Demon Stone [PS2]

There has always been an inarguable relationship between the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons, and now Atari's new action title, Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, adds yet another knot. The game was developed by Stormfront Studios, a company name last seen on EA's The Two Towers. Their new title takes that game's action-heavy approach to cinematic action and transposes it to the Forgotten Realms. The result is a well-built game, full of solid action, but nonetheless feels too much like the studio's past success.

The story, festooned with violent overtones and shades of melodrama, is classic D&D. Three heroes are drawn into the middle of a violent confrontation between Ygorl, the Slaad Lord, and Sereka, general of the Githyanki. Rannek is the warrior, all sword and smashing fists. Illius is the mage, with strong magical range attacks and grenades. Zhai is the rogue, a half-Drow who can hide in shadow and make swift stealth kills. The trio must imprison Ygorl and Sereka, before they can wreak havok on the Forgotten Realms.

Much like The Two Towers, the primary mode is button-mashing action. Here, however, a well-balanced trio is key. Players control one character, with AI support handling the other two. Generally, the CPU's focus is good, but it can get distracted by the wrong set of enemies and run off, rather than watching the player's back. That's frustrating, but at least it's easy enough to bring the party back together. The switching process is courtesy the D-Pad, where a change of tactic is a flick away. Most of the time you're free to play as whomever you wish, but certain situations will require specific skills, at which point control automatically passes to the appropriate character.

For instance, Zhai is the only party member who can jump. In one scene, while escaping from Blackstaff's tower, she'll have to leap over traps and occasionally hide in the shadows to stealthily eliminate enemies. Try as you might, neither Rannek nor Illius can make it through this sequence alive, so controls naturally pass to the rogue. At other times, when taking out enemies at range is paramount, the game might select the superior firepower of Illius, though players can then swap to their favorite hero, since all have ranged attacks.

Basic controls are applicable across the board. Everyone has a primary attack, a barehanded move, and guard. Basic combos are built from those commands, with different extra moves based on the character. The controls are typically responsive, though they do start to feel sluggish when in the midst of an overwhelming fight.

Using each character's unique skills also helps fill their hero meter more quickly, through which players can use a variety of special moves. For each hero, the basic special move is a heavy strike that can often take out multiple opponents. There will also be the occasional chance to use a team special, which combines the trio's powers into a strike with a wide radius, dealing out great damage and knocking back nearby foes.

The side benefit to fighting well is that gold and experience gained in battle can be traded for skill and equipment upgrades. Each character has their own menu of items and skills, some of which become available not only at a certain price point, but at a certain level. Upgrading abilities is crucial, and the game offers an auto-buy feature for those averse to shopping. But the upgrades never give a satisfying sense of having learned new tricks, which dampens the sense of achievement.

Certainly the most impressive feature in Demon Stone is the graphics engine. Like Stormfront's previous game, their work brings out the best in the PlayStation 2, minimizing the aliasing and comparatively low-res textures inherent in the system to create some gorgeous images. Stormfront uses the technology to throw dozens of elements on screen at once, with little or no drop in framerate. And the characters are all as detailed and distinct as we'd expect from the studio behind The Two Towers.

The camera is fully cinematic, and most of the time, the lens will open a vista on level design that really captures the Forgotten Realms. Long views of the action give insight into the scope of some levels, before the camera zooms in to focus on the action. But every once in a while, the chosen angle highlights the action in a strange way. For example, in the first confrontation between Ygorl and Sereka, the camera often focused on their fight, relegating the party and their attempts to save villagers to the background.

With the game's focus on cinematic action, sound plays a huge role, and Stormfront has put together some impressive work. It's hard to ignore Patrick Stewart as the voice of Blackstaff, or Michael Clarke Duncan as Ygorl. But those responsible for voicing the other major characters do a fine job as well. Additionally, battles are layered with clashing weapons, cries of friend and foe, and many environmental sounds. But the mix has been fine-tuned so that everything is as audible as it needs to be, and players should never miss any cues due to inaudible cries of nearby friends.

Demon Stone gives D&D fans the chance to enjoy virtually identical gameplay from The Two Towers, but set in their favored backdrop. Aside from the trio of switchable characters, there's barely anything to distinguish the two titles. Demon Stone is definitely a fun way to spend a few hours, but Stormfront Studios isn't likely to get away with repeating itself again.