Dungeon Siege
Description official descriptions
Located in the corner of the Aranna continent, the Kingdom of Ehb has recently gained independence following a prolonged war. One day, a small farming community is attacked by a band of wild creatures known as Krug. One of the farmers has to venture to the neighboring town of Stonebridge to seek help. During his travels he finds out that an even greater peril is threatening the land, and must find a way to stop it.
Dungeon Siege is a role-playing game sharing many similarities with Diablo. It is heavily combat-oriented and emphasizes item-gathering and gradual building up of the protagonist for purely battle-related purposes. The game's linear progression is determined by quests that send the protagonist to newer areas. Combat is handled in a point-and-click fashion; when the player character fights alone, it resembles the action-based fights of Diablo. However, other characters may join the party as well, at which point combat flows in real time, somewhat similarly to the semi-automated party battles of Ultima VII. It is possible to build formations and assign basic tactics to the party as well. When a character's health drops to zero, it becomes unconscious, and if left alone it will regenerate back to life. Other party members can speed up the healing process with spells. On the other hand if the enemies keep attacking the character will eventually die, and only resurrection spells can bring it back from the dead.
Unlike other role-playing games, there are no classes, but characters can improve up to four skills: melee, ranged, nature magic and combat magic. Advancing in a skill is done by simply using it. The characters become better at melee attacks if they fight with melee weapons, they can master nature magic if they cast nature spells, and so on. Using a skill will automatically improve one of three attributes: strength (necessary for melee), dexterity (ranged) or intelligence (magic).
Spellings
- マイクロソフト ダンジョンシージ - Japanese spelling
- 地牢围攻 - Simplified Chinese spelling
- 末日危城 - Traditional Chinese spelling
- 던전 시즈 - Korean spelling
Groups +
- Diablo variants
- Dungeon Siege series
- Fantasy creatures: Dragons
- Fantasy creatures: Dwarves
- Fantasy creatures: Goblins
- Fantasy creatures: Trolls
- Gameplay feature: Armor / weapon sets
- Games made into comics
- Games made into movies
- Middleware: Bink Video
- Protagonist: Female (option)
- Software Pyramide releases
- Sound engine: AIL/Miles Sound System
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Credits (Windows version)
220 People (179 developers, 41 thanks) · View all
Designer and Project Leader | |
Producer and Designer | |
Technical Lead | |
Art Director | |
Engineering | |
Network Admin. and Assistant Producer | |
Concept Artist | |
Terrain and World Modelling | |
Animation, Modelling and Texturing | |
[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 84% (based on 52 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 112 ratings with 11 reviews)
Probably the most boring game I have ever played!
The Good
The camera is done right and the graphics are cool
The Bad
This game is like plastic processed food. Everything seems to be right, the colors are brights, the packing looks inviting, the ingredients seems healthy to you and then you take one bite and want to puke your guts out. This is what this game feels like.
I am aware of the Hack & Slash genre, and played Diablo twice and enjoyed it tons. This game though is so mindless and repetitive that I did not even finish it. There is no real story or cut scenes to keep you going, it is just the same over and over again just with new monsters that have the same AI but with higher HP.
It seems that this is the first game that I never finished, it was just that bad. No matter how cool the graphics are, there has to be some sort of a story behind it. Otherwise, it is just like you are playing some giant demo of game crap.
The Bottom Line
If you feel totally bored and want to waste your life - play this game.
Windows · by The Gay Elf (12) · 2009
The Good
There's not much to like in Dungeon Siege except it's name (that has nothing to do with the game) and it's graphics (even though it slows down even on a top end machine). It's unfortunately not really an RPG, but more of a constant fight along different corridors disguised as playing areas. The controls were pretty good.
The Bad
I didn't like the fact that this sets out to be an RPG, but since Microsoft removed the role from that word, it's just a Playing Game. For kids. There's not a single problem to be solved in the entire length of code. You basically go from battle to battle, pausing to drink a potion every now and then, before the "map" leads you to a "town" where you buy the most expensive gear you can find, before heading into the corridor-like maps again for more fights. Everything is so streamlined you only have to press ONE button to switch all your characters from long distance fighting to close combat fighting. And every area has only TWO exits. One you came from and the one you're supposed to exit from. You NEVER have to turn back and take the same route twice, which makes the entire game feel like a corridor full of fights.
The Bottom Line
A totally brainless hack'n'slash that doesn't deserve to be called an RPG. It boasts great graphics and the usual Microsoft presentation so it probably appeals to the younger audience.
Windows · by Mattias Kreku (413) · 2003
Doesn't quite live up to potential.
The Good
The graphics are pretty, not quite as good as I would have hoped, but still nice. The gameplay has that nice "familiar" feel to it so you never really are at a loss of what to do. The Hack 'n Slash, get reward formula is alive and well.
The Bad
Very bland if almost non existent plot. Character development is absolutely uninvolving. The character/NPC's have no personality at all. The gameplay gets dull way too quickly. That same "familiar" feel that makes the gameplay comfortable initially is also a negative because it offers nothing new to the game.
The Bottom Line
I hate to make the reference, but it's Diabloesque gaming to a somewhat enjoyable degree.
Windows · by gilgamex (120) · 2002
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Dungeon Siege appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Awards
- GameSpy
- 2002 – Tech W'd Like To See More Of Award (for its missing loading times)
Online servers
The game's online servers (which were hosted on MSN Gaming Zone) were shut down on 19 June 2006 in the wake of MSN Games' shift from "CD-ROM matchmaking service" to casual online games.
For unknown reasons, the Steam and GOG.com releases of the game has the multiplayer menu entirely disabled, despite LAN functionality not being affected. Running the game with the zonematch=true command-line argument bypasses this.
Analytics
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Related Sites +
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Building a Better RPG
An Apple Games article about the Mac version of Dungeon Siege, with commentary provided by Writer Neal Hallford (March, 2003). -
Dungeon Siege Planet
English fansite. -
Hints for Dungeon Siege
Designed to give you just as much information as you need, these hints will help you solve the game without spoiling it. -
Planet Dungeon Siege
All things Dungeon Siege.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by phlux.
Macintosh added by Corn Popper.
Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Apogee IV, Dave Mednick, Zeppin, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Plok, FatherJack, Zhuzha.
Game added March 31, 2002. Last modified March 6, 2024.