Others say...

"Not as bad as you think, but could use work."
This game could be, by far, the best combat/strategy game in several years. Think Morrowind, with better graphics and class system.

HOWEVER, I agree with those people that are ticked the game was released unfinished. It is an insult, and I will think long and hard before buying a game from this company or publisher again.

Download the patch 1.3, and your game experience will improve dramatically. I am waiting hungrily for 1.4, but it keeps getting pushed back (another thing that tells me this game company is unreliable).

Combat is rather repetitive, but fun. XP is very well thought-out. Class system is excellent. This game has a LOT going for it. Game map is HUGE (it took me 5-10 hours just to complete the first quest, getting into Fargrove)

I don't agree with the 0-1 star reviews. I just wish they'd finished it before they released it. :P

"I'm having fun with this one"
Perhaps some of the previous reviews have been for an earlier release, but I'm having fun playing the latest release (1.8). Granted, there are bugs, but most of what I have experienced were eliminated by adjusting the video/sound settings to recommended values. I still have an occasional freeze, however, that requires restarting or even rebooting. Plan to save the game frequently, just in case.

As for the game play, there is lots of combat. If you find yourself lingering in an area, mobs can and will spawn, and often they can be a bit overwhelming. When first starting the game as a new character this can be especially true. You may find yourself a bit challenged by this, but here is where your tacticts will pay off. As one of the other reviewers mentioned, the mobs tend to circle around you as you fight, and the mousing to keep them in front of your weapon is a constant hassle. I found pushing them into walls and corners to be helpful. When I got lots of mobs all at once, I found using doorways to limit their their attack to just one or two at a time was successful. There are also occasional pathing problems and you can use this to your advantage albeit somewhat of a cheat.

I found that the as you increased personal stats and skills the result were directly correlated to better outcomes. Perhaps the reviewer who questioned this was paying at a lower level. The frequency of hitting a target seems to be directly related to higher Dex and Weapon skills ... at lower levels you swing but miss a lot. When you do hit a mob, a box showing the damage done and the mob's remaining health is briefly displayed. I've seen no problems in this area and I'm almost finished with the game. I've also found no chests that didn't open as long as you got the lock-pick panel. There are chests in the game, however that do not give the lock-pick option, but I believe it is by disign, not a bug.

I also suspect that the random encounters are automatically adjusted somewhat for your current skills and levels. I can't be certain that this is true, but it seems that as I've gained levels, the number of Mobs spawning has increased, or the level of the mobs has increasd or both. In any event, the game has remained challenging.

The game seems heavly weighted toward hand-held weapons rather than magic. You must develop magic skills, but the battles are won through hand held weaponry. the throwing and bow skills are necessary but in a limited way. And it's a good thing too, because I've yet to find a decent damage wielding bow in the game.

The 1.8 download is available on the web site, so getting a "used" copy of the game shouldn't pose a problem. The maping feature in 1.8 also works just fine by the way. If you get stumped there is a good site at GameBanshee that has everything but only displays what area you click on. This is good because the site is the ultimate spoiler, leaving nothing to "discover" so be careful on what you call up.

"Spent more money on the box design than the game"
I felt that this game was released as a pusposeful insult to the game consumer. I bought it, and now use the DVD as a coaster. At least I can get some value out of my purchase that way.

"Waste of Money "
Purchased this even with the bad reviews, thought nothing could be that bad, first mistake. Played it for 2 hours hoping it would get better second mistake.

Apart from the awful combat and collision detection systems, you never know if you are actually making contact until they fall over. The loot is very repetitive and annoying to collect. Then there is the lock picking for nearly every chest most of which have nothing worth having inside.

Then the skill points system that you have to keep checking to upgrade the confussing number of skills, you can distribute the points wherever you like(which doesn't make any logical sense), unlike most games where the use of a skill automatically increases your proficiency in that skill.

Maybe we have been spoilt by games like Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Dungeon Siege and almost any other recent game (as in the last 5 years), but after a few tries at this game I gave up in disgust, the game has no redeeming features that I could find and if I could I would ask for my money back.

Final words of advice "don't buy it".

"No lawsuit necessary...."
I've just beat the game and feel the need to write a review since so many people below sound as if they didn't even give the game much of a chance before giving up on it. Perhaps I bought a newer version of the game, but whatever "bugs" are in the game, they didn't hinder its playability that much. Yes, there are some treasure chests that do not open, but that didn't bother me much since there are tons of treasure chests throughout the game, and about 99% of them are random treasures. Usually I'd save the game before opening one up, and then if I got something I didn't like I'd reload my game and try again until I got something I needed. You could do this over and over until you have a full spread of the most powerful armor. So who cares about four chests that don't open? At least the other hundred chests do. Other than that, the game is pretty much complete and engaging. Anyway, what first sucked me into the game was its strong storyline and voice actors. Second, was the ability to learn certain classes, and then build upon that class and upgrade it by completing quests. For instance if you use a female character, you can join the Sisterhood and become a Valkyrie, and then upgrade that to a War Witch, with each upgrade gaining new skills and learning bonuses. There are several classes to choose from, and each has different class changes with unique upgrades. By the time you have reached the third level of any class, you are pretty darn powerful and should have no problem vanquishing any enemy, including most of the bosses. (And speaking of bosses, some of them are quite creepy.) Another plus is the game's process of leveling up, which I simply love. Unlike other RPGs where you have to earn a certain amount of experience in order to level up and increase stats, in Dungeon Lords as you gain experience points by killing enemies, you can immediately "spend" those points to raise either your stats or skills. Of course as you progress, more points will be needed to raise your stats and skill levels, but this way you don't have to wait long periods of time before seeing improvement in your character. Now to explain my rating, I actually enjoyed the game, its graphics and storyline even though it had a weak ending. The only SPOILER I'll give is it leaves the game open for a sequel, but aside from that I wanted more of an ending to reward me for the number of hours needed to defeat this game. I remember spending hours trying to solve certain dungeon puzzles... Regardless, I enjoyed the game and I feel it is worth playing. I'm actually anxious to try out other classes with other characters, but I do recommend waiting until the price of this game goes down.