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100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
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Written by  :  tomimt (339)
Written on  :  Oct 30, 2006
Rating  :  2.57 Stars2.57 Stars2.57 Stars2.57 Stars2.57 Stars

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A disappointment.

The Good

'The Temple Of Elemental Evil' shows its fangs as soon as you start the game: depending on your chosen alignment for the party the beginning changes from psychotic church burning to your regular do gooders on a mission to smite evil.

The graphics are very pretty, prettier than in Troika's previous RPG Arcanum. Music is okay and the voice acting is does its job.

The Bad

Granted, Troika had terrible pressure upon its shoulders after releasing fantastic Arcanum, so maybe everyone's expectations were a bit too high. I know I was a bit disappointed of how mundane the game felt in comparison of its predecessor.

Despite various different ways to start the game, it just didn't feel like the alignment really had such an major influence on the overall gameplay: you still can do all the good things you did when you were good even though you play with evil character. The people don't seem to care: You tell the high priest you've burned down a church of his religion. The effect is, that he won't heal you and will try to smite you down, but no-one else cares.

Also the game world seems a bit desolate in places. Especially the final Temple of Elemental Evil is like abandoned fortress filled with pretty pillows.

Also the gameplay is a bit annoying in places, even though very similar to other isometric RPG's. The biggest issue is, that in the combat situation is sometimes very hard to tell which one of your characters is about to make the move, or even to locate the combatant in question, especially if the battle is happening behind a wall, or there's a large number of enemies scattered around the team.

The Bottom Line

The Temple Of Elemental Evil is a disappointment after Arcanum. That is the only way to describe how I felt after playing the game through. As a RPG the game isn't anything spectacular. And that is a shame.