PC Review Reviews Gaming Dungeon Siege II

It is all too easy to ridicule certain people. It is inevitable that when a group emerges with actions and appearances different to 'the norm', there will be others around to mercilessly poke fun at them. What about the hippies, starting way back in the 1960’s? But perhaps the biggest specific group of all time to fall victim - excluding the term ‘geek’ as a collective - are the Dungeons and Dragons fans. I mean, how many of us haven’t heard a joke about a ‘Back Door Key of Justice +7’ at some point or another? As much as realism seems to be ‘in vogue’ at the moment, there’s still a wide abundance of gaming titles that make use of elves and goblins, dungeon based combat and wizards with convoluted names. The fact is, this mythical backdrop has suited games astonishing well, pretty much since their bursting into the public eye all those years ago.

As anyone who has played the original Dungeon Siege will tell you, this kind of backdrop offers a fantastic action-RPG experience, rather than the traditional turn-based action of old. Instead, Gas Powered Games brought us a very much action based experience, where the mere click of the mouse button is enough to send your characters winging their way to hacking the next unfortunate little beastie to pieces. And as those original fans will be pleased to hear, nothing much has changed.

For those as yet un-initiated, Dungeon Siege was very much an action based RPG. Having initially created your very own character, you progressed through an action-filled RPG, taking on quests aplenty and teaming up with other like minded AI-controlled adventurers along the way. The biggest challenge was creating yourself a team that complimented each other to such an extent that you became nigh on impossible to defeat. While a group of hulking muscle bound heroes wielding enormous swords may sound quite appealing to some, in Dungeon Siege this scenario was always doomed to failure. You required the right blend of the available ‘types’ (those adept at close-counter scrapping, long range weaponry, magic based attacks and so on) in order to make your way through the game.

As we touched on earlier, the gameplay of Dungeon Siege II has remained largely the same as it's predecessor. Gas Powered Games have sublimely combined the micro-management of a pure RPG like Baldurs Gate, with multitudes of weapons and armour types to make use of, with the pure action based gameplay of that old favourite, Diablo.

Changes have occurred of course, as you’d expect: Technologies have improved a great deal, so why shouldn’t the game itself? First thing to note is that Dungeon Siege II runs on exactly the same engine as its prequel, albeit a vastly tweaked version. Not only have the graphics themselves improved in great abundance, but this time there is a much bigger feeling of consistency due to little or no loading in between areas. As small as this particular improvement sounds in theory, in practice it adds to the game massively. A lack of loading screens means a lack of real reminders that you’re playing a mere game. Therefore, you’re drawn into the experience as a whole, with no game-made pauses for you to scuttle off to make a nice cup of tea.