If
Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm had pretended to be some deep action/adventure/RPG like
Deus Ex, it would have been a failed experiment. Instead, Treyarch’s little adventure has a little fun with itself. You take the role of Aeowyn the Sorceress or Cynric the Warrior, out to save the world. Yadda, yadda. The plot is hackeneyed, leading you from one fetch-quest to another, but that’s not where the game is trying to go. What
Draconus does well is throw you into the thick of entertaining battles and interesting landscapes, letting you roam around levels looking at the pretty scenery and slaughtering monsters. And it’s a damn fine romp. You’ll find yourself busting it up on everything from massive Minotaurs to tiny little goblin-dudes, and you’d be surprised which ones can kick your ass the easiest. One on one combat is always entertaining, with you able to block the enemies’ attacks, and then wail on them with your weapon of choice. The game gets a little spotty when it comes to multiple enemies, though, as the action seems to mainly favor the enemy wailing on you. I found that playing with Cynric made it somewhat easier, as I could just pound the attack button until all but one baddie died, and then switch back to strategic combat. Not the best solution, mind you, but one that worked.
As you play the game, you’ll be sent on mini-quests in each map. Save X, get Y, bring to Z. They appear on your map as red X’s when you haven’t completed them, and green X’s when you have. This way, you can always keep track of where you’re going and what you’re doing. And since you can’t actually ‘save’ but between levels, the game lets you place a Mark, which is basically a quick-save that disappears when you turn the power off. This is -insanely- handy, and I recommend this sort of thing to any game designer that can’t afford a true save-anywhere feature.