There aren't many properties that come with the built in legacy of Dungeons and Dragons, but that legacy is also a double-edged sword. There's a certain stigma that the series is just too nerdy and your average gamer won't touch it. With the newly released fourth edition complete with more streamlined rules, the creators are looking to put an end to the stigma and make the series cool again. Part of that re-imagining of the series includes Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale, a new action RPG that takes a brand new look at the world; unfortunately though, that look seems to be made through beer goggles. Not only does the game look like it's from the last generation, it's also a flawed and bug filled experience that bares almost no resemblance to the source material.

Developed by Bedlam games and published by Atari, Daggerdale features a simplified version of a classic Dungeons and Dragons plot. Using one of four pre-created heroes (the human fighter, the elven rouge, dwarven cleric or halfling wizard), players are tasked with ending the reign of Rezlus, an evil tyrant by storming and raiding his tower. Though the quest will span four areas, each with a series of side quests, Daggerdale is not a lengthy game, as it should take most players no more than six hours to beat the game with 100% completion. Sure, it's only a $15 game, but it's still relatively short for the fantasy/RPG genre.

"...go into an area, smack the crap out of some monsters until they turn into treasure, repeat."

The core mechanics of Daggerdale can best be described as a hack and slash adventure game with a fantasy RPG overcoat. Each character has six or so special attacks that are mapped cleverly enough. As you level your character up, you gain access to the ability to charge these attacks up, making for a bit of a change from the monotony of normal attacks, but the majority of the action still boils down a rather simple and dull format - go into an area, smack the crap out of some monsters until they turn into treasure, repeat.

Undoubtedly the most frustrating aspect of Daggerdale is just how obviously unfinished it is. Never mind the fact that the game looks like it was made from the last console generation, it's also filled with game crippling bugs that no game should be released with. So I'm battling a rather large group of enemies, when they mysteriously just vanished, only to reappear seconds later, but at a completely different spot on the map. That's really just the beginning of it too; NPCs frequently walk through walls and pieces of the environment and randomly gain the ability to float around the screen. Seriously.

The worst bug of the entire game though is also the most crippling. Often when you're about to load into a new area your character will freeze, but the rest of the game won't, leaving him or her open to be wailed on by enemies until the game decides it's time to fully load. This is the exact reason why developers hire Quality Assurance testers, to prevent frustrating and embarrassing bugs like this from happening.

"There are bad games and then there are terrible games; Daggerdale rests firmly with the latter."

Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale features multiplayer for up to three people, but it too suffers from the same crippling issues that the single player does. They say misery loves company, and perhaps you'll get a bit more enjoyment from playing with friends – but if you're asking them to play this game, It's not likely you'll have friends for long.

There are bad games and then there are terrible games; Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale rests firmly with the latter. It's cheap, it's not fun to play and most important of all, it's broken beyond belief. Sure, a patch can fix it, but it's almost insulting that the developers would release it like this in the first place. Daggerdale is not only a terrible game, but a terrible raping of a license that's sure to piss off long time fans.