Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes is a hack and slash video game with RPG elements. It was published by Atari Interactive and developed by the subsidiary's Hunt Valley development studio, exclusively for Xbox in 2003. It is set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe and is playable solo or with up to four players. Players take on the role of four reincarnated heroes brought back to life to fight their former nemesis, a wizard named Kaedin. Gameplay Up to four players can play, each of whom can control one of four characters: a dwarf cleric, an elf wizard, a halfling rogue, and a human fighter. Players can join and quit the game at any time. The characters can be a mixed group of varying levels, and when a character levels up, the player can delay the process of distributing new points and skills until after any current combat or action sequences complete. The game has four difficulty levels: easy, normal, hard, and nightmare, the latter of which can only be played after completing the game on the hard setting. The game also features a large variety of monsters from the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manuals, including red dragons, yuan-tis, and fire giants. Plot One hundred and fifty years before the present, the wizard Kaedin had opened four portals leading to different planes of existence. He harnessed power of the four planes to create "Planar Gems," each with the same power as the planes they came from. He then created a fifth Gem to control the four Planar Gems and entrusted a beholder to protect it. Beholders are long-lived, and this one still protects it to this day. Kaedin became more powerful and malevolent with the four Planar Gems, and conquered town after town. The Kingdom of Baele called for its best and brightest, and four souls answered the call (your characters in the game). They traveled to Kaedin's castle and killed him. As Kaedin died, he cast a final spell that killed the four heroes. With Kaedin dead, the heroes were buried with full honors and the Gems were banished to the planes where they remain. Castle Baele was built over the site of the four portals and Kaedin's body is thrown into an unmarked grave. One hundred and fifty years later, a group of evil clerics sought to channel the dead wizard's power, but Kaedin revived and killed them all.