Score
Gameplay:	6
Graphics:	5
Sound:	6
FunFactor:	4
PlasmaFactor:	3
Overall:	4.8

I of the Dragon Review
November 30, 2004 by Matt Wetsel

by MattW - November 30, 2004

Monsters are once again swarming through the land and attacking the humans. You, the last dragon, have to help them beat back the hordes of creatures and blah blah blah. That's about where the story stops making sense or being interesting, much like the game despite some potential. Dragon fanatics may find some fun here, but everyone else should just go play Diablo 2 some more.

Me So Hungry

I of the Dragon�s gameplay is centered around (you guessed it) controlling 1 of the 3 dragons you can select at the beginning of the game. With the exception of the spells they learn, the 3 don�t have too much to set them apart from each other. Each one has 3 types of attacks, and some stats cost more than others to upgrade, but for the most part having the extra dragons doesn�t add the kind of replay value that a game like Diablo (1 or 2) has where it�s characters vary significantly in abilities and stats. Your dragon of choice will be the one you use throughout the game with the exception of an ill-conceived level or two where you control a human.

The game is divided into a bunch of maps which, from the world view, tell you how many towns, humans, and monsters currently occupy it. The goal is to get rid of monsters and their lairs and build towns. But, all you micro-management fiends who have an affixation for dragons shouldn�t get too excited, since building a town consists of finding the light pillar which allows the town to be built, and then pressing B. As in, on the keyboard. The town then sprouts out of the ground like a flower on time lapse photography. Upgrades to the town are done in the exact same way, once you acquire the artifact which allows you to do so. In other words, the information on the box which reads, �Build towns and help protect them� should read �Press B and watch an automated sequence and then protect it!� I think by now that most gamers would expect a lot more out of an RPG which boasts the ability to build a town, and it would have been an opportunity to add some much needed depth.

So, what exactly does a dragon do? You�ll fly over some pretty generic terrain and kill even more generic monsters and the lairs from which they are produced. Rinse, lather, repeat. Experience is gained quickly enough that level gaining happens pretty much on it�s own, which is nice since you�ll kill so many monsters in the course of the game that having to go do it just for the sake of experience would be absurd. Since your dragon is airborn, all of the combat involves projectiles and the occasional spell from a boss. Basically, it all comes down to varying your altitude to avoid the projectile that the bug/big bug/grey thing is throwing at you and then throwing your own. Does it sound very exciting? I didn�t think so. It�s not that it�s terribly done, it�s just that the only variation comes in the quantity of monsters that you have to kill. It�s kind of like a very slow moving Gauntlet, only it takes place in a field instead of a dungeon.

Speaking of slow, one might expect a dragon to move with the speed of a cheetah and the grace of a ballerina. The answer is yes, if the cheetah were obese and the ballerina was missing both legs. Even when your flying speed is upgraded, your dragon still grazes through the sky like he hasn�t a care in the world. Between that and the sluggish combat system, the whole game starts to feel very monotonous.

Along with your hit points, you also have a meter which measure how much power you have to keep attacking, as well as your stamina and hunger. Stamina and attack power can both be regenerated by just sitting still for a little while, but hunger can only be satisfied by swooping down and grabbing a snack. In probably the most entertaining part of the game, your dragon will devour a helpless creature as it shrieks and shakes in pain. And yes, you can eat the humans out of the very towns you�re protecting. Yum.

You Could Argue That It's A Water Color....

Graphically, I of the Dragon isn�t anything we didn�t see 3 years ago in better games. The dragons themselves look nice enough, but the terrain�s textures are often blurry or look smudged and lack an overall sense of detail or uniqueness. This problem compounds itself as you explore newer maps, and even when there are some different environments, the boringness of it all makes them all look the same anyway.

Spells could use some touch-ups too, as we�ve seen it all before. Some cheap lighting effects and sparkles round out the majority of them. Where�s the hellfire? Where�s the brimstone? I want to rain down fiery death on these monsters and I want it to look awesome! Instead, I get some effects that look like they were generated by the X-Men�s Jubilee. Cool.

If You Could Hear Me Talking, I'd Be Improvising Every Word You Read

The audio in the game is strike three of the unimpressive. For a fantasy game, a lot of the music sounds like it would be more at home in a jungle setting, with lots of tribal drums. I rather quickly turned it down and turned Winamp up, which thankfully didn�t interfere with the game at all (some games can be very temperamental). The sound effects themselves are as generic as the surroundings: they get the point across but don�t do anything more.

The voice acting, however, is well spoken, which is a breath of fresh air in some of the less than stellar games which insist on having live actors. It was frustrating, however, when the spoken dialogue barely matched up with the subtitles. How hard can it be?

Been There, Done That

The problem with I of the Dragon is that it just isn�t that much fun to play. After a few hours, it just becomes the same old go-kill-this, press-B-here, fly-awkwardly-to-go-kill-more-things. The story never tries to be appealing, so it largely feels like you�re going on these �quests� because some guy on a flying carpet told you to. RPG�s are known for being story-driven, and if the story is lacking, you can bet that the gameplay better make up for it. Sadly, it�s neither in this case and I of the Dragon falls short.

That's All She Wrote

For an RPG, I of the Dragon doesn�t go very far. You have no inventory, no armor, and basically no upgrades beyond the experience levels and learning new spells, which vary between essential and a waste of time. A game like this should offer some depth! As previously stated, the ability to control the construction of the towns or perhaps to oversee them in any way would have added significantly to a bland title. While we�re on the subject of bland titles, who thinks up the names of the monsters? The first difficult boss you encounter is named Tumba Umba. Then the classics, bug and big bug, and it just goes from there. What�s worse is to think that there were probably some names which DIDN�T make it into the game, meaning Tumba Umba is the best of their creative energies.

 

 

I of the Dragon had potential, and for those of you who love anything involving dragons, this game will probably entertain you sufficiently. For the rest of us, though, there are a wealth of action RPG�s that have done it all better and retail for half the price. If a sequel were to address some of the complaints, especially the slow pacing and lack of interesting story, then they could have a very good game on their hands. As it is, I of the Dragon drags on and on into mediocrity. At least Tumba Umba is there to keep it company.