Dungeon Siege

"Definitely not Fun-geon Siege."

Gameplay:

First, let me tell you that this game is mainly about combat. That said, the combat is very dull. Most aspects of it are automated. In fact all you really need to do is hit the potion key when need be. Every slash, arrow and magic spell is the same. The animations do not change unless you change spell or weapons. You cannot even excecute special moves or anything. The dungeons although great graphics wise are very long and tedious.

Sound:

During combat the sound is very repetitive. Only hearing the Clink of your melee weapon, the shooting sound of an arrow, or a whistle-like sound of a spell flying. Taking hits spices up the battle a little at first. You'll hear grunts when things get hit. Then you will realize that you are hearing the same basic grunts until the battle ends. The music isn't all that special but it does beat the SFX.

Graphics:

This is the games perhaps only strong point IMO. The character models are great looking. They even change to match what you are wearing. It's also pretty neat to look at the plains and scattered trees or whatever the terrain happens to be below you from high in a tower. The mist effects look really cool too. The spell graphics are decent but not inspiring. By far the coolest effect is when you take a H.U.B. platform to the H.U.B. station. You can see the ground below you moving and then slowly fading to black until you are in a magnificent looking palace where other platforms connect to other regions. The dark dungeons lighting is done pretty nicely.

Control:

The control is self-explanatory. You just have to click on where you want to go, or what you want to attack. Just make sure you have the characters you want to move selected by clicking on their portraits.

Story:

This is an important part of many games. The basic story in this game consists of you ,a farmer, being attacked by evil monsters called the Krug. You then set off on an adventure to try to discover who or what is controlling the Krug. This may seem like a somewhat engrossing story except that that is about all you'll hear of it in the entire game. An NPC might have a tale or two that adds a little spice. Lore books ,books explaining heroes and events in the land, also add a little mood to the game.
Most of the dungeons are just in your path for some reason or another.

Multiplayer:

This can be a bless or a curse depending on how you view it. You can do the normal adventure, or an alternate multiplayer freindly game. The saving function is dumb because it only saves items and every 5 levels or so it gives you a place further on in the game which can be used as a start point. Multiplayer on the MSN Zone isn't all that fun. Games are often passworded and you have to scroll the list for an interesting game. You can't even type in the name to jump right to that game. Assuming you can get in there is an assortment of cheaters that like to kill normal people. It is somewhat fun if you have a group of friends whom you can trust to play fair.

Afterword:

If your adventurous enough to try this game make sure the place has a refund policy in case you need it. I only wish the place I bought it from did.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 05/27/02, Updated 05/27/02