An old-school feeling action-RPG that lets gamers get in and play and do so with easy … gotta love Dungeon Siege III
The gap between action-RPG’s on PC vs. console has closed, not just gotten closer but closed. Want proof? Look no further than Dungeon Siege III from Square Enix and gamers will find a game as deep, engaging and fun ad any Diablo wanna-be, which DSIII is not (a wanna-be folks). The game is fun, easy to engage in and deep with hours of time just waiting to be spent. So what’s the hook, why is Dungeon Siege III so much fun not to mention a joy to play? Let’s take a look.
Gameplay – The more classic dungeon crawling action-RPG fare hits consoles and does so wonderfully. Gamers are provided with a choice of four heroes in the initial story each with their own tale tied around the restoration of the kingdom of Ehb. Actions in gameplay and conversations will impact the overall story arc but it is the action that shines. The action is third-person and ranges from castle and town battles to dungeons (thus the title folks). Fight solo or with up to three friends in online co-op while completing the story in two-player co-op in local mode. Dropping in and out of battle is very arcade reminiscent as the second player can do just that, drop in. The action is driven by the story but it’s enough to move the gamer along in killing many baddies. It’s a hack-n-slash adventure and pure fun to play with hordes of enemies swarming and bright and vivid special attacks and spells going off from a very customizable character.
It’s an action-RPG that takes place from a third-person perspective where gamers can customize their chosen character from arms to armor while tacking the main story, playing with friends and taking on a slew of side-quests. The multiplayer is fun but limiting in one main area; no co-op with same class characters so if jumping in with a buddy be ready to roll as Robin instead of bashing as Batman.
Graphics – Zooming in reveals a surprising amount of detail and each main character sports a unique look. Weapons are unique; the environment is solid with little details thrown in. The animations are smooth and the effects eye popping and pretty, yes pretty. The game looks and plays smooth but it’s not setting new standards in realism as its main goal, being an action-RPG is to take the formula Diablo rocked and make it look better, crisper, sharper and Dungeon Siege does this in spades.
Sound – If it’s got Square Enix on the cover then there’s a good chance the music is solid and so it is here. The background music fits the mood and sounds great and it’s evened out by a cast of less than enthusiastic voice actors. Not bad by any stretch but not fully engaged which is a shame given the dearth of talent doing games, anime, etc these days.
Design – Almost cookie cutter in the single-player campaign with levels to complete, quest to undertake and weapons to customize. The multi-player, online as well as co-op, add variety but there is nothing amazing or new in this overall package. A well designed game that will hook the gamer with its’ addictive and easy to get into gameplay which is an accomplishment in the every evolving, more complicated landscape of console gaming.
Miscellaneous – Ease of use; what this means is how accessible Dungeon Siege III is in that gamers can jump right in with minimal tutorials and ramp up time. Get to hacking and slashing in no time and it’s a ton of fun. Not the best game in any one category but one that captures what gaming is about and that’s the joy of playing.
Overall Dungeon Siege III offers up a very satisfying dungeon crawling action-RPG experience that PC gamers are spoiled with. The sound is solid, controls responsive and overall experience is a lot of fun and when a friend jumps in, all the better. Bottom line is unless you’re a franchise fanatic give this a rental first as the re-playability only goes so far as doing same story with new characters and playing with buddies.
