Other than the relatively powerful spells you can cast, combat will require you to drink a lot of potions and Elvish and Dwarven ales to buff your character. Fortunately, the quick access to in-game menus is great. A first person view of your character's body and utility belt is rendered on the touch screen. This utility belt functions as the menu screen. Tapping the various objects on your belt will allow you to access your potions, inventory, game saves, maps, etc. The presentation is pretty crude, but it functions very well.

The monsters that you will encounter are many in number, but few in variety. I do like the fact that they have distinct characteristics, however. Some monsters, like the troll, are big and strong and will knock you backward. Worgs are fast and can attack multiple times. Trackers cloak themselves and teleport away after an attack. Green Slime monsters are tough both in the damage they deal early in the game and the sheer beating they can take. Additionally, if you leave an undefiled corpse on the ground the slime will absorb it and heal itself. Moreover, different weapons and spells will do more damage on some monsters than they will on others. I really like this aspect of the game. It adds complexity to combat, however there aren't that many different kinds of monsters. You will quickly master how to best each beast after just a couple of encounters. It is kind of like the old school Final Fantasy games in that way. Encounters become monotonous and tiresome, rather than being interesting and strategy based.

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Orcs & Elves is a simple dungeon crawler that harkens back to the FPS PC games of old. The graphics, combat, and puzzle elements are crude and uninventive. The game isn't awful, but it isn't very fun either. There are no role-playing features to speak of other than the auto-leveling of your character and the collection of loot. If you really liked Doom, you may like this game because the similarities are numerous. However, if your looking for a deep yet portable RPG for your DS, this is not the one.

By Jonathan Marx
CCC Freelance Writer

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