Rating: 
Summary: Well..... a promising start.
Review: Ok.. Yes this game has a few drawbacks. I have to admit I am disappointed, knowing that some of the creators of the old Gold Box SSI games were involved in the production, I expected the next generation of DQK (Dark Queen of Krynn, the last Gold Box game produced for single players.) in this package. I liked this one AS well as I liked Baldurs Gate, and BG2. I still think the gold box games hold the championship title. Neverwinter Nights.. the original.. being the king of all RPG's to date, and STILL unequaled in being just plain fun to play. Hear that game creators? FUN TO PLAY...what a concept huh? Not "WORK" to play, not a "Virtual Life", nor a part time job. Just a game that is fun to play. My kingdom for a game that is fun to play. Geez. Why is this genre getting worse as technology improves rather than better?Pool of Radiance is worth checking out. I know the people who created it can do better. I hope this is the beginning of a long line of great titles from these folks.
Problems are:
1.. Game interface leaves a great deal to be desired. I hope they consider going back to the different screens ie.. movement vs. combat. The mechanics of mouse clicking and movement are cumbersome and awkward. Don't be afraid to use the keyboard though. 2.. There are bugs in this thing that should not have been overlooked, hopefully they have patched it by now. 3.. Graphics could be alot better. All in all I say buy it. The storyline is good. It will keep you entertained for a few hours.
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: Not half bad.
Review: Dispite some of the reviews which nearly had me believing this game was not worth buying, it is a very good game. You need the tutorial if you are not familiar with RPG's but if you work with the interface you can figure it out on your own. Although your skills and feats are picked for you, they are apropriate for your given class. No stealthy paladins or witty barbarians like I had originally thought. Attributes are not rolled(which I personally don't like anyway) but chosen by you. You get a limited number of bonus points and you have to distribute them wisely your self. Unlike Baldur's Gate where you usually rolled a weak roll and had a very limited number of points to spend you then rolled a weekend away and gave up. In this game it's much better. Your bonuses for certain attributes are clearly given and in the manual you can find all the info on a given attribute, not just a vague discription.
They gameplay is also good but the interface can give you carpel tunnel syndrom. In combat you must right-click on your characters to give special orders and sometimes you cannot click on the right one until thier time is up. This can usually be solved by spreading everyone out. I usually put one fighter in front of a monster(S) and one beside, not both in front like they always tell you in these games. Monsters won't go after your mages until they finish with your fighters who are attacking them(usually). Attack the attacker.
Graphics are gorgious and so is the sound. Despite what people are saying, I like the sound, the ambience is very good and the music isn't that bad. The magic effects are beautifully rendered(with the proper graphics card). Hotkeys would have been nice for these extra features like special attacks and magic.
The character to NPC interaction is also very good, the voice acting is not that great but not heard much either so it's not a problem. Your responses/questions to certain things affect how people treat you, however this is mostly an action RPG and fighting and exploring are your prime concerns. No spending all day in towne saying "heya, it's mee, Imoen!-wanna buy-a duck?!"
Rating: 
Summary: ZERO Stars!
Review: This game is the biggest disappointment I've ever seen, and being an avid fan of the Gold Box series, it doubly hurts. Beware at your own risk if you buy this one. And don't even try if you are running 2000/XP. According to Ubi Soft, these are "Business" operating systems, and we should not expect to run their games on a business operating system. But I was asking them about XP Home? Last I checked, that wasn't considered by Micro$oft to be a business operating system. It's this arrogance and negligence by Ubi Soft that will convince me never to buy another game from them again. Anybody want an opened, unused version of POR?
Rating:
Summary: Dont waste your time
Review: After playing all versions of Baldurs Gate, I thought I was good to go with Pool of Radiance. What a mistake!...Besides all the bugs, the game is virtually impossible to get into. Save your money!
Rating:
Summary: A true disappointment
Review: The game is so buggy, the box crawls on its own. After purchasing the game and investing about 20 hours or so, a bug halted my progress. UbiSoft has released a patch for this particular bug, but the patch is not retroactive; I'd have to start over, with no guarantee that it's truly fixed, and negotiate around the myriad other bugs within the game. To put it bluntly, it's no Baldur's Gate II. It's a dungeon crawl, and not a very exciting one at that. The only real benefit to playing it is the eye-candy provided by the spell system and by the richly detailed backgrounds - even with this, though, the game isn't worth playing at this point.
Rating:
Summary: A nice paperweight!
Review: Actually it's not that heavy, so it's not a good paperweight. 0 stars! I think everyone else summed up most the flaws pretty well.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't stop playing
Review: I don't know what these people who are being so negative are playing. I loved the original one (in EGA graphics), and I've been a fan of RPGs since Ultima I on the Apple IIe. I'm not easy to please in RPGs, but I give the game 5 stars because: 1. It's a lot of fun to play
2. There is so much to explore and conquer.
3. The graphics are awesome, the sound is too I could write more and address some of the negative comments, but for ... the game speaks for itself! I bought it at the mall for ... You have to buy the guide, though, to keep yourself sane.
Rating:
Summary: if you like action, keep looking...
Review: I'll keep it short and sweet...if you've played any other strategy games with battle-oriented sequences, this one will quickly become tedious and boring. The manner in which the turn-based fighting scenes are structured are maddening. NPC interaction is silly, and movement from place to place is poorly implemented. For more fun, go to Baldurs Gate II or something like that. This game is beautiful to look at, but that is really it's only redeeming quality.
Rating:
Summary: Very Few Redeeming Qualities
Review: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor was, unfortunately, a somewhat disappointing game. Tales continually fly left and right of one bug after another, some so serious that some people's entire operating systems were damaged or destroyed by various installation and uninstallation glitches, as well as many other minor to severe problems. Looking past the bugs, though, still reveals a lackluster game. Very few elements of the game were implemented satisfactorily, and none of them were character creation. People familiar wtih AD&D will most likely be at least a little bit saddened to find that they cannot play as bards, wizards (only the sorceror kit is available), or druids, as well as having the entire race of gnome closed to them. People unfamiliar with traditional AD&D, though, will still find that every cleric tends to look like every other cleric, just as every fighter tends to look like every other fighter and so on--characters simply aren't given enough variance to look or feel distinct, which will suck a lot of the joy out of this game for those players who delight in party creation. In gameplay, Pool of Radiance continues to prove sub-par. For most of the game, there is very little variety in monster encounters. Most of the game will be spent fighting orcs, skeletons, and zombies. One fight looks and feels like another very quickly. Furthermore, character advancement and plot development is so painstakingly slow that most players will probably feel like they are getting nowhere after hours of gameply. A new element of the plot or a character level-up probably happens an average of once per 5 to 7 hours of gameply. The character development is aided somewhat by the generous amount of fair to very nice treasure scattered about. You may not gain a level after 4 hours of gameplay, but you'll almost certainly find a new toy to give to one of your characters. As would be expected, though, most treasure is not suited to your party, and unfortunately the money obtained from selling them is almost meaningless in this game--shops are few and far between and hold very few items worth buying. Pool of Radiance is not without its pros, though. The battle system--while sometimes repetetive in content, is well thought-out and developed. A battle is like a well-played game of chess, and with plenty of time available to consider one's moves and how much risk to take. Graphically, the spell animations are some of the best around in an AD&D game, although the backgrounds in the game are somewhat monotone, very repetetive, and quite uncreative and uninspired. Expect to see a lot of drab, brown hallways. It is true that this game may well appeal to some gamers who understand patience and can see it through to the end. Combat will be enjoyable to the select few who have the patience to see the many repetetive and time-consuming fights through to the tactical masterpieces that lie between them. All things said, though, this game is not truly recommendable. Your money would likely be better spent elsewhere.
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