Dragonshard is a real-time strategy game based on the new Dungeons & Dragons universe, Eberron. Dragonshard combines classic role-playing themes, with a dynamic real-time strategy engine and a rich storyline involving a global conflict for an immensely powerful artefact with the power to change the fate of Eberron itself.
Dragonshard takes place at time when the world of Eberron is in chaos.
If you are unfamiliar with Eberron, back in 2002, Wizards of the Coast created a competition to design the next D&D campaign - 11.000 concepts were sent in, and Eberron made it through as the final choice. The worlds creator, Keith Barker, is now working with two other designers expanding the world.
Eberron features the usual diverse cultures from the D&D universe, as well as some new races such as changelings. It also has some new themes - expanding on the fantasy feel of D&D but with industrial and urban settings. Extra spells have been added, and the d20 ‘Action Point System’ reinforces the pace of the game.
In Eberron, three forces are vying for control of a massive dragonshard, known as the Heart of Siberys. This artefact has come to rest in a mystical part of Eberron known as Xen’drik; once home to ancient and powerful civilizations, and now a place of mystery and monsters. Shielded by a circle of high mountains and blanketed by never-ending tempests and blizzards, this region has been shunned for millennia.
Each of the three warring factions in Dragonshard has its own role to play in the overall story of the game, and the cool thing about this game is that it has a well fleshed out story.
Usually, when companies attempt to mix the RTS and RPG genres, it doesn’t quite work. Dragonshard, however, achieves a perfect balance.
You start by choosing the class of your hero character, then you are presented with a simple starting mission to get you used to the units and the interface. As well as your hero unit, you can build some captain units, which act like commanders in other RTS games. The hero units don’t level up as such, but the captain ones do.
If you have played an RTS before, then you should pick up the controls and know what you are doing pretty quickly. If you are more of an RPG person then you should still feel at home.
Players of the pen and paper system will recognise a lot of the units - the monsters you are fighting have been pulled straight from the Monster Manual.
The RTS part of the game has been simplified - no worrying about when to build which building, and what order to research things in. You are controlling a wide variety of units, but the focus is on what you do with them.
The RPG system comes into play through the questing and the dungeons, which have a more ‘party’ than ‘army’ focus. The game does not use the full D&D rules system, it takes it and simplifies it to allow for smoother, faster play on the scale that the game takes place on. You should still recognise the classes in the game however - they have condensed them all to their essence, and given them their key class skills.
The combat is smooth, and in my opinion more ‘realistic’ than in many other strategy games (as much as you can get realism in a game with goblins, magicians and gelatinous cubes.).
I loved the parts of the single player campaign I saw, and I enjoyed the quest dialogue, which was very well written. The multi-player mode seemed a bit bare and slow, but that could be because I am used to traditional RTS play.
The graphics are very nice, with the units being very well detailed, and the terrain and spell graphics also providing plenty of eye candy. Theres plenty of variety in the environments you see in the game, with them all being detailed and wonderful to look at. The sound is also well done, and with less annoying repeated speech than in many similar games.
This game shows a lot of promise, and is the best hybrid RTS / RPG I’ve seen. Eberron is a great setting, and it has a great back story. Well worth a look.
