It's Lord of the Rings! Without a licence! Or a story!

Dungeons and Dragons is the grandaddy of all role-playing games. The franchise has been around almost as long as there have been RPGs so it follows that, after years of refinement, a D&D video game released in 2003 should be pretty bloody fantastic.

Unfortunately for Dungeons And Dragons: Heroes, it comes hot on the heels of the genre's acme, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic and, not least failing to match that title, Atari's RPG even falls a little short of last year's obvious influence, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.

D&D: Heroes launches you into a world of sub-Tolkien cliché as you take on the role of one of four resurrected legendary heroes in a bid to defeat the returning evil wizard Kaedin. The linear gameplay takes you on a straightforward hack 'n slash path beginning in ominous catacombs and taking you through Castle Baele and then finally to a portal that leads to various elemental-themed stages. As you travel through the levels you must find 20 missing shards from your weapon which, once gathered, return it to its former glory, equipping you for the final battle. As far as the story goes that's about it and die-hard RPG narrative fans will be disappointed with the clunky inconsistency of interchanging FMV and awkward in-game cutscenes. There are no plot twists, no interesting characters and no moral decisions needing to be made. You might call this an action RPG-lite.

Fortunately, the fighting gameplay is implemented competently as you equip your weapon and choose your magic upgrades as you level up. You have the ubiquitous HP and MP bars and can also equip a variety of interesting secondary projectile weapons found in the multitude of boxes lying around. If anything, the game makes it all too easy for the player, with an unbalanced profusion of overly strong weaponry and skills. You hack, slash, heal and follow the carefully plotted map around the arenas in what is gameplay-wise essentially the 20-year-old classic Gauntlet. The similarities with Gauntlet's heritage are heightened when up to three friends join you in your quest.

Unfortunately, the developer has failed to make the experience any richer in team multiplay and there are no extra attacks or combos. A missed opportunity if ever there was one.

D&D: Heroes is not a bad game. It's good for a rainy afternoon, can pass the time quite enjoyably and there are certainly worse games out there. It's just that titles such as Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic have raised the Western RPG bar so high that basic hacking RPGs seem a little more hackneyed than they used to.

Power
Some good effects but doesn't really push the system that hard. Solid nonetheless.

Style
Very typical Western top-down RPG styling but a superb musical score helps immeasurably.

Immersion
It's fairly compulsive but sadly the lack of gameplay variety quickly starts to grate.

Lifespan
Not a big game by RPG standards and a dedicated sit down can get you a long way through.

Overall Varied gameplay and a more interesting story could have made Heroes much more enticing, but it's a great rental.

1. Fun for a while, especially in co-op
2. Top environments
3. Intuitive controls and clear, clear HUD

1. Unwieldy player-controlled camera that never settles