Eragon (DS)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.4 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Greg Mueller
• Reviewed on: 12/13/2006
• Released on: 11/14/2006
• Originally published on GameSpot: Eragon (DS) Review

As the biggest fantasy epic to hit the box office this holiday season, it's not surprising that Eragon has already spawned a video game adaptation for just about every platform on the market. Of these, the Eragon for the Nintendo DS is easily one of the best. It's a simple action adventure game with some platforming elements and touch-screen control gimmicks, but Eragon also has good graphics, a simple but effective combat system, and an impressively large world to explore. It won't change the way you think about the book or the movie, but Eragon is a surprisingly enjoyable game while it lasts.

As the story goes, the world of Alagaesia was once full of dragons and the special warriors who commanded them, known as dragon riders. But an evil tyrant decided that the dragon riders were standing between him and total world dominance, so he killed off most of the dragon riders and dragons. Eragon is a young farmer who finds a mysterious blue stone in the woods one day. Taking it home, he finds out that it's not a stone, but a dragon egg. The dragon hatches, and Eragon soon finds out that he has a mysterious bond with the magic beast, and that he has been chosen to become a dragon rider. It's up to Eragon to save the world from the forces of evil.

You control Eragon and you have to fight your way through five large areas, killing enemies, solving puzzles, and completing side quests. For most of the game you'll wander through the mazelike levels fighting two or three enemies at a time. Eragon has both a sword and a bow, each of which get stronger as you use them. For melee combat you have a quick attack and a slower, stronger attack. You can string these moves together to perform combos, and as you become more proficient with your sword you'll learn new combos. The combat is made easier by the targeting system, which lets you lock on to an enemy and then circle-strafe around him. While you're locked on, you can tap the R button and any direction on the D pad to roll and tumble out of the way of enemy attacks. This makes it easy to dodge and counter, and unless you're up against several enemies at a time you don't have to worry about getting hurt. You can even use the same dodge-and-strike technique to easily finish off most of the handful of bosses in the game.

In addition to basic melee combat, you can attack with your bow. You have a limited number of arrows, but since the bow isn't very useful you'll always seem to have more than enough arrows on hand. To use the bow you have to tap an icon on the touch screen to enter first-person mode. You can then aim with the D pad, face buttons, or touch screen, and fire arrows with the L or R buttons. The problem is you can't move at all while using your bow, and if you get close enough to actually be within firing range of an enemy it will just rush you and start attacking before you can finish it off with your arrows.

Since Eragon is a dragon rider, he's able to use magic. Eragon will eventually learn a few magic spells, although only a couple of them are ever actually useful. There are a couple of spots in the game where you have to use a spell, such as a harden spell that will steady a wobbly bridge, or a bolt spell that will clear debris from a switch you need to hit. For the most part, though, you'll want to use magic as little as possible, because it's a pain to cast a spell. To cast a spell, you start by drawing a symbol on the lower screen. If you draw the symbol correctly a small spell icon will appear, which you have to touch with the stylus and "flick" toward the top screen to execute the spell. It's a cumbersome interface that just doesn't work well when you're in the midst of combat. You can activate "Spellcast time," which slows time for a few seconds to let you get your spell off, but it doesn't make the process any less of a hassle. To make this control mechanic even worse, the touch screen is often unresponsive, so it either won't recognize the symbol you draw, or it will incorrectly interpret your scribblings and you'll end up casting the wrong spell.

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