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Dungeon Siege II

Score: 88%
ESRB: Mature
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Gas Powered Games
Media: CD/4
Players: 1
Genre: Action/ RPG

Graphics & Sound:

Dungeon Siege II, like its predecessor, is a typical “click till they die” action-RPG very much in the vein of Diablo .

Rarely the deepest sort of game, what elevates Dungeon Siege II from the typical dredges of such click fests is the game’s high level of polish, which includes its graphics and audio. Dungeon Siege II builds upon the quality established in the original and brings the various lands in the world of Aranna to life. The environments are detailed, the models have character, and the special effects such as flaming swords and rockslides abound. The game’s sound effects and musical score are equally well made. I don’t usually expect much out of the soundtrack of American made action-RPGs, but Dungeon Siege II offers a fairly high quality product in this department.


Gameplay:

As stated above, the game plays like your standard Diablo style action-RPG. All of your standard RPG systems are in play. Killing monsters, solving quests, gaining experience, leveling up, getting new items and equipment, it’s all in there. Game control is extremely streamlined and consists of little more than moving a cursor around, clicking where you want to go, clicking what you want to attack, and clicking what you want to interact with. Even the game's equipment window and interface is nearly identical to Diablo.

In addition to gaining power purely from leveling up, each character has Diablo and World of Warcraft style skill trees as well. As characters level up, they accrue skill points which are then assigned to whatever special abilities to choose. Certain skills have prerequisites so the same character can be vastly different for different players depending on how you grow them.

There is, however, one major difference between Dungeon Siege II and many games like it. Rather than going it alone with a single character, you can control an entire party when you go into battle. This adds a strategic element to an otherwise fully action based system. You need to make sure your tough warriors are on the front line and your magic users are safe in the back row. You know, typical RPG stuff. If I had to boil it down further, I would say it has the interface and gameplay of Diablo with the party customization and coordinated strategy of a Bioware game like Knights of the Old Republic.


Difficulty:

Like all RPGs, difficulty level in Dungeon Siege II boils down to leveling up and understanding the game’s battle systems. Because neither of these is terribly complicated in Dungeon Siege II, the game is easy enough to play to allow RPG vets to simply pick up, play, and dominate, but even novices will be able to understand how the game works fairly easily.

Game Mechanics:

The story of Dungeon Siege II, like its predecessor, is set in the world of Aranna. Not having played the original, I can’t tell you that the stories are completely unrelated, but they definitely seem separate enough such that playing the original is not a requirement to enjoy the game.

Thousands of years ago, the world was ruled by a tyrant known as Zaramoth. With his fearsome sword and complete control over the world’s supply of magic, he ruled with fear. A hero known as Azunai the Defender led a war against Zaramoth. During the final battle, Zaramoth and Azunai met in battle. However, when their sword and shield met, the world was burned asunder. As the game opens, you play the role of a hero serving in the army of an evil warlord known as Valdis who has somehow come into possession of Zaramoth’s ancient sword.

Dungeon Siege II isn’t a game that will change the rules and doesn’t offer any really new ideas. What it does do is present some tried and true gameplay and delivers it in a highly polished state. RPG fans won’t be disappointed.


-Alucard, GameVortex Communications
AKA Stephen Triche

Minimum System Requirements:



Windows XP, 1.0 Ghz processor, 256MB RAM, Nvidia GeForce/ATI Radeon 7000 or better
 

Test System:



Windows XP Professional, 2.8 Ghz Pentium IV, 1.5 GB RAM, Radeon 9800 video card with 256 MB RAM

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