ast week I had the honor of traveling out to California to visit Stormfront Studios, the folks behind the held of development of Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone. You may have heard of the company before; they worked most recently with Electronic Arts on the wildly popular The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, which appeared on the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube. Well with the EA relationship behind them (on amicable terms, despite recent rumors), Stormfront is looking to add their special touch to another universally beloved franchise: the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons & Dragons. Stormfront, however, is the first to admit that the license may not be for everyone. Associated usually with the hardest of hardcore pen and paper gamers, one of Stormfront’s main goals is to bring the D&D universe into “this century,” as well as expose the franchise to a wider and more diverse audience. Well from what I saw last week, the company is well on its way to completing both objectives. Not only is the game beautiful to look at and a blast to play, it also manages to stay true to the D&D license, enough so that ardent fans of the franchise will be tickled pink.

Gameplay in Demon Stone begins with you controlling Rannek, a mysterious warrior with an axe to grind. It seems that his village was overrun by trolls and in the ensuing melee Rannek was knocked out cold. When he awoke, his village was in ruin and his friends were all killed. Dead set on getting his revenge, he sets out to find the trolls responsible for the carnage. While impressive, the game doesn’t actually give you Rannek’s background right from the start. Essentially all you know is that he’s a big guy with a big sword and doesn’t prefer small talk. But there’s method to this madness. From the beginning Atari and Stormfront laid out the fact that they wanted the game to be highly cinematic. As such, character storylines aren’t always fleshed out in elaborate cut-scenes, but more so in actual in-game dialogue and conversation. While there are some cut-scenes and cinematic movies, they’re generally very short in length, with the longest clocking in at just over two minutes. So with the introduction of Rannek (and lack of background information on him), the game essentially only lets you in on as much of the story as it wants to. To learn more you’ll have to play through the game and complete objectives. The entire system is pretty intuitive and helps to draw the game away from the typical “play, watch movie, play, watch movie” sort of system that is usually prevalent in action RPGs, as well as succeeds in giving the characters more of an actual in-game presence and personality.

But for all the brawn that Rannek possesses, he’s not a one man army. Early on, he runs across two other characters. The first of them is Zhai, a half-Drow, half-Elf rogue who excels in agility, stealth, and one-hit kills. Later on the two run into Illius, a powerful sorcerer. At first what seems like a trio of heroes thrown together by random chance slowly begins to transform into an act of destiny. Each hero has his or her own special motives for their adventures and while at first secretive about them, they eventually begin to let their comrades in on their backgrounds as they start to trust each other.

Just as each character features their own unique motives and personalities, so too do each of them feature their own combat styles and abilities. Rannek is the brawns of the trio, capable of delivering highly damaging blows with his heavy sword. Whether against one enemy or five, he’s best at jumping into the action with damaging combos and wiping the floor with larger and more potentially dangerous enemies. Zhai is a bit of a different story. The roguish thief, while skilled in melee combat using her twin blades, is more about agility and sneaky kills. She can take on a few enemies at a time, but larger groups prove troublesome for her. As a rogue, Zhai possesses the ability to render herself invisible for a short period of time, granted that you can find special “darkness” patches that are usually scattered throughout the game’s many levels. When Zhai steps into a “darkness patch,” her body will go transparent and she becomes invisible for a few seconds. While cloaked, Zhai can then perform special one-hit stealth kills on enemies if she can get behind them. Also, her footsteps are muffled to a non-detectable level. You’ll have to be careful, though, since the effect only lasts a few seconds and the moment you do attack, you become visible again. Lastly, the sorcerer Illius is neither a sneaky fighter nor a brawny bruiser. Being the less physically gifted hero, Illius instead relies on his intense and powerful magical abilities to aid in combat. Using his mighty staff, he can hurl projectile spells at distant enemies, either in a small and less-powerful form, or by charging the attack and letting loose one that’s  larger, and more damaging. But enemies will begin to catch on to Illius’ game and will occasionally charge him. Luckily, Illius isn’t completely incompetent when it comes to melee combat, so he can unleash some impressive (if not a bit weak) combos with his staff.

Both Rannek and Zhai are also capable of using special projectile attacks, which are limited to the amount of ammo you may have on hand. If you played any of The Two Towers, this system will be pretty familiar to you since it strongly resembles the “arrow” or “magic” projectile attacks from that game. Rannek being the beefy guy that he is tosses axes as his attack, while Zhai throws razor-sharp daggers at her distant foes. Illius doesn’t get a projectile attack, but that doesn’t prove too worrisome since, after all, his main attacks are a projectile.  Besides ranged attacks, each character is also capable of unleashing something called a “super attack.” Besides having the requisite health meters on-screen, you’ll also notice a special display called the “Hero Meter.” As you defeat enemies and unleash damaging combos, the meter fills up slowly. Once full, a special on-screen icon will flash, indicating that you can use your special move. These moves are all about taking out lots of enemies quickly, and prove to be really handy when you’re surrounded. Rannek’s move consists of a spinning sword attack, Zhai’s is a 360 degree storm of throwing knives, and Illius unleashes a wide area magical attack. Since the game has you controlling all three of the characters at once, you can also use special “Team Super Attacks,” which have all three of your heroes unleashing their special attack simultaneously. And the move is easy to pull off; the only requirement being that each hero has their “Hero Meter” topped off.

Along with being skilled combatants each character can also be upgraded with a wide array of new abilities and items. As you play through the game you’ll be awarded both experience points and gold. At the conclusion of the level you’ll then be given the chance to spend your hard-earned loot. Experience points are tied to abilities, which include things like more advanced and damaging combos, which the game has a nifty auto-preview feature that lets you see the actual move performed before you purchase it. Gold, however, is used to purchase things like new weapons and armor. The game features a mind-boggling number of different weapons, armor, and accessories, all taken from the D&D universe, so if you’ve been toting around the Frost Brand while playing the pen and paper game, you can tote it around in Demon Stone. Items will also change how your character looks on-screen. If you get sick of running around in crappy leather armor, you can splurge on the fancy stuff and your character will then don it during the game. The same goes for weapons, which gets pretty impressive when you start toting around weapons with elemental properties like fire or lightning. While a deep and intuitive system, Stormfront quickly came to realize that some gamers may not be too interested in decking out the characters in the latest in D&D fashion. To address this, they’ve implemented a special “Auto Buy” feature that makes upgrading your heroes a breeze. All you need to do is go through and buy items or upgrades for one character and then select “Auto Buy” for the other two. The game will automatically purchase and equip upgrades for the other heroes, letting you get back into the game as soon as possible.

As I mentioned before, you’ll control all three heroes at the same time during the course of the game. While there are a few scenarios that split the characters up and require some solo work, the majority of the gameplay is focused on the trio. To make things a bit easier, all character switching is mapped to the D-pad, with directions mapped to specific characters. If you're fighting as Rannek and you suddenly realize that Zhai is getting swarmed by enemies, a quick press of the D-pad will zip you into controlling her. To go with the team dynamic, the game shows all three characters’ health meters in one circular icon, which makes it pretty easy to always keep tabs on who’s doing well and who’s near death. The icon also features separated indicators for “Super Attack” status, essential for when you want to unleash the damaging team-based Super Attacks.

Given the fact that each character has their own unique abilities and skills, the character switching/use system is used fairly often. Certain levels or scenarios will call for the specific skills of a certain character. If faced with a long corridor of patrolling enemies, you may need to send in Zhai to clear them out with stealth kills. Other times you may find yourself destroying distant dead-bolts that are holding up a drawbridge using the magical attacks of Illius. You could technically just run into the fray with blades swinging, but to really survive for the long haul you’ll need to be able to identify just which situations call for what characters. Also some bosses and larger enemies utilize special moves that can render characters unconscious for a brief amount of time, effectively forcing you to switch to a character that is still able to fight.

In all, the game features 10 levels, all of which are drawn from the world of Forgotten Realms. You’ll travel through lush jungles, dank Dwarven mines, archaic and evil temples, as well as a wintry keep run by a very familiar face in the Forgotten Realms universe; Drizzt (and he’s even playable for one specific level!). From the start Stormfront was determined to create not only locations that would be faithful to the Forgotten Realms franchise, but also locations that would be visually vibrant, detailed, and awe-inspiring. Given the fact that none of these areas had ever been conceptualized in 3D, they had quite a task ahead of them. But so far the worlds are looking absolutely stunning. Given the fact that I saw the PS2 build of the game, I was very impressed with the amount of detail and visual punch that Stormfront has been able to squeeze out of the PS2.

All the innovation and great visuals wouldn’t amount to much if the game didn’t feature some enjoyable gameplay. Luckily, the game features just this. If you’ve played The Two Towers, then the control scheme should feel like second nature. Melee combos are mapped to the Circle, X, and shoulder buttons. Pressing them in specific combinations will unleash different attacks (granted that you’ve purchased some combo upgrades). Taking influence from The Two Towers, each character is also able to utilize a special “Coup De Grace” attack that can be used to finish off enemies who fall to the ground. While the game is heavy on the hack n’ slash action, each character has a few tricks up their sleeves to mix up the combat quite a bit so you don’t just end up pressing the X button until your fingers bleed. Each character has an unarmed attack, such as a shoulder butt for Rannek or a roundhouse kick for Zhai. Linking these moves with your standard attacks helps to keep enemies off guard and prevent them from blocking your combos. And for particularly tough enemies you can utilize a special “Call Attack” that will have one of your allies swoop in and massively damage any enemy that you may be engaged with. The move is incredibly powerful, but each time you use it your Hero Meter will deplete quite a bit.

The real draw of the game comes in the diverse levels and environments, most of which usually require some sort of character interaction. The opening level of the game is swamped with archers, requiring you to run around and set loose giant crossbows that fire flaming arrows at the archer encampments. Other levels feature things like cliffs and drop-offs that you can knock enemies off of, seemingly harmless statues that come to life and aid you and your comrades, as well as a lumbering suit of armor that Illius can control and use to attack swarms of enemies. Once you start playing the game the true scope of each level will quickly become clear. Action is literally everywhere you go, whether you're facing it head-on or it's being played out by NPCs in the background of the environment. Ultimately, all of it comes together to create an engrossing gameplay experience that rivals some of what you would find in today’s biggest action movies.

Audio-wise Stormfront makes a good attempt at translating the stellar voice-over and music work that was so prominent in The Two Towers into The Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone. The voice-acting is top notch and features the likes of Patrick Steward of X-Men, and Star Trek: The Next Generation fame plays the role of Kelban “Blackstaff” Aunsun, as well as Michael Clark Duncan of such movies as The Whole Nine Yards and The Green Mile who voices the role of the evil Lord Ygorl. While their work is impressive, the real meat of the voice-over work comes in the form of the relative unknowns who voice the three main characters. Since the game doesn’t feature very lengthy cut-scenes, much of the voice-over work is presented in-game. During battle, characters make quips or yell out of help. When faced with a puzzle that may require the talents of a specific hero, another may suggest that it may be a good idea to switch to them to see if their talents can prove handy. Musically, the game also features an epic score. Recorded by the Northwest Symphonia in Washington, the music is both sweeping and intense. Stormfront uses a special “adaptive score” technique to help keep the musical pace in tune with the action on-screen. While walking about with no combat going on, the music may be subdued and almost ambient. However, the moment combat begins the music instantaneously picks up the pace, which ends up being very reminiscent of what you may spot in a Hollywood film.

Overall, I came away from my time with Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone very impressed. Stormfront not only proves that they can work magic with beloved licenses, but can also make that work into a finished product that will attract both the hardcore fan and the casual gamer. Dungeons & Dragons fans will undoubtedly find plenty to enjoy in the game, but thanks to its intense action and cinematic appeal, gamers out there who don’t know a thing about the Forgotten Realms universe will find plenty to keep them busy.

Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone is currently slated to ship for the PS2 in September, while the Xbox version will follow closely with a November release.