Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is a Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons role-playing video game released in 2001 by Ubisoft. It is the fifth and latest game in the Pool of Radiance series.

For the related adventure module, see Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor.
Pool of Radiance:
Ruins of Myth Drannor
Developer(s)Stormfront Studios
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Designer(s)Mark Buchignani
Ken Eklund
Sarah W. Stocker
Programmer(s)David Yee
Artist(s)Sergio Lobato
Writer(s)Sarah W. Stocker
Composer(s)Andrew Boyd
Robb Mills
SeriesPool of Radiance
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: September 24, 2001
  • EU: November 30, 2001
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

Gameplay

Ruins of Myth Drannor takes place from an isometric third-person perspective, similar to the Baldur's Gate series. Unlike Baldur's Gate and other Infinity Engine games, Ruins of Myth Drannor features turn-based combat rather than real-time combat.[1] The game uses three-dimensional characters over pre-rendered two-dimensional backgrounds.

The game is a dungeon crawl, with a focus on hack and slash combat and the exploration of large dungeons.[1] Story progression and interaction with other characters is a minimal part of the game, although there is some interaction with non-player characters (NPCs) and other in-game characters.[2]

Plot

The story is set in the city of New Phlan.[1] A dracolich and his sorcerer queen have seized control of the Mythal, the ancient magic that once protected the long abandoned elven city of Myth Drannor. Once the elven ruin is completely in their thrall, the cult intends to expand its domination one city—and one soul—at a time.

Four heroes are sent to Myth Drannor by Elminster to stop the dracolich and the sorcerer queen from using the power of the Mythal to conquer Faerûn. They must travel to all areas of Myth Drannor, including dungeons and catacombs beneath the city, in an attempt to stop evil from taking over the region.

Development

Producer Chuck Yager said the game was originally designed using the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition rules, but was converted to the 3rd edition rules partway through development.[1] While Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn implemented a few elements from the 3rd edition, Ruins of Myth Drannor was the first game attempting to comprehensively adapt those rules.[3]

Reception

Sales

According to GameSpot's Desslock, Ruins of Myth Drannor "sold extremely well during its first few weeks, but bad word of mouth and reviews crippled future sales". He remarked that certain retailers had placed notes on their displays to warn customers about the title's bugs.[4] In the United States, the game entered NPD Intelect's computer game sales chart at #1 for September 23–29, 2001.[5] It held this position on the following week's chart,[6] before falling to #9 in its third week of release.[7] According to Ubisoft, the game surpassed 150,000 sales in its first 14 days.[8] It finished 20th on NPD Intelect's chart for the month of September overall,[7] and maintained this spot in October.[9] By the first week of November, Ruins of Myth Drannor had sold 55,211 units in the United States.[4]

Critical reviews

The game received lackluster reviews and was plagued with bugs. One major bug would cause a player's system files to uninstall when the game was removed.[14] Other bugs included problems with installation, saving game files, graphics, and gameplay.[2] Chris Chan of the New Straits Times complained that most of the game is spent "[engaged] with a lot of mindless battles and health and spell recuperation exercises."[1] Mark Meadows of The Wisconsin State Journal called the game: "A half-finished adaptation of D&D's new 3rd Edition rules that was rushed out the door despite being over a year late."[2] GameSpy's review suggested: "If you see this game, walk away … really fast!"[15] Later patches fixed some of the stability issues.[1] Branislav Babovic of mania.com commented: "Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor could simply be defined as a disk full of bugs, striving to be a slow Diablo based on AD&D third edition rules."[16] Dragon's Johnny Wilson commented: "I like the way the new edition of the D&D rules have been integrated into the game [...] I'm thrilled with the emphasis on drow and undead, the villains we love to hate."[17]

Adaptations

A novel based on the game, written by Carrie Bebris, was published by Wizards of the Coast and was also included with the collector's edition of the game, except in Europe. Despite much criticism of the game, opinions on the novel have generally been positive. The Collector's Edition version of the game contained a copy of the book, an original pen and paper module, an audio CD, and a bag of polyhedral dice.[18] The printed adventure was called Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor.

References
  1. Chan, Chris (April 22, 2002). "In battle against evil". New Straits Times. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2012. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  2. Meadows, Mark (November 1, 2001). "Bugs, Design Flaws Sink 'Pool of Radiance'". The Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2012. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  3. Desslock (1 October 2001). "Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  4. Desslock (November 23, 2001). "Desslock's Ramblings - Wizardry 8 Arrives, Kinda; RPG Sales Stats Updated". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 24, 2001.
  5. Walker, Trey (October 10, 2001). "Pool of Radiance debuts at number one". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2001-11-26. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  6. Walker, Trey (October 17, 2001). "Pool of Radiance hangs on to number one". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2001-11-08. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  7. Walker, Trey (October 25, 2001). "Camelot takes the lead". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2001-12-11. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  8. "Acquisitions Propel Ubi Soft Sales Up 72%". Gamasutra. November 5, 2001. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014.
  9. Walker, Trey (November 29, 2001). "Hot Date holds off Harry Potter". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 2, 2001. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
  10. Fleet, Adam (December 13, 2001). "Review; Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor". Computer Games Magazine. Archived from the original on August 10, 2004.
  11. Smolka, Rob (January 2002). "Reviews; Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor". Computer Gaming World (210): 112, 113.
  12. Fitzloff, Jay; Brogger, Kristian (November 2001). "D&D for Dummies". Game Informer. Archived from the original on December 31, 2004.
  13. Klett, Steve. "Reviews; Pool of Radiance". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on December 7, 2007.
  14. Salminen, Carl (November 24, 2001). "Pool of Radiance". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on November 26, 2001. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
  15. Rausch, Allen (2004-08-19). "A History of D&D Video Games - Part V". GameSpy. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  16. "Article". www.mania.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  17. Wilson, Johnny (August 2000). "Silicon Sorcery". Dragon (274): 128–130.
  18. "Amazon.com:Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor".
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