Dungeon Siege

"Auto-Bordom"

Dungeon Siege is an Action\RPG developed by Gas Powered Games. The term “Diablo Killer” that has been given to this game is unfair for 2 reasons. Firstly because the game is nothing like Diablo in terms of gameplay and secondly because you just can't compare cabbage with pizza!!!

Story: 3/10
Presentation: 1/10

You are an unnamed farmer living and working in your peaceful land when suddenly some creatures begin attacking your village. A wounded friend of yours tells you to go in a certain town to inform someone about what's going on. You go over there, killing stuff all along, you find that man, he says something like, “You should go to the next town, there is something eeeviiil there!”, you go there killing stuff along the way of course… repeat this about 7-9 times and there you go that's all there is to the game. Finally you learn about an evil guy you must kill before he'll go rampart all over the place. The NPCs offer no additional background to the plot or at least the world of Varanas, (if I remember the name correctly). You will found some documents scattered all over the place but these are more boring to read than the actual plot!

Graphics: 7/10
Design: 6/10

I can't really decide if I like DS graphics, while they were top-notch, (I think), when the game came out, I feel that it lacks that special something. Diablo 2 had 2D graphics but it had more detail, better overall design and more variety, but enough with Diablo, why do I thing DS graphics lack something? Let me start from the good things first. There you go, one of the first hack n' slash Action\RPG games in its full three dimensional glory. Great open fields, deep forests full of giant trees and dark, gloomy dungeons and all these full of detail and good textures. The best parts of the game where the areas that had good atmosphere like the snowy areas that where my personal favorite, with snow slowly falling down and a deep mist restraining your view. And unfortunately that's the good stuff end. While good looking DS looks very simple… it just doesn't have that “Wow!” thing expectable in a RPG. For example the first area, a deep good looking forest, with trees as far as the eye can see. Trees, trees, trees, trees, trees… I believe you know what I'm trying to say, the game has good graphic quality but its design is pretty dull. You know that a game doesn't have good level design when you get happy just by seeing a single bridge! Yes folks, bridges are probably as far as you go in terms of imagination\uniqueness and that's a bad thing. The same goes for dungeons, caverns and everything else in the game, all look good but not so good as you'd want them to be. Secondly the characters all look like commoners, no not the NPC's, your hero and the various heroes you'll meet along the way. All look very boring and nowhere near the female warrior used for advertising the game. Also the special effects are a bit… I don't know, maybe too insignificant… the fireball is just a red ball, the thunderbolt just 3-4 shiny lines and the explosions are very simple. At least the game has decent lighting effects.

Sound: 5/10
Music: 5.5/10

The good thing about the sound quality of DS is the fact that it isn't irritating. The bad thing is the fact that it is totally forgettable. Sound effects in this game means repetitive metal clanging sounds and a few typical magic sounds and that's about it, nothing really special. The ambient effects are almost absent and in a game like this, that is a bad thing. What's the point of traveling in a 3D fantasy world that is almost empty of decent sound and overall atmosphere? The music in DS is of the same quality, something equally bad for my gaming tastes at least. While the main theme is a quite good epic tune the rest of the game's music has nothing special.

Gameplay: 4/10
Replay Value: 2/10

Ok, so you've been waiting for the next Diablo wannabe in order to have some good ol' hack n' slash fun. Then came Dungeon Siege out of nowhere with critics praising it like crazy with titles like, “Diablo Killer”, “One of the Best Games Of The Year” and stuff like that. As always my “Hype Detector” get crazy in these situations. First of all DS isn't nothing like Diablo… yes, it is mainly a pure Action\RPG game but there are some major differences that may annoy some people. You won't rely in your UBER character here, but in a group of heroes of various classes that you will hire while traveling. You control this group with the mouse, just like in every game of similar gameplay but you can also select some of them and command them like you would do in a strategy. These sound good and all but the problem is that the game wasn't build for you to play it but to watch it being played by itself. You see controlling a whole group of heroes can become a real problem so there are a lot of automations in the AI of your characters. You see a bunch of evil folk ahead, you simply command your buddies to go there and kick their goblin a$$es and that's it everything will be ok without your intervention. While your buddies fight, you can command them to drink a healing potion, but that is also done automatically when they get hurt a lot, the only difference is that you can use the potions a bit sooner than normal. You can assign formations but there isn't any real deal of strategic thinking here, just put the fighters front and the healers and ranged attackers behind. There are tons of commands and various settings available but after some time I got tired of trying to do something while my heroes where fighting because there was absolutely no reason for me to do so, not to mention that the battles are so fast that sometimes you just can't!!!

On the bright side, there are some nice stuff in the game, being able use 8 heroes in a game that is a mix of Diablo and a strategy game is something good. Also your choose the class of your heroes by the way you use them! You use bows a lot, you become a skilled archer, you use spells, (2 kinds of them), you become a mage and so on. But is that enough? Your fighters and archers just fight, your mages heal, attack, buff and summon familiars and that's it! There are no special skills you can use. Another problem is that battles are all pretty similar. You see an enemy, you go to him, you kill him, that's it! No special strategy or skills needed, just keep you healers healin and your fighters fightin. The game is also veeery linear. When I first started the game I has the feeling I could go everywhere I wanted but soon I realized that my hero was like a train on trails. I don't exaggerate when I say that this is one of the most linear RPG games of all time. As for the quests, just follow the only path available killing all the stuff on your path to go on! There might be some sort of the typical “fetch that item” quests but I only remember 2 of them that where of no importance. One final note that at least is good news, is the fact that there are no loading screens between areas! After the game starts you won't see a single loading screen whether you see or cancel a cutscene or kill a boss and enter a new area.

Positives:
-You can have a party of 8 people all with different equipment and class
-You gain experience in your skills by using them
-Good graphics
-No loading screens

Negatives:
-Repetitive gameplay
-Very linear world design
-Extremely automated
-It could had a bit more variety and better level design
-Extremely boring plot
-Forgettable sound effects and music

Also Play:
-Baldur's Gate (PC)
-Baldur's Gate 2 (PC)
-Dungeon Siege 2 (PC)
-Neverwinter Nights (PC)
-Neverwinter Nights 2(PC)

Overall: 4.2/10

Yes the score is low, yes the game isn't good, but I enjoyed it for 2 hours or something. Also many people find it excellent. I like being fair in my reviews by giving my honest opinion but I also like to make people understand if this game is or isn't for them. I am not a great fun of the Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights series and seeing how similar they are with this game I think that the people who liked these games might like Dungeon Siege also, but just remember that the games mentioned are far superior… as for the rest of you, avoid it and play Diablo 2 or something.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 05/12/09

Game Release: Dungeon Siege (US, 03/31/02)