Steampunk goblins FTW!
Graphics: 10
Sounds: 9
Value: 10
Tilt: 8
Actual score: 8.7
For three hundred years the Kingdom of Ehb had a peaceful existence. Many thanks to the 10th Legion, who once was the most glorious group of soldiers originally hailed from the Far East, fortified here during the war of the Legions. Now the terrible Legion battle is nothing more than a distant memory for the majority of the populace. Yet the story starts off with a simple farmer cultivating the land witnessed his/her friend stumbled across the paddock, nearing death warning that the Krugs are marching in. Oddly you think the Krugs don't attack unless there's something evil lurking behind…maybe history repeating itself? So welcome to the world of Dungeon Siege. Can be classified as an action RPG yet there are many facets that made it game stands proudly among the ever growing action RPG genre.
So come to expect combat will be the cornerstone of this game. That's not going to say that there's no story as the plotline, even though quite overused still engaging enough (more on that later). That said creating the hero is so simple it hurts. You get to choose a male / female, hair colour, style, and some basic cosmetics then boom you're into the game. Yes you are literally started off as a simple farmer with a simple knife. The whole concept about this is to tailor the game to the player. So if you want a fighter, start swinging your weapon; that is the more you swing the more you'll become proficient thus increasing ranks in melee. Likewise a spell caster, the more you cast the more you'll become prominent. So naturally if you want to become the jack-of-all-trades, just swing, shoot and cast away. It really couldn't be any simpler.
Another innovative concept is the idea of controlling multiple characters at once. And I'm not talking about henchmen as when you progress further into the game, you'll get the opportunity to out rightly accept a new hero or pay for their services. So these additions are yours to fully control just like your main hero. You can equip them and set actions (e.g. defend, attack etc) so it's like having another character to control. Actually there is room for seven more. Chris Taylor (the main developer) added another 'special' character – the pack mule. This mule can carry three times any human can carry so it's designed for loot hauling. And there's no stopping how many mules you can muster yet it does take up one character slot.
The general interface looks daunting at first. Yet being a Chris Taylor product, the game slowly introduces you to the additional features. For example approximately twenty minutes into the game you'll come across your first hero for hire. Here it introduces managing multiple party members. There are plenty of hot keys as well so the learning curve is somewhat a little steep in the beginning. Yet a very cool feature is that the camera can pan 360 degrees as well as up and down. Take note though that it does require a lot of RAM for smooth going.
With all these great innovations arrive some potholes. Firstly considering gaining experience bases on actions taken (e.g. swinging a sword) spell casters tends to fall behind later on the game as their spells takes longer to cast than a fighter wielding his/her sword. Granted that each spell book can hold 10 spells but the mage can readily cast only two, unless you pause the game and change spells. Also if a range character has a slow attack speed (for which many bows are) they too will fall behind. Combat mages are worst off as their spells are far too slow to cast therefore you will replace him with another fighter or a pack mule.
My party at full strength was three fighters, one fighter / ranger, one ranger two healers and a mule. So my tactics are the fighters / rangers always aggressive (therefore swinging / shooting at anything) whilst the healers (nature magic) heals the fighters. So all of this are synergised for maximum experience. And like I said before I have no combat mages as the fighters are excellent replacements. Yet beware of the pack mule as there's many-a-time I spend hours searching for this bugger as it tends to take off during combat. And when I say takes off it literally runs off into the sunset and never stops until you control it manually. The reason for this is that it never attacks so if any enemy spots the mule it will chase it down until killed or being killed. I guess you can say the mule is stubborn like a mule…
The overall vistas are a marvel to behold with dramatic landscapes like towering cliffs, cascading waterfalls, deep mines, vast deserts, swamps with floating lilies and even dry ice rising from rocks in the alpines. And my personal favourite is the steam punk goblin caves. Also many places like houses can be entered so it's worth your effect to do so; especially those towers as you'll get to see the entire landscape from above. So you can say the mapping of Dungeon Siege is spot on in glorious 3D (as apposed to isometric that arrives in many action RPGs). This also applies to the characters themselves as when you gain / change equipment as their visuals will change.
To accompany the visuals are the terrific musical scores. Every piece of music certainly suit to the given situation at hand. And because of this really makes the game like viewing a movie so expect enchanting / haunting and uplifting scores. The voice acting even though sounds a little comical is intentional. They are a little over-exaggerated yet never overuse its purpose. Actually it places a smile on my face when I hear a dwarf moan or the barkeep whining about the lack of customers. And lastly the ambiance / combat sounds are spot on. It's a pleasure to hear the shattering sounds of those ice golems when it collapses to the frogs chirping in the swamps.
The single player campaign is quite linear in fashion. There are pockets where you can branch off (and at times awarded with a little surprise) however expect to take around 20 – 30 hrs. Because of the beautiful vistas and terrific character customisation I spend just over 100 hrs as I played the campaign twice. And both times provide me a different experience regardless of its linear fashion. Take note though that the monsters don't respawn even after reload so you can say there will be a 'level cap' eventually.
Yet the game doesn't truly ends as you can bring one of the characters into the multiplayer scene. During multiplayer you can team up to reconquer Ehb or visit the Utraean Peninsula. Yes there's another map for you to explore. The peninsula story is quite simple though as it requires you (and your friends) to collect eight sacred stones and place them on a dais to save the peninsula from destruction. Considering the map is just as large as Ehb you cannot save your progress however the campaign is relatively short (about 2hrs). Yet and because of the large map wandering off the main path can result in great loot and more panoramas to admire!
And just as you thought the two campaigns are not enough, the developers released a modding tool to create more lands, creatures and so forth. One of the most famous mod is the Ultima V remake and true to their word it's an awe-inspiring adventure and remarkably stays true to the original 1985 adventure.
On the surface Dungeon Siege looks like a Diablo clone. Yet this is far from the truth as Chris Taylor yet again bends the action RPG genre. Granted that some of the innovations like controlling multiple characters is not unique (as many of the late 80s to early 90s RPGs are) it's refreshing to see that the game is not a one man's army. Also viewing the game in full 3D with added spices of humour, places Dungeon Siege a class on its own in the ever growing world of action RPGs.