The Temple of Elemental Evil (video game)

The Temple of Elemental Evil, a 2003 role-playing video game, was developed by Troika Games and published by Atari. It adapts the classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure of the same name, employing the 3.5 edition rules. This title stands as the sole computer role-playing game set in the Greyhawk campaign setting and was the first video game to incorporate the 3.5 edition rule set.

Released in autumn 2003, the game faced criticism for stability issues and bugs. However, its turn-based tactical combat received widespread praise, often regarded as the most faithful digital representation of the then-current 3.5e tabletop rules.

Players control a party of up to five characters, either custom-made through a 13-step process (with an option for automated assistance) or chosen from pre-made options. All party members must remain within one step of a shared alignment. Up to three non-player character followers can join, and any character may have a familiar or animal companion if their class allows. Each character has a detailed information screen with five tabs—inventory, skills, feats, spells, and abilities—for managing equipment, spell configurations, and attributes. This screen also appears during bartering or looting, but clicking outside the inventory tab ends the interaction. Small character portraits at the screen’s bottom display health bars and status icons for conditions like level drain, blessings, or paralysis.

Control is handled through radial menus. Right-clicking a selected character opens a circular menu; hovering over wedges reveals further options like spells, actions, or items. The main radial menu, encircling the character’s portrait, contains up to six sections based on class abilities, with actions color-coded by type. Skills are used by selecting them from the radial menu—for example, picking a pocket requires choosing Sleight of Hand, then clicking the victim. Dialog skills like Intimidate appear as options with icons during conversations. Skills improve each level based on class and Intelligence.

Combat is turn-based, with characters acting in order of initiative. Each turn allows a move action and a standard action; full-round actions consume both, while free and no actions take negligible time (the latter requiring special circumstances). Players can choose special attacks, spells, or specific combat methods such as defensive casting, no