Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes

Last updated
Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes
Dungeons and Dragons Heroes Xbox cover.jpg
Cover art by Glenn Fabry
Developer(s) Atari Interactive Hunt Valley Studio
Publisher(s) Atari Interactive
Producer(s) Martin DeRiso
Designer(s) Brenda Brathwaite
Programmer(s) Will Gee
Artist(s) David Thompson
Composer(s) Gary Spinrad
Platform(s) Xbox
Release
  • NA: September 16, 2003
  • EU: November 14, 2003
  • AU: November 21, 2003
Genre(s) Hack and slash
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes is a hack and slash video game with RPG elements. It was published by Atari Interactive and developed by the subsidiary's Hunt Valley development studio, exclusively for Xbox in 2003. It is set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe and is playable solo or with up to four players. Players take on the role of four reincarnated heroes brought back to life to fight their former nemesis, a wizard named Kaedin.

Contents

Gameplay

Up to four players can play, each of whom can control one of four characters: a dwarf cleric, an elf wizard, a halfling rogue, and a human fighter. [1] Players can join and quit the game at any time. [1] The characters can be a mixed group of varying levels, and when a character levels up, the player can delay the process of distributing new points and skills until after any current combat or action sequences complete. [1] The game has four difficulty levels: easy, normal, hard, and nightmare, the latter of which can only be played after completing the game on the hard setting. [1] The game also features a large variety of monsters from the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manuals , including red dragons, yuan-tis, and fire giants. [1]

Plot

One hundred and fifty years before the present, the wizard Kaedin had opened four portals leading to different planes of existence. He harnessed power of the four planes to create "Planar Gems", each with the same power as the planes they came from. He then created a fifth Gem to control the four Planar Gems and entrusted a beholder to protect it. Beholders are long-lived, and this one still protects it to this day. Kaedin became more powerful and malevolent with the four Planar Gems, and conquered town after town. The Kingdom of Baele called for its best and brightest, and four souls answered the call (your characters in the game). They traveled to Kaedin's castle and killed him. [1] As Kaedin died, he cast a final spell that killed the four heroes. [1] With Kaedin dead, the heroes were buried with full honors and the Gems were banished to the planes where they remain. Castle Baele was built over the site of the four portals and Kaedin's body is thrown into an unmarked grave.

One hundred and fifty years later, a group of evil clerics sought to channel the dead wizard's power, but Kaedin revived and killed them all. Now a group of good clerics revives the four heroes to go after Kaedin. The four go through the crypts and fight the Bulette. After heading out into the swamps, They find a shadowy rogue who gives you information on the castle and whom to contact there. At the end of the swamps, they enter Castle Baele.

Upon arriving at Castle Baele, the four travel to the shoppe and chat with Rik, the shopkeeper. He informs the four that they need to get the Planar Gems. Although, you need to attain certain keys first. The four head to the Dragon's Tankard to talk with the rogues (of which one is Lidda, featured in the Dungeons and DragonsPlayer's Handbook, the halfling rogue). She gives the heroes the key to the Great Hall in exchange for killing all of the Trolls in the marketplace, and the heroes go there. After clearing out the Great Hall, the heroes return to Rik and he tells them that they must collect the four Scepters to open the portals to the first plane. After clearing out the Treasury, Barracks, Church of Pelor and the Dungeons, the four return to Rick with the four scepters.

After attaining the scepters, the four kill the beholder guarding the Gem of Winds (the fifth Gem Kaedin made) and take it back to Rik. He explains how to open the first portal, and the heroes go to the Wilds and kill the Yuan-Ti. They fight to the top of the trees and then to a bluff where they fight an Yrthak. After defeating the Yrthak the heroes take the Gem of Nature, which opens the portal to the Forge. This is a hot and fiery level full of clockwork soldiers and workers (with some Fire Elementals and Fire giants as well). The four fight their way to a red dragon and defeat it. They claim the Gem of Fire and open the portal to the Frostbound. Upon arriving, the heroes come to a sorceress who wants some Ice Golems dead. Working their way through barbarians, frost wolves and killing the Ice Golems, the heroes make their way to the Frost Worm's Lair; and they kill the Frost Worm and take the Gem of Ice, which opens the portal to Bone Necropolis. The heroes discover that Rik is missing, and Lidda supposes that he got wise to the situation and moved on. After fighting many undead in the Bone Necropolis, the four come across the Bone Bridge and defeat many more undead foes. In the Bone Temple, the heroes come up against very powerful creatures. The heroes are tested, but come out victorious. In the inner sanctum the four come across a Lich, which they defeat with their upgraded ancestral weapons and claim the Gem of Death.

Upon returning to the Shoppe, the heroes find they now must travel to Kaedin's flying castle. The heroes find out that Rik is actually Kaedin. He laughs and mocks the four, as they decide to follow him and end this once and for all. They fight many beasts and pull many levers until they face Kaedin the first time. He flees further into the castle, where the four find him in another tower and fight him until he leaves a second time. Upon fighting him the third time, he uses the Gems to call upon the power stored in them. Because the four actually possess the real Gems, they can defeat Kaedin and destroy the Gems leaving Baele in peace, and the heroes help to rebuild the Castle and help the surrounding communities.

Characters

There are four playable characters in the game:

Each hero has a unique ancestral weapon which lost its power when Kaedin placed a curse upon it. Throughout the game, players collect Soul Shards to upgrade the weapon's power. Heroes all have some unique abilities which can be leveled up as the game progresses.

Development

Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes was unveiled by Infogrames prior to E3 2002 on May 16 as a multi-platform title for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox for a Fall 2002 release window, although no developer was announced for this project. [2] The title was originally scheduled for release in March 2003. [3]

In January 2003, the title's website was launched. [4] [5] IGN noted in April that pre-orders and listings for the PlayStation 2 version were removed from various game store websites like GameStop , hinting that the game may become a console exclusive, [6] which was officially confirmed in May by the now-rebranded Atari at E3 2003, where they announced that the game would only be released for the Xbox, and that the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions were cancelled. The game was once again delayed, this time for a fall release. [7] It was finally released in North America on September 16, 2003, [8] in Europe on November 14, 2003, [9] and in Australia on November 21, 2003. [10]

Reception

GameSpot compared the game to the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series and rated it with a score of 6.6/10 (fair). [13] According to GameSpy , Heroes wasn't a "terribly" deep or rich experience, but for mindless arcade hacking, it was a "pretty" good choice for Xbox owners. [14] Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes has an aggregate score of 74% on GameRankings. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drizzt Do'Urden</span> Fictional character from Dungeons & Dragons

Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character appearing in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed him to replace one of the characters in an early version of the first book, The Crystal Shard. Drizzt has since become a popular heroic character of the Forgotten Realms setting, and has been featured as the main character of a long series of books, starting chronologically with The Dark Elf Trilogy. As an atypical drow, Drizzt has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark, in the drow city of Menzoberranzan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiefling</span> Fictional humanoid race in Dungeons & Dragons

The tiefling is a fictional humanoid race in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. Originally introduced in the Planescape campaign setting in the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as a player character race for the setting, they became one of the primary races available for player characters in the fourth edition of the game.

Plane (<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>) Role-playing game multiverse

The planes of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game constitute the multiverse in which the game takes place. Each plane is a universe with its own rules with regard to gravity, geography, magic and morality. There have been various official cosmologies over the course of the different editions of the game; these cosmologies describe the structure of the standard Dungeons & Dragons multiverse.

<i>Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance II</i> 2004 video game

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II is a 2004 hack and slash action role-playing game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment, with distribution handled by Vivendi Universal Games in North America and Avalon Interactive/Acclaim Entertainment in Europe. It is the sequel to the 2001 game Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moradin</span> Dwarven deity in Dungeons & Dragons

Moradin is the chief deity in the dwarven pantheon in the Dungeons & Dragons game and is a member of the default D&D pantheon. In 3rd edition, Moradin's domains are Creation, Earth, Good, Law, and Protection. The 5th Edition Players Handbook include Knowledge as a suggested domain. His titles include Soul Forger, Dwarffather, the All-Father, and the Creator. He created the first dwarves out of earthen materials and tutored them in dwarven ways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mordenkainen</span> Fictional character in Dungeons & Dragons

Mordenkainen is a fictional wizard from the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. He was created by Gary Gygax as a player character, only months after the start of Gygax's Greyhawk campaign and is therefore one of the oldest characters continuously associated with Dungeons & Dragons.

Dwarf (<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>) Fictional playable humanoid race

A dwarf, in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game, is a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for player characters. The idea for the D&D dwarf comes from the dwarves of European mythologies and J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955), and has been used in D&D and its predecessor Chainmail since the early 1970s. Variations from the standard dwarf archetype of a short and stout demihuman are commonly called subraces, of which there are more than a dozen across many different rule sets and campaign settings.

A character class is a fundamental part of the identity and nature of characters in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses are largely defined by their class; choosing a class is one of the first steps a player takes to create a Dungeons & Dragons player character. A character's class affects a character's available skills and abilities. A well-rounded party of characters requires a variety of abilities offered by the classes found within the game.

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, Tharizdun is the god of Eternal Darkness, Decay, Entropy, Malign Knowledge, Insanity, and Cold. He originated in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting but has since also appeared in other settings.

Bahamut (<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>) Fictional draconic deity in Dungeons & Dragons

In the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game, Bahamut is a powerful draconic deity, who has the same name as Bahamut from Arabic mythology.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> (1974) Tabletop role-playing game supplement for Dungeons & Dragons

The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by Tactical Studies Rules in 1974. It included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Its product designation was TSR 2002.

David Noonan is an author of several products and articles for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game from Wizards of the Coast.

<i>Dark Sun</i> Dungeons & Dragons fictional campaign setting

Dark Sun is an original Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaign setting set in the fictional, post-apocalyptic desert world of Athas. Dark Sun featured an innovative metaplot, influential art work, dark themes, and a genre-bending take on traditional fantasy role-playing. The product line began with the original Dark Sun Boxed Set released for D&D's 2nd edition in 1991, originally ran until 1996, and was one of TSR's most successful releases.

<i>Neverwinter</i> (video game) 2013 video game

Neverwinter is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Cryptic Studios for Microsoft Windows in 2013, Xbox One in 2015, and PlayStation 4 in 2016. Based on the fictional Forgotten Realms city of Neverwinter from Dungeons & Dragons, Neverwinter is a standalone game and not part of the previous Neverwinter Nights series.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale</i> 2011 video game

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale is an action role-playing video game developed by Bedlam Games and published by Atari Interactive. The game includes both single and co-operative multiplayer modes and is set in the Forgotten Realms.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game</i> Wargame played using miniature figures

The Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game is a collectible miniatures game played with pre-painted, plastic miniature figures based on characters and monsters from the Dungeons & Dragons game. The figures are 30mm in scale. Produced by Wizards of the Coast, the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures line is composed of 20 loosely themed sets that were released roughly every four months since the line was launched in 2003 until its cancellation in 2011.

The Wand of Orcus is a fictional magical weapon described in various Dungeons & Dragons media. Because of the popularity of Orcus as a villain within the Dungeons & Dragons universe, many different authors have written materials describing artifacts created by or associated with the character. The Wand of Orcus is consistently the most important and most described of these artifacts. Screen Rant has noted that "[t]he weapon that Orcus wields in battle is almost as famous as the demon lord himself". Furthermore, the device has at times been employed in books, games, and other media within the franchise as a thing distinct from Orcus himself, such that adventurers may encounter the wand as a freestanding element of the game or story.

This is a complete bibliography of the written works of American fantasy author R. A. Salvatore.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Iwasaki, Scott (November 10, 2003). "D&D fans will be pleased". Deseret News. Salt Lake City – via HighBeam Research.
  2. ↑ "Infogrames Heralds Dungeons and Dragons Heroes". 16 May 2002.
  3. ↑ "Gen Con 2002Dungeons & Dragons Heroes impressions".
  4. ↑ "D&D Heroes official site launches".
  5. ↑ "Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes". 6 February 2003.
  6. ↑ "Is D&D Heroes Slain for PS2?". 16 April 2003.
  7. ↑ "D&D: Heroes becomes Xbox-exclusive".
  8. ↑ "Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes". IGN . Archived from the original on June 4, 2004. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  9. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (November 14, 2003). "What's New?". Eurogamer . Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  10. ↑ "Dungeons and Dragons Heroes". Atari . Archived from the original on December 14, 2003. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  11. 1 2 "Dungeons & Dragons Heroes for Xbox". GameRankings . CBS Interactive . Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Dungeons & Dragons Heroes for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ GameSpot review
  14. ↑ Rausch, Allen (2004-08-19). "A History of D&D Video Games - Part V". GameSpy. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.