - posted by Ibbz on Tue 23 September 2003, 10:01:24
Tags: Temple of Elemental EvilIGN have churned out a 5 page review of Temple of Elemental Evil. They're final rating is a 7.5 {which is very close to the reader rating of 7.7} with the main disappointments being the amount of bugs present in the game:
Unfortunately, the complicated interface and AI problems aren't the biggest problems with ToEE. That dishonor goes to the numerous bugs that you'll run across while playing. As ToEE is a huge, complex, detailed RPG, I can see how some bugs would slip through the QA process, but ToEE is just infested. While none of the bugs I encountered are necessarily fatal or detrimental to the game, they certainly are annoying.and the unintuitive interface:
As with nearly every RPG, there's a lot to be done in ToEE, and this adds up to a lot of gameplay options. Unfortunately, the interface isn't the best at presenting all of these options in an easy-to-use manner. The control scheme is very reminiscent of Neverwinter Nights' interface where there's a circle of options surrounding the selected character's portrait with expanding menus containing more detailed options extending from the original choices. While the interface in Neverwinter Nights was complex and fairly easy to use, ToEE's interface is convoluted, unwieldy and confusing, and playing with it actually seems to extend the gameplay time as choosing trivial actions take a lot of time. This was the most frustrating aspect of the early parts of the game, as it takes a few hours to learn. ToEE really could have used the help of assignable action hotslots so you wouldn't have to drill down the chain of options for your most-used choices.
The one disturbing aspect I noted was the recommendations at the bottom of the page. The "You may also like:" listed Lionheart at number 1 ... ugh. Best we dont associate Lionheart with ToEE.
Unfortunately, the complicated interface and AI problems aren't the biggest problems with ToEE. That dishonor goes to the numerous bugs that you'll run across while playing. As ToEE is a huge, complex, detailed RPG, I can see how some bugs would slip through the QA process, but ToEE is just infested. While none of the bugs I encountered are necessarily fatal or detrimental to the game, they certainly are annoying.
As with nearly every RPG, there's a lot to be done in ToEE, and this adds up to a lot of gameplay options. Unfortunately, the interface isn't the best at presenting all of these options in an easy-to-use manner. The control scheme is very reminiscent of Neverwinter Nights' interface where there's a circle of options surrounding the selected character's portrait with expanding menus containing more detailed options extending from the original choices. While the interface in Neverwinter Nights was complex and fairly easy to use, ToEE's interface is convoluted, unwieldy and confusing, and playing with it actually seems to extend the gameplay time as choosing trivial actions take a lot of time. This was the most frustrating aspect of the early parts of the game, as it takes a few hours to learn. ToEE really could have used the help of assignable action hotslots so you wouldn't have to drill down the chain of options for your most-used choices.
The one disturbing aspect I noted was the recommendations at the bottom of the page. The "You may also like:" listed Lionheart at number 1 ... ugh. Best we dont associate Lionheart with ToEE.
