Games

Dungeon Siege III

Dungeon Siege 3 is an Action RPG that features a large selection of loot, abilities, and the depth of story Square Enix and Obsidian Entertainment are known for creating. You will be able to adventure alone, with a friend, or online. The story takes place in Ehb, where evil reigns and the people turn to the few remaining Legionnaires to save the day. So it is up to you to rebuild the once great Legion and stop Ehb from falling completely into darkness.

I have always been a fan of good RPG dungeon crawlers, from Baldur’s Gate through to Diablo, Sacred and Dungeon Siege which also featured on PSP. However the genre seems to have stuck with the same tried and tested format with little innovation to invigorate it. Dungeon Siege III is a testament to this line of thought, with a simple plot involving the usual story of heroes who must fight against hordes of evil adversaries in order to save the day.

Once the intro has finished you are given the option of starting the game with one of four characters; Lucas Montbarron – youngest son of the Grand Master of the 10^th Legion, who is your basic frontline swordsman; Katarina – the illegitimate daughter of the late Grand Master who is also a Lescanzi (gypsy stylised) witch wielding rifle and shotguns; Reinhart Manx – a legion mage; and Anjali who is an archon, a member of a servant race to the lost creator gods, she can switch between fighting with a spear and using fire in her elemental fire form.

The story in the game isn’t going to blow you away, but merely helps you on your way with the main and many mini quests. As with most games of this genre the emphasis will be on item accumulation. Every foe will have a chance of dropping various pieces of equipment which you can then compare with what you are currently using to see if it is better. As the game and enemies get tougher you will need to make sure you are equipped and levelled up to handle them, if not the game will encourage you to complete side quests in which to grind yourself up to speed.

It took me a while to get into DSIII; I really wanted to enjoy it, but quickly realised that it was simply the same old, same old. However, saying that the game does actually do a reasonable job as a basic dungeon crawler. It’s even better in two player co-op mode. One feature which was a bit different is the ‘stance’ mode; with a simple click of the LB (or L1 on PS3) you can change your form of attack. As an example, Lucas can switch from sword and shield (which is better against tougher single enemies) to 2-handed sword (a plus vs. hordes of weaker ones), whilst Anjali can switch between her humanoid spear wielding form to long range fire elemental form. I quite liked this as it was a novel way to efficiently choose how best to combat any particular enemy without the need to pause the game and reassign your arsenal. Of note, the targeting system for long-ranged attacks will only allow you to shoot at enemies you are pointing towards meaning that you cannot choose a specific individual.

As I mentioned though, the real meat in the game is in the combat and item collection. You can get a little lost in what you’re supposed to be doing even though the game is fairly linear. I was disappointed that they didn’t take a sandbox approach, where the only real options you will get in deviating to other quests are the splits in the paths you travel. One of my big gripes in the game was the camera angles, if you get too close to a wall or object it has a tendency to zoom in and disorientate you, which makes it difficult to scramble for an exit if you are retreating. Firing backwards as you are running is also not an option.

As you start levelling up you will be able to upgrade special abilities and choose skills that are suited to your style of play. The music was a little disappointing; I felt that it didn’t contribute to the atmosphere of the game, making the experience a trifle bland. The graphics were good and fairly standard fare for the genre, although I did like the aesthetics of the creepy haunted mansions, dark caves and ruined castles. I didn’t like the backtracking that you were often required to do, where after each quest you needed to talk to the venerable Odo (former spy of the 10^th Legion) for details of your next mission.

An interesting tack to the online experience is the ability to play both co-op locally and also online at the same time. However there is a flaw to the online mode in that if you decide to drop in on a game and the character you wish to use is already in play you will have to choose another, also your character will be forced to match the level of the player you are joining.

As a whole the game offers a good, but not great, dungeon crawling experience. I enjoyed it but felt it was missing that little extra that makes the difference. You will get plenty out of the game if you enjoy the genre but just don’t be expecting anything grand. Although the game offers plenty of time for the single player experience it is best played with a mate.

7/10

PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360