Dungeon Siege
by Microsoft
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Video Game Reviews of Dungeon Siege
Customer Review: The best thing about Dungeon Siege? Lazarus
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me start with the plus side. This game is absolutely and entirely beautiful. The 3-D rendering is flawless and exquisite. The highly flexible camera angles also give you advantages in different combat situations. There is a large variety of weapons, armor and magical items available. (I'm not sure this is good. I found sorting through all of them and picking the best a bit bewildering at times.)
You fight an interesting variety of enemies, both in appearance and abilities.
Although it annoys some people, I like the character class system. Although different characters start with different ability levels, they basically become whatever you train them to be. If you want a soldier, have your character fight almost exclusively with melee weapons. If you want an archer, let her stick to her bow. You can also have a character develop his skills evenly across the board (but I suspect in practice this isn't a good idea).
If you want a quick summary, this game is like a highly developed Diablo with multiple characters. I didn't enjoy Diablo much because, although the combat system is well-developed and there is a great diversity in the type of foes you face, there is almost no coherent storyline. The same criticism applies to this game. Whacking monsters just for the sake of violence gets dull after a while.
The real reason I bought this game is for the Ultima V - Lazarus project based on the Dungeon Siege engine. Since I got that up and running I've been playing it all the time. That is a fabulous game that combines the best aspects of both the old (as in 1988) Ultima V and the more recent Dungeon Siege. It has an intricate and engaging story, beautiful graphics, fun monster-bashing and all kinds of other fun stuff.
Should you buy Dungeon Siege? Yes. Then immediately go download Lazarus and play that adaptation on top of it.
Customer Review: Very Awesome Game
Summary: 4 Stars
I picked this game up at a local store and was a little unsure at first if I was going to like it. I found it easy to play and also incredibly fun. The graphics are awesome and the game play is smooth. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes this sort of game or anyone who is interesting in trying these sorts of games for the first time.Customer Review: Well worth your time
Summary: 4 Stars
The beauty of Dungeon Siege lies in its simplicity. It is not often that you get an RPG which has both a simple user friendly interface and an engine that automatically customises the way you play your character.
Dungeon Siege is the work of Chris Taylor, the genius behind the award winning Total Annihilation. His goal was simple: Create a game that is not riddled with overhwhelming statistics and present a clean and understandable interface that is accessible to all kinds of gamers. And Taylor has succeeded in both areas.
Dungeon Siege simply moves away from the hardcore D3D rule-based RPGs like Neverwinter Nights, Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate etc and instead allows a player to expertise in either Melee, Ranged, Combat Magic or Nature Magic classes. The three essential skills that get affected according to your style of play are Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence. But instead of customising skills manually, you play the character the way you like and the system will automatically enhance your character's skills in that class acordingly. This is an incredible and innovative feature. So if you want to expertise in Swords and Maces, your melee skills and strength evolves. If you want to develop in ranged combat, your dexterity and armor rating gets enhanced. Consequently you are awarded titles like Swordsman, Marksmam, Archmage etc. If you plan to infuse both Melee and Ranged skills you become a Man-at-Arms etc. The combinations are truly staggering. As the main character, you can hire folks, to a maximum of eight, whom you can cutomise to suit your style of play. So a well balanced team should comprise some fighter, ranger and spellcasters. Dabble with the group in any way you like. It's really fun.
You have stores from where you can trade stuff and also have the ability to buy pack mules which carry three times your inventory. Another innovative , and really vital, feature introduced in Dungeon Siege is that you drink potions only as much as you need. This could prove valuable in certain tough-to-beat fights. So if you are a newcomer to the world of RPGs, Dungeon Siege doesn't bog you down with difficult levelling ups. You play in manner that fits your style and consequently have more fun. I think that's what Taylor was looking at. The fun factor. And he has definitely achieved that.
But the game wouldn't have been fun it wasn't impressive to look at and Dungeon Siege has made absolutely sure you don't turn your face away from the screen even for a second. To this day, the graphics are one of a kind. True 3D environments allow you to gaze through the deepest gorges and stare the most vast and forbidding landscapes from a tower. The characters and animation is so well done that you can actually see their outfits appear perfectly distinct and in-sync with what is shown in the inventory. The spell affects are great and myriad enviroments are all distinct and beautiful. In short, this is the best looking game in the RPG genre. I would rate Neverwinter Nights alongside, but this game has true depth and grandeur. For a game of this scope, what is absolutely astonishing is that the game has practically no loading time. Each terrain seamlessly loads up without pausing or breaking the gameplay. Please do me a favour. If you ever come across a bridge, pan your vision so that you see the gorge from above or at an angle. It is breathtaking and a testament to the hardwork and talent of Gas Powered Games.
The music is something that isn't as epic as you would hope. The soundtrack is mainly generic but it serves its purpose. However, there are a few set pieces that are truly outstanding. Almost classical in tune. I was absolutely spellbound, listening to a soft mandolin score while I gazed at the lovely ice capped mountains. I assure you, such moments come quite often and are memorable.
After all the wonderful features that Dungeon Siege has introduced, it cannot but spill out a few disappointments. For one, the story is absolutely ludicrous. Being an RPG, there is no characterisation. Hence you cannot empathise much with any of the NPCs or characters in your group. The game comes with minimal conversation and the voice acting is pretty average. The world of Ehb, though fantastic, is a bit nonsensical in structure. And the gamers who have grown to love the rich D&D rules used in the classic RPGs will sorely miss and get turned off by lack of manually customisable features.
However, the positives far outweight these blemishes. Dungeon Siege is terrific entertainment. It is game that doesn't take itself too seriously but it presents the technology in the most accessible manner possible. Do yourself a favour and check out Dungeon Siege. Have a nice day.
Customer Review: Looks amazing... but suprisingly vacuous
Summary: 3 Stars
So many people have already reviewed this game, I'll keep my comments short. This is the best looking top-down view RPG you're likely to play right now. But under the hood it has tired old RPG mechanics which I lost interest in quite rapidly.
If you can enjoy any RPG regardless of the mechanics or repetititiveness, you will enjoy this game. For me, Dungeon Siege was all style and no substance, and I got bored and never completed it (which is exceptionally rare for me).
Customer Review: Dungeon Siege
Summary: 4 Stars
I played this game for a few days now. It's one of the best fantasy games I played make that one of the best comp games overrall, I got this for my birthday and I was so excited.It starts out with you being a farmer you have to kill enemies and you're given missions in the chapters as you go through the chapters you can get more characters into your fellowship. There are different monsters to defeat in all the different dungeons! Shopping is probably the best part (if you have money of course) I like to make them look buff and awesome! The downside is that the music kind of creeps me out and i get sort of tired of the dungeons get lost now and then run out of health potions, i start to get a little lonely, and i spend an hour or two on something that is kind of worthless, but play it on the weekends! Anyway all in all it's a great game have fun playing it!