Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (PC, 2001)

An old franchise charts new territory with this Ubisoft release of Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. Top on the title's list of features is an employment of the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons system. The game allows several of the new character classes and spells and accounts for many of the new rules defined in the updated core guide books, which were released towards the end of 2000.

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor features a new story set in the campaign world of the Forgotten Realms, which may be familiar to pen-and-paper gamers as well as to veterans of earlier SSI titles. It seems that a newly found Pool of Radiance has become active, deep beneath the ruins of Myth Drannor, and it is having strange and unsettling effects on the good inhabitants of New Phlan. There will be no peace if the ancient dangers that the Pool represents are allowed to grow unchecked.

SSI first brought Advanced Dungeons & Dragons gaming to the home computer in the late 1980s with the release of the original Pool of Radiance. Computer gamers were impressed by the smooth, engaging play while conventional AD&D players relished the title's faithful rendition of the complicated pen-and-paper rules. The game's success encouraged sequels, including Curse of the Azure Bonds and Secret of the Silver Blades which continued the story introduced in the Pool of Radiance.

This 2001 release features an isometric view of 3D rendered characters in hand-designed, interactive environments. Players can create and control up to four characters in a six-character party and guide them through battles and encounters, raising their experience as high as level 16. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor supports single player and multiplayer games, allowing up to six players to take their characters online and adventure together.