Dragonshard is the first real-time strategy game that takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. With a license that big, the developer Liquid Entertainment could have easily made a generic RTS featuring D&D units, but thankfully they didn't. Although this isn't the first game that has attempted to create a fantasy RPG themed strategy game (we still shiver over the thought of Lords of EverQuest), this is one that truly succeeds in combining the two genres. When we say combine, we mean it. Dragonshard is a game that includes both real-time strategy elements and role-playing elements, and the two work surprisingly well together!

Dragonshard takes place in the land of Eberron, and three factions are trying to obtain the Heart of Siberys, a dragonshard so large that it has unlimited power. The three factions include the Order of Flame, who represent the good; the Lizardfolk who are humanoid lizards who came to be through the transformative powers of the shard; and finally the Umbragen, a dark race that lives in the caves of Eberron. Even though there are three factions, there are only two campaigns, each with seven missions each. Even with both campaigns combined, this is a pretty short game. But the gameplay more than makes up for it.

There are two modes involved. The first is the RTS portion, where you build a base, generate units, and play in the normal RTS fashion. The second involves adventuring with a party into the underground dungeons, searching treasure, and killing monsters for experience and loot. The interesting thing about the RTS portion is the construction, which is very similar games like The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth and the Kohan series. You can't build anywhere on the map, but must instead stay in one fixed location. The catch is, the base is broken up into sixteen plots, grouped into blocks of four. Buildings will produce units, and the buildings can be upgraded to produce more powerful units. The catch is, you need more of the same building in order to upgrade them further. That means, if you only have one dwarf armory, the maximum level dwarf you can have is two. Build a second amory, and you'll be able to reach level 3, and so on, with a maximum level of five. Also take into account that there are also enhancement buildings that can increase a unit's attack, defense, or mana, and you begin to understand the scope of having a good base plan. You can have numerous weak units, a few strong units, or a couple high level units. It is impossible to have everything within one base. This element critically linked to the RPG element of the game, because upgrading requires the experience points gained from killing monsters.

Additionally, units can be upgraded to captain status, which can easily be used to bolster up your army. Simply put, units that are level 2 or above can build up their own squads with underlings of sort. The number of underlings in can command is usually one less than the captain's level, unless an item or building changes things. To build them, you simply leave the captain at the base and a progress bar will automatically appear underneath them. In a minute or two, they'll have their followers. So, all you need are a few captains and you can put together a quite a formidable force.

Other resources include gold and dragonshards, both of which are technically unlimited. Gold can be obtained by picking up loot and treasure across the land or by killing monsters. Otherwise, a small amount of gold will continually trickle in through taxation. Dragonshards will periodically rain down on the surface world, which means that you'll never run out, but it can sometimes feel like forever waiting for shards to fall. Luckily, you can go dungeon crawling to pass the time.