I played id Software's Orcs & Elves, because I'm a fan of the first-person dungeon crawler genre.

While not the best entry in the genre (for me), Orcs & Elves is a fun, engaging, fairly addictive Nintendo DS title -- especially since you can easily get it on the cheap (less than $15)

Originally a mobile (phone game), the Nintendo DS version shows its legacy roots, in that more content should have been created for the latter version.

That said, I definitely like the map and touch-screen inventory management implementation, and spellcasting on the DS is pretty slick, even if a bit gimmicky.

You can use the touch screen to navigate, but I recommend the directional pad, and the implementation of the NDS bumpers for turning (a shortcoming in other genre implementations), is much appreciated.

I wish there were more art assets for the NDS version -- that part, in particular, seems necessarily skimped on.

Overall, it's a very playable NDS title, and I recommend it for both fans of the genre, and people wanting to get their feet wet with it.

Labels: adventure, Nintendo DS