Rating: 
Summary: How did this game make it out the door?
Review: This game is, without question, one of the worst games I have ever played. I first tried to install it on my Windows 98 computer. When the installation failed and I had to run their uninstall program, somehow it completely hosed my registry and ruined my computer, preventing it from booting up again! Then, when I finally got it working on a Windows 2000 computer, numerous video, sound, and gameplay bugs ruined any sort of enjoyment I was getting out of it. The last straw was when I tried to save the game and the game crashed but also corrupted several of my previous saved games! Even if the game were completely bug free, it's not a very enjoyable game to play. Combat is tedious, characters are not very customizable, and the interface isn't very intuitive. It's certainly no Baldur's Gate or Diablo. It's a shame. I was really looking forward to this game after having spent some happy hours playing the original Pool of Radiance and the subsequent gold-box games many years ago. I really wanted to like Pool of Radiance 2, but believe me, you'd be better off spending your money on something else....
Rating: 
Summary: What a waste of money!
Review: I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the first Pool of Radiance series. It was the first computer game to bring a great PC version of a popular RPG to fruition. I also played the Black Isle/Bioware versions of the AD&D series (Baldur's Gate & Icewind Dale) and loved those games. But this one? I think my review would be censored if I told you what I thought of this game. First of all, the game crashed on installation! Blizzard may be the only software company that releases relatively bug-free PC games these days but how can a software company justify a game with bugs in the installation process?! I've heard that I have it lucky. Some people have had their operation systems wiped out in the installation process. After getting the game to run, I was unimpressed. The graphics are decent but it doesn't have the same atmosphere as the other recent Dungeons & Dragons products. It's a "hack and slash" only game and things such as quests, great storylines and character interaction which made so many of the Dungeons & Dragons games enjoyable are non-existent in this product. The instruction manual is also a poor substitute for an introduction to the new 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. I'm afraid that the more I play this game, the more technical errors I'm going to find. There are already many bugs such as the game crashing when you save it during certain conditions. I can live with a bugged game if it promises to offer great gameplay when it is fixed with patches but this game is a pitiful attempt to live up to some of the great successes the Dungeons and Dragons series has seen with PC games. Don't waste your money. If you're an avid D&D fan, wait until the game price drops and then try it out but I'd recommend Baldur's Gate II as a much better alternative if anyone desires a great RPG game for the PC.
Rating:
Summary: Tragic reworking of old classic
Review: In the words of the immortal bard, "Man, this game [stinks]." All the promised features have been removed, and what is left is less fun that glueing the side of your favourite head to a passing train. Take your copy of P.O.R. and throw it around in the park with a close friend. Deeply dull entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Looks good but play is lacking
Review: This game is ok overall but the play seems slow and the controls
aren't the most intuitive or easy. It looks pretty good but
nothing exceptional here. The character customizability seems to be nonexistant, you just
distribute stat points and pick one of 2-8 character models
depending on the race/class choice you made. Overall it's disappointing, but that's mostly my own fault for
expecting it to have all the classes and races from DnD 3rd
Edition, they left out my favorite (Wizards), and because I
thought the character developement would be more involved.
Rating: 
Summary: Pool Of Radiance , ala 2001
Review: This is not a bad RPG at all. If youre not sure about the 3rd Edition rules , get the cluebook , or do it on your own. Character creation is a little different then the other D&D games out there on the market , but its not hard to get thru , and pretty quick to make a character. The interfaces are pretty good , no blocking off the screen for interaction with NPC's. Combat is pretty straightforward also , very easy to get thru. Having a good well rounded party has made things pretty easy for me to get thru the game so far. Graphics and sounds are good also. Obviously since I just picked up the game today , I cant do a total review , but from what I've played so far , its a decent game to pick up.
Rating:
Summary: Long awaited, huge disappointment
Review: Having seen the advance screen shots of the game 2 years ago at E3 in L.A., I have long awaited the release of Pool of Radiance. I am an avid fan of the original game and series that took us to the Forgotten Realms. To say the graphics aren't stunning would be an understatement for they truly are. That is about the only thing I can say good about the game itself. To describe it best would be Diablo on SLOW MOTION! Everything moves at a snails pace, including combat which is more tedious than it is worth - to boot, the game is mostly combat, little story told within and what is told is rarely spoken and hard to read. To bring up a menu for ANYTHING requires right clicking, then clicking on a subheading, then on the final choice and FINALLY on the monster, character or object you want to do the ability on. Ease of controls is something this game is not. Reading your characters health requires another sub command within a command, etc. Anyone who has played these games before knows that ease of controls is key to enjoying any game. Characters walk slowly everywhere except in combat. You cannot move one character ahead of the party to scout around since you cannot be 10' from the rest it seems. Scrolling on a map only goes as far as the size of your monitor, no farther, despite having uncovered the area from the 'fog' previously. All in all, the controls are horrible. Character generation is extremely limiting despite what the reviews say. There are no bards, no true wizards (only sorcerer), no subclasses within the class like the Third Ed. rules offer (not to mention Baldur's Gate II), no gnomes, no female characters unless an elf-human-or half-elf, lack of a good spell list (only the basics are covered), the average weapons, no ammo to buy for ranged weapons (unlimited supply? Realism counts to some degree now), etc. It is a poor adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Do not be fooled by the graphics alone. The third edition rules are touched on here and there but it is clearly not what any gamers would like or expect. For the first attempt by SSI, UbiSoft and Prima games to enter the D&D universe, it is a poor one at best. Stick with Baldur's Gate II and wait for the expansions in that series. Otherwise, there is Neverwinter Nights next year to look for. What an extreme disappointment this was. After just one day, I am already returning the software. Sad and a true disappointment..
Rating:
Summary: Lots of playing time, little depth, frustrating bugs
Review: Reading through all the reviews, I see no mention of a MAJOR bug that plagues this game that I kindly refer to as "screen-jerky" mode. It reminds me so much of when the old video game screens used to slow down when too many moving characters appeared on the screen. Thats exactly what happens all too often when trying to play this game. Except its worse because when that happens your player controls will not work (going into periodic freeze-unfreeze-freeze-unfreeze) yet the monsters are free to attack your party at will and can damage you without you getting to attack back...until the game switches to a new screen perspective (like one extra monster far away from the party) and/or one of the monsters throws some nasty magic at you. In addition, using a magic item during combat can be VERY difficult. You accumulate a GREAT number of items, scrolls, and potions throughout this game but trying to select one to use in combat has some very serious flaws. For one, when you pull up the item list during combat, the time-clock to take your attack keeps running. The item list is EXTREMELY disorganized too...instead of pulling up a list where several items (and similar items) are grouped together, your whole inventory list of magic is jumbled; for instance if you have three "Potions of Critical Healing" in inventory, when you pull up the list you won't see "Potion of Critical Healing (3)" on the list...instead you will see three single potions on the list, and they will not be listed together, but instead scattered throughout the magic item list. Potions, Wands, Scrolls, and weapons are not grouped together, and by the time you find the item you are looking to use, your time to use it expires and you lose your attack. In addition, unless you are already holding the magic item, you have to activate it TWICE in combat to use it, not only once. It takes one pull of the awful magic menu to equip the item and then you have to select the item AGAIN to use it to target something. And its not always easy to find the item you are using on the second menu popup...instead of having the text change color or become boldfaced, there is only a tiny little "plus" sign next to the item equipped that can be difficult to see when you are in a hurry to get your attack in before your turn runs out. I agree with the reviewers that the play is repetetive but there are enough quests in the game to make a decent story and the interface of the game is not as difficult to get used to as in, say, Wizardry Gold or the later Might and Magic Games (I much prefer computer RPG's in third person perspective). Thats the only reason I give it two stars instead of one. The graphics rival that of Diablo 2 although there is much less interaction between NPC's and the voice sounds are inferior. I agree also that more places to spend your gold would make the game more enjoyable...its hard to make the long treks back to the merchants when you are loaded down with the weight of many items that encumber your characters and impede your movement (which makes a BIG difference during the fighting). There are much better games out there than this one, free of the major flaws mentioned above and more fun to play. I'd only recommend this game to those who are avid RPG game fans who don't want to use their brains too much on a new computer game...I think in a year when the price is halved it would definitely be worth buying. Not now though.
Rating:
Summary: Shame there's not a "0" star rating!
Review: I purchased this game for $4.99 and I would have to say that I really got my moneys worth in annoyance and utter frustration. I have installed the game twice and have the newest patches installed as well. On both occassions the game will tease me with 20-30 hours of game time and then crash when I save. THIS CRASH WILL CORRUPT ALL SAVE FILES AND YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO START FROM SCRATCH OR UNINSTALL!!! The only positive I can say about this game is that I was somewhat happy when I snapped the disk in two. Don't waste your time or money on this garbage.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of a Shame
Review: I remember fondly the time I spent on a C64 working
my way through the original Pool of Radiance. I was
really looking forward to the release of this game-
unfortunately it comes up dry in several areas. I won't
repeat what was said about the lack of variety in character
creation or the agonizingly slow path to leveling other
than to say that review is spot on. The variety of monsters
you encounter is slim, the plot is not really there at all.
Finally, the combat (the meat of this game..) is plodding and
time consuming with very little flash or drama. Bottom line, and I am sorry to say it- unless you're just
between games and have something like "federal prison" type
time on your hands to kill- don't waste the hours of your life
playing PoR.
Rating: 
Summary: Game play is okay but lacks imagination
Review: When I first got this game I was hoping it would be more like the first one, but that was not the case. The graphics are much better, but the game doesn't show variety at all for instance the orcs look the same as some high level monsters. The music in this game for each battle is always the same and becomes boring. Overall if you can get passed the boring then maybe you will enjoy it.
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