The Temple of Elemental Evil

 PC
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 96 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 96
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 96
  3. Negative: 9 out of 96
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  1. mrrgl
    May 3, 2013
    7
    Definitely worth a playthrough if you apply community patches (look up "circle of eight"). Imagine Baldur's Gate, except with less exploration/story and a much more interesting combat system. This is one of those games where the mechanics are so rich and complicated that you genuinely end up feeling that you can be *creative* in your party development and combat tactics. Really I'veDefinitely worth a playthrough if you apply community patches (look up "circle of eight"). Imagine Baldur's Gate, except with less exploration/story and a much more interesting combat system. This is one of those games where the mechanics are so rich and complicated that you genuinely end up feeling that you can be *creative* in your party development and combat tactics. Really I've never seen a party-based combat system with this much variety and potential.

    I'd say somewhat luckily, the game will completely kick your ass right off the bat. To succeed, you've got to learn about what your characters are capable of and build your party accordingly. For the patient, ultimately a very rewarding experience.

    Cons; disappointing story line, few environments to explore.

    somewhat of a con: This is not a rail shooter. This is not easy. To succeed, you have to learn the rule system and apply intelligent combat tactics and character development.

    Ultimately, I'm quite sad that this engine did not see any more application. Troika obviously spent a ton of time creating the D&D 3rd edition rules in a PC environment, then introduced a single adventure to apply it in. Why on earth did we never see more games based on this engine?    … Expand
  2. Derceto
    Jun 11, 2013
    6
    Having bought this game at it's initial release, I was overcome by the abundant lack of play testing and bugs that made it through. It was borderline to being utterly broken and unplayable. Having played through it again recently with updates and mod patching, it's a far cry from what it once was.

    This isn't your traditional rpg which has major story elements. It's more of a free    Having bought this game at it's initial release, I was overcome by the abundant lack of play testing and bugs that made it through. It was borderline to being utterly broken and unplayable. Having played through it again recently with updates and mod patching, it's a far cry from what it once was.

    This isn't your traditional rpg which has major story elements. It's more of a free roaming rpg based on the classic Temple of Elemental Evil module. It is limited to 2 towns, and 2 dungeons, however, the main play is meant to take place in the temple itself. Dungeons and Dragons has always been more a system of care and planning as opposed to fast paced action. This of course, means the combat is slower paced, and more strategic. It's not to say the combat system is poor, it's just meant to be played on a more strategic approach, and it surely caters to a certain crowd.

    The soundtrack is rather well done setting the atmosphere appropriately for the varying locations. Battle themes are rather well done and I never found them to get annoyingly repetitive. Personally, I think the soundtrack is actually rather charismatic and well done and has not appeared to get much mention. Voice acting is limited, however, far from the cringe worthy voice acting some games are known to carry.

    All in all, I think this game is a little above average, with no hand holding elements whatsoever. You are left to discover things, and fend for yourself. To some, this may actually be it's "appeal". Certainly worth checking out if you are a remote fan of turn based role playing games, or the Dungeons and Dragons franchise.    … Expand
  3. roboticsun
    Oct 8, 2011
    7
    ToEE is a good RPG. It has a deep turn-based combat system implemented with D&D 3.5 rule set. The story line is very generic to be honest with you, pretty much as bad as Neverwinter Nights. The dialog is very plain compare to games like Planescape Torment and Baldur's Gate. The game's main focus lies clearly on the combat aspect which is quite enjoyable to play although it's not as tightToEE is a good RPG. It has a deep turn-based combat system implemented with D&D 3.5 rule set. The story line is very generic to be honest with you, pretty much as bad as Neverwinter Nights. The dialog is very plain compare to games like Planescape Torment and Baldur's Gate. The game's main focus lies clearly on the combat aspect which is quite enjoyable to play although it's not as tight as Baldurs games.If you like d&d games or strategy-focused game play, this is a good choice.… Expand
  4. Sinmaker
    May 27, 2020
    7
    a ser feita em breve jakjalkahslkdhalkshdlkahslkdahslkdakhldhsaldhaklshdlkahsdklah
  5. Christo
    Nov 13, 2003
    6
    Game is good with good character generators, just sad about the level cap of 10. I would I have enjoyed it much more if one can up you character to at least 20. What is the use of having all the feats if you are not allowed to take some of them.
  6. Drizzt
    Jan 21, 2004
    6
    Maybe the blooper of they year. This game had so much potential. It's a shame they didn't finish it properly. Lots of bugs, crappy performance, very weak voice acting. I haven't played it that far, but alot of people also complain about a weak storyline, and lousy quests and so on. In my oppinion they also used the new AD&D rules with too much depth, but this is relative of Maybe the blooper of they year. This game had so much potential. It's a shame they didn't finish it properly. Lots of bugs, crappy performance, very weak voice acting. I haven't played it that far, but alot of people also complain about a weak storyline, and lousy quests and so on. In my oppinion they also used the new AD&D rules with too much depth, but this is relative of course. Anyway, if they had spent some serious work making this game it would have been among the best rpg's. Now it's not even average.… Expand
  7. Christo
    Nov 13, 2003
    6
    Game is good with good character generators, just sad about the level cap of 10. I would I have enjoyed it much more if one can up you character to at least 20. What is the use of having all the feats if you are not allowed to take some of them.
  8. judaspiss
    Jul 6, 2015
    7
    What could have been one of the absolute best D&D games falls flat on its face. This game is the very definition of a flawed gem. Combat is absolutely great, perhaps some of the best turn-based combat I've seen. However, everything outside of combat is **** From movement, to impressively retarded AI pathing, inventory UI is fairly unintuitive and doesn't give a lot of info (although theWhat could have been one of the absolute best D&D games falls flat on its face. This game is the very definition of a flawed gem. Combat is absolutely great, perhaps some of the best turn-based combat I've seen. However, everything outside of combat is **** From movement, to impressively retarded AI pathing, inventory UI is fairly unintuitive and doesn't give a lot of info (although the Help hotkey helps with spell descriptions, it's **** for everything else, or simply doesn't work, or redirects you to the wrong page. Soundtrack is extremely repetitive. Opening the map pauses everything else, which is **** annoying when you're moving from one point to the other; also, you can't move the camera through the map (only way to do it is to pan it around, which is also extremely annoying especially in towns).… Expand
  9. Keron_Heruman
    Aug 23, 2023
    7
    Very special game, the transcription of the D&D rules are sublime. The party management is very good and the graphics are beautiful. The history is not bad, based on an classic paper D&D module, but the game has no pace and the player usually don't know what to do or why is exploring some areas.

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Most Discussed PC Game of 2003
29
#29 Most Shared PC Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 24
  3. Negative: 3 out of 24
  1. Gamers' Temple
    70
    Fans of the dungeon crawling genre will have a blast getting lost in the world of the Temple of Elemental Evil. Those virgin to this type of game may be overwhelmed by the wealth of options and complexity of combat.
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  2. PC Gameworld
    64
    Promises great things and delivers them patchily. Playing for any length of time is an exercise in frustration - especially since the concept is a great one.
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  3. Quandary
    80
    This has been quite an enjoyable trip but not one of epic proportions. More story would have gone a long, long way.
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