Temple of Elemental Evil Preview

The guys at GameSpot were lucky enough to get their hands on a pre-beta copy of Temple of Elemental Evil and have written up a preview based upon what they’ve seen so far. Check it out:

This system really seems to come into its own when combat begins. Many of the turn-based battles can be resolved quickly, but when things get tough, the fighting gets very suspenseful, and the game’s wide range of advanced options seem quite welcome. The game starts your characters out at level one and limits their advancement to level 10, so individual party members won’t ever get overwhelmingly powerful, at least not against the fearsome threats you’ll meet. In the early level we played through, there were several encounters that were rather challenging; they rewarded careful use of team tactics and swiftly punished careless mistakes. The combat makes tactics feel important because you’ll see every swing and spell that monsters send your way, and you’ll flinch at the serious damage they might inflict. You might not waste time sneaking into a room to ambush a bunch of zombies, but intelligently handling a big ogre can keep you from having to reload a saved game or see a party member fall in battle.