TIME Top 10 Video Games 2003: Temple of Elemental Evil

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Remember Dungeons & Dragons, that game for anyone who was too smart for his own good in high school and didn't have a date on Friday night? Time was you needed a pencil, books of character information, a sturdy imagination, similarly afflicted friends and the ever-present 20-sided dice to play the game.

Not anymore. Temple of Elemental Evil (PC, $45, Atari) is a computerized homage to one of the best-loved adventure games of all time, enhanced with up-to-date graphics. As with the original, loading up your character (and up to four fellow adventurers) with your choice of spells and skills is almost as fun as the action itself. Your goal for the game depends on these choices: make yourself morally good, and you must rescue a missing elf princess from the eponymous temple; choose the path of the evildoers, and you may end up taking over the place. If Dungeons & Dragons had been this much fun, the geeks would have had a lot more dates.


	NEXT: Simpsons Hit & Run

BY CHRIS TAYLOR

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