I believe that the title of this Player’s Option paints a decidedly different picture than what is ultimately present. Heroes of Elemental Chaos just seems like a nebulous concept, but Baker and Schwalb are able to make a capsule universe that works perfectly using 4e rules. I believe that the different classes (Sha’ir, Elementalist) can work in a wide variety of campaign settings, while exhibiting a certain difference that makes them wholly different characters than what can normally be found in the Players’ Handbook.
For those that want to make a campaign using Heroes of Elemental Chaos, I believe that there are a considerable amount of monsters that are given life or are otherwise collected here. The descriptions of the elemental princes will provide much fodder for a DM attempting to give a particularly grand scale to their weekly meetings. For those that want to adopt bits and pieces of the Heroes of Elemental Chaos book to their higher-level characters, the title creates a number of different options. The prince of genies holds extreme power, but a character going down that path will not break the game or be overly powerful. I believe that it is the aforementioned completeness and rigorous playtesting of each of the powers, paragon paths, and rewards accruable to players that makes Heroes of Elemental Chaos such a must-have edition for DMs. Keep an eye out for Wizards of the Coast’s additions to the D&D line; I believe that players will be seriously excited whenever their DM can pick up a supplement such as this one.
Rating: 9.0/10
Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of Elemental Chaos (Book) / 2012 Wizards of the Coast / 160 Minutes / http://www.wizards.com