The Bard’s Tale by InXile Entertainment is a game that misses greatness but almost demands to be played once it is started. Both serious adventure game and witty send-up of the adventure genre all at the same time, The Bard’s Tale will have players groaning at the dialogue and forgiving the limited combat system as they adventure with the lovable rogue that is the bard.

Don’t mistake this The Bard’s Tale for the home computer game that became so popular in 1985 on the Commodore 64 and Apple II. That game made the leap to consoles in 1990 on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game that is now on the Xbox bears no resemblance to these beyond the name.

This is one game that does not take itself too seriously. From the moment the game case is opened, it starts. At the bottom of the disc is the message, “For A Really Disturbing Image … Flip Disc Over.” Of course when the disc is flipped over the back is the standard mirrored finish and you’re just looking at yourself. (I must admit that after that long Halo 2 link party on Sunday I did look a little disturbing.) Popping the disc into the Xbox continues the irreverent tone. After a cursory character generation sequence, the narrator informs us that Bard’s Tale starts “Elsewhere” and “Not too long ago.” The game does indeed plop our hero down “Elsewhere”, which turns out to be the village of Houton. The Bard heads for the local tavern where the buxom owner enlists his aid to get rid of the rats in her cellar. Our hero dispatches the first small rat with ease, only to find the next rat is three times his own size … and breaths fire. Turns out this is a running joke with the locals and they live to dupe some poor sap into going down into the basement to get his butt barbequed. That is the start and it continues in the same tone throughout the game where the Bard will undertake many large and small quests as he attempts to rescue a beautiful and, more importantly, rich princess.

Early in the game you’ll see barrels sitting around town. As a not-first-time adventurer, I immediately started smashing them looking for items. But there were no items in them. As I further explored Houton, I found the local cooper’s shop and smashed a couple of the barrels he had on display outside his shop. He immediately chastised me and then offered me a bounty for smashing every barrel I could find (other than his) so he could then sell new ones. So while the barrels do not actually contain items to collect, they are worth silver to buy items. This is just one example of the way The Bard’s Tale turns a standard adventure game cliché on its head.

The main characters in the story are the wise-cracking Bard himself, voiced by “The Princess Bride”’s Cary Elwes, and the narrator, played by Tony Jay. The Bard is a rogue in every sense of the word. The only time he does a good deed is when it furthers his own ends. The narrator takes his job quite seriously, but at times can’t quite seem to believe the silly things he has to say. The give and take between these two never quite rises to the level of brilliant repartee, but it is enough to keep even the most jaded RPG player always wanting to get just a little farther in the game to see what will happen next with these two antagonists.

Sadly the gameplay itself does not quite live up to the sly storytelling. As clever as the story is, the game itself is a pretty conventional dungeon crawl to rescue a princess held in a tower. Quite often the side quests just end up being fetch errands.

The combat system has to be the game’s weakest point. The Bard can use a nice variety of both melee and ranged weapons, but the whole combat system consists of a button for executing an attack and a defense button. It is a definite button masher in most fights. If the buttons responded a little faster it might have helped too. And like so many action RPGs, the battles can get a little repetitive.

Magic has been streamlined to quick conjuring either with the right button to summon companions to fight along side the Bard or the left trigger to use magical artifacts. The companion summoning is quite unique, and before the game is over Bard can have up to 16 different magical companions at his command. Each has specific strengths that will come in handy during the quest. They are one of the saving graces of the otherwise limited combat.

As the Bard works his way through the quest he will gain experience that can be used to improve his abilities at fighting and magic, just as in the vast majority of RPGs. A small tip: speak nicely to the dog in Houton and obtain the dog training ability. The little Jack Russell terrier look-alike makes a great adventuring companion.

Graphically The Bard’s Tale is quite good looking but not outstanding. The game uses an overhead camera angle that can be adjusted with the right analog stick. The terrain is nicely varied with enough decorative touches and effects to keep them interesting while limiting the distractions so you don’t feel like you have to look at every rock because it might mean something to the game. The characters move a little stiffly, but we are dealing with a graphics engine that started with Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and is now looking a bit dated.