Games

Best of 2009 | 08 |07 | 06 | 05
Advanced Search

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Drakensang: The Dark Eye

EMAIL PRINT pc

8.8 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 35 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 57 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: ValuSoft / DTP Entertainment

Developer: Radon Labs

Genre(s): Role-Playing Game

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: February 18, 2009

Summary

In the legendary continent of heroes, adventure and mysteries, something is on the move. And it’s an event which role players have been eagerly awaiting ever since the Nordland Trilogy.With "Aventuria: Drakensang", dtp and Radon Labs are once again bringing Aventuria to the monitors of the role-playing community.Welcome to Aventuria, welcome to a new adventure! The story centres around Ferdok, an important trading city on the Great River. The feared female lancers of Ferdok and Ferdok’s famous beer have given the city a reputation throughout the continent and the humans here live in harmony with the dwarves.But despite the cheerful and peaceful atmosphere, the peace is now being shaken by a mysterious series of murders. Sinister figures are pursuing their dark schemes, while the fear among the population grows with every new murder.And while the adventures are still pondering whether the crimes are connected to the proclamation made by the Church of Hesinde on the tenth anniversary of the Dragonquest, they themselves are dragged into the mysterious events by a very particular murder. [Radon Labs]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Gamers.at

As a long-standing TDE-Fan I am literally overjoyed to delve once more into the fantastical world of Aventuria – and if it’s this well made, all the better! Though of course there’s the usual parade of odds and ends to criticize, like the missing character customization, but they’re all barely affecting the myriad ways to have fun with this title. To me, TDE:Drakensang is without a doubt the greatest RPG of German origin – Gothic 3, watch out! [Issue#15]

GameStar

Quotation forthcoming.

Read Full Review >

Play.tm

Drakensang offers around 40-50 hours of gameplay depending on how many side quests you tackle, meaning there's plenty to be getting on with, and with a well written storyline and surprisingly good visuals, it really is a noteworthy all round package.

Read Full Review >

PC Format

The quests are interesting. [May 2009, p.97]

Pelit (Finland)

A charmingly traditional and well-polished role-playing game that suffers of an uninspired script and a tactically shallow combat system. [Apr 2009]

D+PAD Magazine

In many ways Drakensang is a throwback, a swansong to the party-based RPGs of yesteryear, yet somehow it doesn’t feel dated.

Read Full Review >

AceGamez

Despite some flaws and a none to friendly learning curve, Drakensang: The Dark Eye is still an enjoyable RPG that's packed with plenty to do and a combat system that eventually grows into something special.

Read Full Review >

Meristation

The epic world of The Dark Eye arrives ten years later to our PC. Based on a board RPG game, Drakensang features some interesting ideas that bring back to life some of the best moments of the classic. Featuring ideas from Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights franchise, the game packs a good set of rules with good-looking graphics and nice sound. At the end, it doesn't get to be a high budget production, but still gives the player great moments and great value that is worth the money.

Read Full Review >

Vandal Online

It doesn't have a surprising story nor innovates anything in gameplay, but the development team well done work achieves that more than 80 hours of a very satisfying experience.

Read Full Review >

Multiplayer.it

Drakensang is a good roleplaying game: classic style, deep and with a nice plot. It has several problems with the management of the party but it's a surprise for those searching for an interesting game with a low price.

Read Full Review >

Eurogamer Spain

A very solid role playing game, capable of even winning in some aspects to major videogames from this genre like The Witcher or Neverwinter Nights 2. The worst problem, though, it's a subpar storyline.

Read Full Review >

Everyeye.it

Drakensang is one of the best classic-rpg adventure released this year. Perfect for D&D lovers, even if a little bit too difficult for new gamers.

Read Full Review >

GameZone

The sum of its parts does not always equal the end score. This is a good, quality title that has few bugs, an engaging story and maybe more than a few cliches.

Read Full Review >

LEVEL (Czech Republic)

You can compare playing Drakensang with reading of a good old classic book. Old-fashioned RPG acquired new graphics but its heart remains the same. Prepare to enter a lively and believable world filled with a plethora of quests and catching stories. [Mar 2009]

Cynamite

The developers put a lot of effort in the classic fantasy world of Aventuria. It literally makes you wanna dive into it. Weak point: You have to play ten hours minimum to really understand what’s going on about your character and the story.

Read Full Review >

Boomtown

But for my money, it's time well spent, as it succeeds more often than not in recapturing the spirit of some of the more highly regarded CRPG titles of the earlier part of the decade.

Read Full Review >

3DJuegos

A solid role playing game with challenging combat and an entertaining fantasy tale.

Read Full Review >

SpazioGames

A huge role-playing game in its purest form, and you won't find any simplifications typical of today's games.

Read Full Review >

IGN

The combat benefits from great visuals and animations but you lose some of the appeal there if you're constantly having to start and stop the action for tactical convenience.

Read Full Review >

Game Revolution

While I won’t try and tell you this game serves as a replacement for Mass Effect or Fallout 3, it is pretty well done on the whole. I hope this means Radon Labs will be working on further RPGs, as Drakensang is a series with great potential.

Read Full Review >

Hardcore Gamer Magazine

For the $29.99 price tag, The Dark Eye: Drakensang, offers you a full 40 hours of well-written story filled with missions and side quests to complete.

Read Full Review >

Computer Games Online RO

Drakensang is interesting and can keep you glued to your seat, but its replay value isn’t quite as high as it could have been and the sometimes overzealous difficulty can be a turn-off for newcomers.

Read Full Review >

Worth Playing

It's a solid localization effort, and there is deep character customization, challenging combat and an entertaining, if riskless, fantasy tale.

Read Full Review >

Cheat Code Central

Drakensang: The Dark Eye is a rare breed these days. It's not a hardcore RPG, but it still offers a lot of complexity. The beauty of the game is the way in which the developers tailored the gameplay to include newbies without dumbing-down the genre. Don't miss a chance to play a game marinated in the classic RPG tradition.

Read Full Review >

PC Gamer UK

A solid, squishy eyeful of Germanic RPG charm. [Apr 2009, p.81]

RPGamer

Drakensang is ultimately a rich and polished experience, and fans of the old party-based PC RPG design will find the same virtues and flaws that come with this type of game.

Read Full Review >

Eurogamer

As far as reasonable-budget party-based RPGs go, it's detailed enough to fill the months until we see whether Dragon Age is going to live up to BioWare's legacy.

Read Full Review >

GameSpot

This epic role-playing game has great depth, but is hampered by a number of significant design flaws.

Read Full Review >

Gamer.nl

Drakensang is a must buy for every fantasy and RPG fanatic. Don't except a revolution or a GOTY, but except a game that has charisma and can be picked up very easily. There are some tiny flaws, but the moment that you venture into Avonturia, your troubles will be over.

VideoGamer

Drakensang's best not when it's being played, but when it's being tinkered with. It's an old-fashioned, sometimes archaic, other times deeply engrossing game that rewards and satisfies according to how much effort you're willing to put in.

Read Full Review >

Absolute Games

Colorful vistas and ear-pleasing music are the few things that bring Drakensang closer to its eminent North American brethren. Alas, it is not enough for a good game, especially the one that wants to become the RPG of the year and gain a cult following. One would need talented writers and interesting game design for that.

Read Full Review >

Game Informer

While Drakensang easily exceeds any expectations regarding presentation and scope, the finer points of RPG design - notably combat and player-driven interactions with the game world - are lost on the game. [Mar 2009, p.92]

PC Zone UK

A solid game, but one that suffers somewhat from stilted gameplay and a cliched plot. [May 2009, p.74]

Total PC Gaming

Die-hard RPG fans will appreciate the backstory, but no-one else will pay attention.

Read Full Review >

DarkZero

I will say that I have spent enough time on this game to encompass my two playthroughs of Mass Effect, or both of the Knights of the Old Republic titles. And I can honestly say that, in comparison, I didn’t enjoy one minute of it. Good-day.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 57 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dakkar D gave it an8:
Nice game, classic RPG. Reminds me Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter. Very low requirements, can be played without dvd and it's buggy free (I haven't found a bug yet). Nice Italian translation. Suggested!

[Anonymous] gave it a9:
A long and involving main quest, beautiful graphics and once you get used to it, a well constructed and logical rules system. Most importantly this game is solid, by which I mean I have an old computer that barely reaches the minimum specs yet I have not experienced slow down or crashing once in over 50 hours of play time. This game is fun and reliable and Radon Labs are surelf after Black Isle's RPG crown.

Adam G gave it a5:
I was a bit taken in by other user ratings, but am very unimpressed. The character creation is too dumbed down, there is a lot of time consuming walking about but worst of all the camera makes the game almost unplayable in parts. On the plus side, the graphics are nice and it's not a system hog.

John Doe gave it a10:
Despite some minor problems with translation and the lack of documentation, the combat mechanics provide interesting tactical gameplay and the single player campaign is reminiscent in quality to classics like Baldur's Gate and Planescape: Torment.

Lauranda gave it an8:
My only problem, which is worth a dock of 2 points, is the combat. The camera is a little herky jerky and it is often times hard to target an enemy with yer other party members in the way, even when changing angles. Also don't like how summoned minions will attack anything on sight...you should at least have that much control on them. Other than that, I love the visuals and sound and the fact that we finally have a new party RPG to play. I would however like to see a game soon where you make a whole party, like RPGs of old (Bard's Tale, etc).

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
This game is incredibly underrated, and I'm constantly flabbergasted at the disparity between critics and actual gamers every site I look at. Perhaps critics have become so jaded they will happily ding any game without a large marketing budget, and knock it hard for things like sub-par voice acting and actually having to read text. By and large though, RPG fans only care about gameplay and atmosphere, and this game has it in spades. This is the funnest Baldur's-Gate style game since.... well, Baldur's Gate really. It's long overdue and I hope more people pick it up and give it a try. It's a gem of a game and it's sad that nothing like this is ever produced in the USA anymore.

Nick H gave it a9:
I have read a lot of reviews for this game and I disagree with criticisms that are made of the game. It is true that it starts out slow and gets better once you reach the town that starts the game. In an industry that leaves us starved for really good and deep RPG's this one is a home run that is enjoyable to play. The controls are one of the games strengths and with all it's quirks I found it a lot better and more intuitive than NWN2. It reminds me of the Guild Wars MMO control scheme. This one will keep me busy until the next big RPG Blockbuster drops.

Games

Sony

Microsoft

Nintendo

Other Platforms

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Drakensang: The Dark Eye

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases