Windows

Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna

Overall though, I immensely enjoyed playing this game. According to Mad Doc, the Dungeon Siege tools are quite easy to work with and offer plenty of creative freedom. They also had a lot of help from Gas Powered Games. Not only have they done the franchise proud, they have in many ways succeeded in besting the original. Good job, guys!

Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna is certainly a worthy addition to the Dungeon Siege series and will keep seasoned players of the game happy until Dungeon Siege 2 finally arrives. Whilst the main plot of the game hasn't changed, the new additions to the game, interface changes and extra spells, AI tweaks etc., are certainly most welcome. The price may seem a little steep for an expansion pack but it's great to see that those who never played Dungeon Siege can just buy Legends of Aranna and enjoy not only the expansion but the original game as well. Personally I think the ability to play through the original Dungeon Siege with all the extras that the expansion offers is excellent and has made me want to play through the whole game again.

Vasen zu Klump schlagen, Waffen und Rüstungen einkaufen, Mana- und Heiltränke leer süffeln, Fertigkeiten entwickeln und zaubern, was das Zeug hält: Dungeon Siege trifft den gleichen Sucht-Nerv wie Diablo 2, nur halt in frei rotierbarem 3D.

If you missed Dungeon Siege when it was released last year, Legends of Aranna (LoA), it’s expansion, is a great value as it comes packed with the original. Dungeon Siege offered lots of whiz-bang in a somewhat stripped down role-playing game (RPG) that you either loved or hated (simply because RPG gamers are rigid in what classifies as an RPG). LoA offers the same whiz-bang with a few new additions that any expansion pack should offer but there is at least one glaring omission and few details that should probably have been free downloads.

The original Dungeon Siege was a hard sell for me. It was initially spectacular and drew me into a rich and detailed world. Legends of Aranna doesn't really change that core premise but simply offers more of the same. I commend the designers for overhauling the interface and adding plenty of cool features that I expect to see replicated in just about every other RPG to come out after this. The biggest thing Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna has going for it is sheer value. With a huge core game and a substantial expansion pack all bundled together for about $30 you won't find a greater RPG bang for your buck. It's definitely worth checking out and will certainly keep you busy until Dungeon Siege II releases later this year.

En als kers op de taart krijg je bij deze uitbreiding ook het originele Dungeon Siege bijgeleverd, waardoor je voor een bescheiden prijs meer dan 50 uur hack&slashen in huis haalt. Legends of Aranna is een prima uitbreiding die zowel voor nieuwkomers als veteranen heel wat in huis heeft.

Although Dungeon Siege II is still a ways away, Legends of Aranna is almost a full-fledged sequel in its own right. Not only do you get the full original game, but you also get a new campaign with a more than respectable amount of game time, new spells, treasures, monsters, and improved interface options. It may be "only" an expansion pack, but it's also one of the best bargains of the year.

Getting in and adventuring in double-quick time was a highpoint of the Dungeon Siege experience, and the Legends of Aranna expansion pack doesn’t add a single wrinkle to the silk-smooth hacking and slashing. A new kit has been added, along with new weapons, new enemies, and dazzling new environments, but developer Mad Doc (standing in for paterfamilias Gas Powered Games) has wisely stuck to the franchise’s winning formula.

Die Spielmechanik hat sich im Vergleich zu Dungeon Siege nicht weiterentwickelt: Aufgrund der makellosen KI agieren die Mistreiter selbstständig so gut, dass Sie kaum in die anspruchslosen Kämpfe eingreifen müssen. Das langweilt auf Dauer, auch wenn detaillierte Landschaftsgrafik und hübsche Zaubereffekte zum Zuschauen einladen. Fair von Microsoft: Die DVD-Box enthält neben dem Addon auch das Originalspiel - ohne Aufpreis.

Legends of Aranna reprend trait pour trait les caractéristiques de Dungeon Siege : de l'action, des sorts, tout plein d'objets à trouver pour vos personnages... La nouvelle campagne vous fera visiter des lieux inédits abondants de nouveaux objets et de monstres inconnus. On retrouve dans cette extension ce qui a fait le succès du titre de Microsoft. Bon, les nouveautés ne sont pas légion et c'est un peu répétitif, mais ça reste agréable à jouer. Et puis comme le jeu original est inclus dans la boîte, pourquoi s'en priver ?

Dungeon Siege fans that are just looking for another land to run through in order to slaughter masses of maddened monsters will find exactly what they're looking for. Legends of Aranna doesn't add enough new content or new ideas to mark it as a good expansion, but doesn't skimp enough to really call foul and give the developers the finger either. The game still looks good (though not as good compared to other titles nowadays), but that's just not enough to vault it past being an average gameplay experience. The story and voicework in the game don't really help the situation either. The problem is, you can see the potential just sitting there, but somehow it seems hopelessly beyond reach, behind some indestructible bars. Hopefully Gas Powered Games will be able to break the lock with Dungeon Siege II.

Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna is indeed a worthwhile title for its expansion price, having the original title included along with it. The most effort has obviously been placed in the visual side of the game, but LoA expands on several other areas as well. It has a few other issues that will, sadly, never be addressed without much complaint from the community, but they can easily be ignored with the flick of a switch. It is definitely a title that is good for a good dungeon romp and stress relief due to the mindless combat, but if you're looking for something with a bit more substance, then I would recommend you look elsewhere. Dungeon Siege to me has always appeared as a one trick pony, and in this case, the graphics are its one trick. While stunning, they aren't enough to warrant long-term game play for the more hardcore group of RPGers.

Legenfs of Aranna n'apporte pas de grosses innovations à Dungeon Siege. Malgré les nouveaux objets, sorts et monstres, un goût de déjà-vu plane sur ce titre. On aurait préféré quelque chose de plus croustillant à se mettre sous la dent.

Ich mochte schon das Hauptprogramm, wenngleich es bestimmt nicht zu meinen absoluten Highlights zählt. Dazu ist mir das Spiel einfach zu linear und simpel gestrickt. Die Story aus dem Ramschliteraturregal ruft bei mir außerdem eher ein paar schmunzelnde Gähner denn Spannung hervor. Trotzdem haben die Jungs von Mad Cat Software ihre Sache gut gemacht und eine mehr als solide Erweiterung auf den Markt gebracht, die mit sinnvollen Ergänzungen sogar eine Steigerung gegenüber dem Original darstellt. Beim nächsten Mal würde ich mir aber trotzdem noch eine Upgrade-Möglichkeit für Besitzer des Originals wünschen. Den Spieler zum doppelten Kauf ein- und desselben Spiels zu nötigen ist in meinen Augen unverschämt und grenzt an Abzocke.

Put it all together, and Legends turns out to be an exercise in tedium. There are whole stretches of the game when you're just steamrolling through monsters, smashing boxes, and then moving on to the next room so you can kill more of the same monsters and smash even more boxes. Repeat this about 20 or 30 times per chapter, and it begins to feel more like Dungeon Crawl rather than Dungeon Siege. Couple this with the game's frustrating hardware problems, and this is an expansion that you're better off skipping. Instead, we recommend that you wait for some of the promising mods that are being developed by the Dungeon Siege community, or you can just wait for Dungeon Siege II and hope that the next time around the gameplay will have more to offer.