
	Platform PSP Genre Strategy Publisher Atari Developer Kuju ESRB T (Teen) Released August 14, 2007

- Follows the 3.5 D&D rule set very closely - Graphics are good with dynamic lighting in the dungeons - Lengthy adventure crammed onto this UMD

- Follows the 3.5 D&D rules completely, so if you’re unfamiliar this will be a turn off - Presentation is at times marred by over bearing on screen menus and breaks in the audio

Review: Advance Wars: Dual Strike (DS) Review: Chili Con Carnage (PSP) Review: Metal Gear Acid 2 (PSP)
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Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics

Score: 6.5 / 10

It seems that even today, computer “geeks” and “nerds” are associated with being Dungeons and Dragons players. The reality is that many of us aren’t, although for me anyways the D&D “style” has always intrigued me.

Enter Dungeons & Dragons Tactics, the latest licensed D&D game for your Sony PSP, which follows the D&D 3.5 rules quite closely. Powered by the Infinity Engine, this game has the technical power behind it to make it a great game but you will probably want to read on before making your decision.

This game plays with an isometric top down view, with pre-rendered backgrounds and plays out a lot like an advanced game of chess. The characters in your party can be of different classes. As you play, you are able to have both a standard action and a move action for every turn. Much like its board game cousin, D&D

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Tactics plays out a lot like sitting around a table with each character deciding upon and making their moves. It requires a lot of strategy and a lot of patience.

Your characters move on a grid that contains five foot squares and your options change depending on whether or not you are involved in combat. Your characters, in typical RPG fashion, will level

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up the more they perform certain actions and become better at it as time goes on. If you are experienced you can control how the level up happens, and if you are new to all of this there is an option to auto level up which is a nice touch.

As is typical with this game engine, you can control the camera and the distance it is from the action and even scroll around the play field (which you will need to do at times to see your objectives). The downside to this system on the PSP of course is that the characters on screen can become quite small when you are zoomed out enough to see all of what is happening.

The adventure contained within is a healthy 40 plus hour quest that keep you quite busy and you will enjoy the environments contained within. I was quite pleased with the presentation over all, although I found the “break” in the background music to be quite annoying when you are looking through the menus. The music is quite good, which is probably why I found this more upsetting than I might have otherwise.

Although there is no specific multiplayer campaign, you can have up to 4 people playing through the single player campaign wirelessly, which is a nice feature and if you have other friends that share the same love for D&D, this option will definitely be of benefit to you.

To make things a bit easier for newcomers, both the game itself and the manual provide a full glossary of terms. If you have the time, patience and interest you will find yourself immersed in an incredibly rich world.

It’s difficult to rate this game because it will depend on how you feel about the real D&D game. If it’s not your thing and you are looking for an entrance into that world, this one might be a bit of a steep curve for you. If you’re a seasoned player however, the fact that this game so closely follows the original rules will appeal to you greatly and definitely add a couple of points to my score.

- Syd Bolton

(October 11, 2007)

Syd Bolton has been collecting game consoles for over 20 years and has dozens of systems and over 5,000 games. Do you agree or disagree with this review? Make sure you share with us here.