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PC | Adventure | Dungeon Siege II

Boxart for Dungeon Siege II
Dungeon Siege II 66 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.5
  • SOUND: 3.5
  • CONTROL: 4.0
  • FUN FACTOR 4.5
  • AVG USER SCORE 5.0
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.0
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Review: Dungeon Siege II

Review by Vicious Sid | 08/09/2005 | 00:48:54 AM PST

Dungeon Siege II has a wealth of improvements over its predecessor. But is it better than Diablo II? Yes ...and no.

Let's face it: Diablo II is one hell of a great game. Not only is it absurdly addictive, it single-handedly launched one of the most prolific game genres yet: the stat-pumping action RPG. These games throw time-consuming RPG traditions like plot and character development right out the window, favoring cheap thrills and treasure hunting. In any Diablo derivative, the gameplay invariably boils down to two fundamental concepts: killing and capitalism. The goal is to create the ultimate monster slayer, a character powerful enough to eviscerate armies of high-level monsters in a nanosecond.

Life's a Grind
This formula may be simple, but judging by the sheer number of Diablo clones on the market, it works. PC players have Nox, Arcanum, Sacred, and most recently, Divine Divinity (what a name!). And, of course, Dungeon Siege. Even PS2 players can get in on the addictive action with Champions 2: Return to Arms. This all essentially amounts to one big freakin' cottage industry revolving around a six year-old PC game. It's almost unprecedented--perhaps only Doom can claim a longer, more fanatical following. And the funny thing is, Diablo II (in all its Lord of Destruction-endowed glory) is still king of them all. Does Dungeon Siege II dethrone Diablo II? No. But the good news is that it comes closer than any game yet. Where the first game tried to differentiate itself from the Diablo series, Dungeon Siege II openly embraces its Diablo II lineage. In both the storyline and the gameplay, comparisons to Diablo II are simply unavoidable. Substitute "Sword of Zarameth... with the Worldstone, Dryads for Rogues, and "enchantable... weapons with socketed weapons, and you've pretty much got, well, you know what. This isn't a bad thing at all--Diablo II kicks ass, remember?--but it's a little disappointing that Gas Powered Games didn't stretch itself a little more in the creativity department.

Good, Bad, I'm the Guy with the Mouse
But what Dungeon Siege II lacks in originality, it makes up for with fiendishly obsessive-compulsive gameplay. As you click, kill, loot, click, cast, click, and click, you'll awaken OCD and ADD traits you never knew you had. It's alot like using a bloody, organ-strewn version of Windows, or popping those little plastic packing bubbles. It's senseless and repetitive, but that's part of the charm.

The party element help differentiate Dungeon Siege II from the Diablo games, but it represents a strength and a weakness. It endows players with the ability to cobble together an array of various characters and sidekicks. This, however, has the unfortunate side effect of making battles more chaotic and difficult to manage; if nothing else, Diablo II proved that it's easier to control one character at a time. If you're controlling a larger party, you'll occasionally find that characters get stuck or obstructed.

Online adventures are limited to four players, each of whom can control two sidekicks; it's a shame there isn't an option to play with eight humans and no sidekicks. This is worth noting, as hack-and-slash RPG nuts are going to want to play online with at least eight players in one adventure, the same modest number supported in Diablo II some six years ago. Anything less is, well, a disappointment. In the end, Dungeon Siege II's Gamespy-powered online modes don't even begin to stack up to Diablo II, which had the advantage of Battle.net (Blizzard's sublime, and free, gaming service) and much larger game sizes. This is a shame, but it's by no means a deal-killer.

Click...Click...Click...Click-click...
In these types of games, graphics and sound barely matter--they're essentially empty vessels for more clicks and more compulsive carnage. Nevertheless, Dungeon Siege II shines brightly. Though the textures and models tend to fall to pieces if you zoom in too closely--some surfaces look pixilated and blurry, and polygons frequently pass through each other--the special effects and environments look simply dazzling. They certainly put Diablo II's 2D, 640x480 sprites to shame. Again, this observation is almost beside the point. On the audio side, it's pretty much what you'd expect to find: yelp, thuds, and thwacks, driven along by propulsive bongo beats. That, and some mediocre but inoffensive voice acting.

Diablo II is quite simply a legend, an effortless, elegant condensation of every compulsive act known to man. Dungeon Siege II is a variation on that premise, and an excellent one. But its biggest drawback is that it doesn't have a Battle.net to fall back on. Sure, the new skill tree system (which allows for more character-building flexibility) is a neat twist, and the streamlined inventory system represents a wonderful addition. In short, it's a great game, but it needs a more persistant online community to truly shine.

But it's now clear that Dungeon Siege II is now undeniably one of the action RPG stars. It makes many, many welcome tweaks and improvements--far to many to list here--and is sure to thrill any action RPG fan.

Diablo fans, meanwhile, are likely to play Dungeon Seige II once or twice, enjoy it immensely, and then sheepishly slink right back into Diablo II's infernal claws. Curse you, villian!


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