'Dark Alliance' is a generically ugly and deeply unsatisfying action RPG. The enemy hit detection is suspect and there is an odd delay in the game's responses to not only your inputs but also to your actions. All of this makes it feel like the world of 'Dark Alliance,' and the enemy creatures within it, are barely aware of your presence. And no amount of unlocked attacks or tinkered gear will change that. At game's end, as powered up as I would ever become, an enormous sledgehammer whack to the head might not even get the smallest enemy grunt to turn around. For a game like this (equate this to the 'Diablo' series), you absolutely need to feel powerful. THAT'S the fun of these games. In 'Dark Alliance,' you are never allowed a glimmer of that feeling. Not because the game is difficult, but because the feedback loop is broken. I couldn't tell you if there is a decent story here. I played this with three friends online who talked through all the cutscenes. So, if there is any saving grace in the narrative, I can't be the one to speak to it.

In Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, we return to the moors of Icewind Dale but, unlike many other Wizards of the Coast-branded RPGs, it does so with an action-packed adventure and enemies to eliminate with increasingly exaggerated combos. Aside from a few stumbles with the camera and the not-always-accurate controls, I was pleasantly impressed by the combat system and the excellent level design, made up of traps, secret passages and hordes of increasingly exaggerated opponents. Unfortunately, however, my journey suffered from a certain repetitiveness and sometimes exaggerated grinding that forced me to return several times to arenas I had visited shortly before.