Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale

A Forgotten Realms action RPG with real-time tactics combat.

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale is an action role-playing video game developed by Bedlam Games and published by Atari, Inc. Set in the Forgotten Realms, it offers both single-player and cooperative multiplayer modes. The game was the first D&D video game released on a console since 2004.

Quick Facts

Developer

Bedlam Games

Publisher

Atari, Inc.

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

Platforms

Windows
Xbox 360
PlayStation 3

Genre

Action role-playing

Modes

Single-player, multiplayer

Facts from the source article.

Did You Know?

The game missed its original PlayStation Network release date of May 31, 2011, and appeared on May 22 the following year.
Two expansions were planned, each allowing players to go up 10 levels higher, representing 4th Edition tiers.
The post-credits scene showed a robot holding a sign saying Gamma-Terra; at E3 2011, Atari unveiled Gamma World: Alpha Mutation.

Synopsis

Players choose from four pre-generated avatars: a human male fighter, a dwarf male cleric, a halfling male wizard, and an elf female rogue. The main antagonist is Rezlus, a grotesque wizard mage and agent of the Zhentarim who worships the god Bane. He seeks to take over Daggerdale and restore the Zhentarim to their former glory. Lorin-Aria, a former Banite priestess loyal to Rezlus, summons the main characters. Her sister Nezra is later revealed to be a Zhent loyal to Cyric. The Zhentarim, also called the Black Network, is divided into Banites and Cyrcists. The game takes place in the year 1420 DR in Daggerdale, atop the underground ruins of the Dwarven Kingdom of Tethyamar. The Zhentarim have built the Tower of Void in these ruins. Players must enter the mines, find the tower, kill Rezlus, and stop the Zhentarim operations.

Development

Work on Daggerdale kicked off in March 2010, with around 60 developers on the project by early 2011. That same month, Bedlam Games became a subsidiary of bitHeads, Inc., operating as a brand-dependent division. bitHeads co-founder Scott Simpson hinted at a model where players could access the same game on both Xbox 360 and a portable device like the iPhone, offering round-the-clock play.

Reception

Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale landed with a thud, earning a "generally unfavorable" score on Metacritic. Joystiq gave it a 1.5 out of 5, calling it a terrible misuse of the D&D license. GameSpy's Andrew Hayward also handed out a 1.5 "poor" rating, panning the lack of new ideas, the voice acting, character models, and a story weighed down by dialogue. GameTrailers scored it 4.8 out of 10, complaining about boring quests, unexciting combat, gloomy settings, and a rough, unfinished feel.

GameSpot gave it a 4.5/10, noting distracting screen tearing, pop-in, and bugs, though the core combat had its moments. Eurogamer was kinder with a 7/10, calling it solid but unoriginal. GameZone also gave a 4.5/10, criticizing the cliché plot, dull side quests, muddy graphics, and repetitive fights. Jeb Haught and Pavel Barter both flagged major bugs, with Haught suggesting it could have been fun with proper testing.

Forbes' David M. Ewalt dismissed it as a standard, repetitive hack-and-slash with a dull solo campaign, but praised the multiplayer and its $15 price tag.