Demon stone doesn't set out to be one of the RPGs "faithful" to the D&D ruleset, and if your looking to take your Fighter(3)/Ranger(2)/Rogue(5) through the Sunless Citadel to find your +1 longswords, your going to be bitterly disappointing.

Demon Stone is very much in the mould of the Lord of the Rings games, The Two Towers and Return Of The King. Same developer, same engine, different setting.

Just like the previous two games, Demon stone is an extremely playable and phenomenally pretty button masher. Unlike them, however, it has something else on its side: Story.

Its written by R.A. Salvatore and, without giving spoilers, its quite good. Salvatore's works are known for memorable characters and vivid action sequences, wrapped together with a charismatic plot. And thats exactly what Demonstone feels like.

Unlike most games, I can name off the top of my head all of the characters in Demonstone, and say who my favourite was (Illius, if you have to know).

Unlike most games, I felt emotionally involved and inclined to actually defeat the end villain.

Unlike most games, combat is actually fun. Which is lucky, as you do an awful lot of it. A small party of three different characters will be travelling with you and, in most situations, you can switch between each at will. Each is different, fully personalised and with their own strengths and weaknesses. Whilst you will have a "favourite" character, you'll find that you will end up using all three in balance as you tackle different scenarios and situations; one combat is not the same as an other, and a strong sense of the different tactics you can use will be essential for completing the game.

When I bought this, I had just finished rereading the Icewind Dale trilogy. I took it home and whacked it on, and was throughly enjoying myself, rooted to my armchair. Unfortunately, I then encountered the one problem I had with the game; the end. Not necessarily the quality of it (the final few fights are extremely kinetic and cinematic affairs, and the end sequence isn't poor), but where it came. Demonstone took me only around 6-8 hrs to complete, with multiple retries of some levels as I honed the strategy needed to conquer it... Too short, by far. While there is some replayability, I doubt most players will be inclined to, and the game lacks the variety of secret levels and character the previous Lord of the Rings games had, for the most devoted gamers to unlock.

Thats the only thing which prevents me awarding this game perfect marks. Voice acting, sound, graphics, direction, story, gameplay... all wonderful. I can think of no game with more cinematic cut-sequences or exciting combat.

To summarise then; this is a Forgotten Realms product. It is NOT a D&D product, and if you expect one, you're going to be disappointed.

The game simply feels like a flawless translation of R.S. Salvatore's work into a different medium. If you've read your Drizzt novels and your Cleric quintet cover to cover, and always wanted a film or computer game version of them, play this because *this* is what it should be like.

8/10 - A quality polished experience, which is over far too quickly.

'Demon Stone' isn't a bad game, but it isn't extremely innovative, original or even very interesting for the matter. Simply put it serves a dish that has been served many times before it and will be served for many, many times more.

As for plot goes 'Demon Stone' comes from the most unoriginal end of the town, with eons ago banished demon gods, trolls and other monsters, lazed up with the all the typical mush writer R.A. Salvatore, who also wrote this one, usually serves in most of his D&D books.

Gameplay is pretty simple run and hack. No thinking required, just run and hack everything you see, and in the end of the level buy some new gear to become even better killing machine. You can freely change between three different characters, in one level you get fourth one, but that is just for that one level. Of course all the characters have different skills: mage, fighter and a thief. Luckily they all differ from one another, so the hacking isn't that monotonous. Besides each level is pretty short and more experienced, and maybe even a bit more inexperienced, will complete 'Demon Stone' in a day or two. If they bother that is, as there are so much better games out there.

As I said, there isn't actually anything in the game that would make it stand out of the mass. And the length of the game really doesn't warrant a full prize tag either. Luckily I got this one in a collection of three other games from a bargain bin. So if you can get it for cheap and don't have anything better to play, try it, but you don't miss a thing if you don't.

I just finished this game, having picked it up almost 12 years after its release.

I absolutely loved it. Like the other reviews say, the atmosphere, characters, music, cut scenes and story are great. The voice actors...OMG the voice actors...!!! Patrick Stewart is amazing as always, and the others are not to be missed. Even with 12-year-old graphics, this game stands the test of time, at least for me.

It's a hack-and-slash, light on combos, but it feels like a lot more. The fight sequences may be repetitive at times, but there are also some encounters that literally made my jaw drop. I wish I could say the end fight was the best, but, while it's good, it's not THE best. So I knocked off a star. (Maybe I shouldn't have...it's hard to compete with the middle!)

I definitely got a sense of a bond being forged between these three unexpected allies. It was great to be able to command three separate characters outside a turn-based game. Zhai reminds me a lot of Bloodrayne, which I don't mind one bit. As for limited character customization, I didn't mind. The characters are already written, and written well. I think in this game, the writing works better than, say, talent trees would.

Yes, it's short. But it's a nice one to revisit, just like re- reading the books.

As for actual replay value, I'm going to go confirm that right now, on a higher difficulty setting. Good thing the original Xbox only came with wired controllers...can't throw them too far, and the first time through was hard enough! :D

Highly recommended. 8 1/2 out of 10.

I bought this game because it had the 'Forgotten Realms' tag and I enjoyed the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games and Demon Stone shares one of the minor characters so I hoped it would be more of the same.

From the opening chapter, I was mightily impressed. Fantastic graphics, powerful sound effects and a grand orchestral score made me think this was going to be awesome - and this section really is. You hack up orcs and trolls, fire catapults, make stealth attacks, dodge dragon's fire, blast enemies with magic... it is literally thunderous.

Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better. As you travel around the realm, the action becomes repetitive and borderline tedious. It's a shame that so much emphasis lies on the action; the effort that has gone into creating different landscapes would work so well in an exploration game. As it is, you don't get to fully appreciate the stunning visuals due to being constantly distracted by the endless barrage of enemies. In particular, The Dragon's Lair section in visually breathtaking and the accompanying music adds an intensity that has so much potential but is never taken advantage of.

This game is well thought out. Characters with individual back stories, retold cleverly in letters, discussions over camp fires and the like lend an epic feel to the proceedings. Which is what makes the following so unforgivable... IT'S TOO SHORT!

The game can be completed in 5-6 hours and is ultimately unrewarding. The chapters are varied certainly (at least graphically) but completion is a big anticlimax.

I see this game as something to keep fans occupied between now and when Baldur's Gate 3 comes out, albeit one that costs you £39.99. This would be more appropriate as a half price game and I'd rate it 6.5 /10.

As I said, if games that have production values as high as this could be channeled into an epic exploration game, their potential would be realized.