Dungeon Siege

The Good
DS is good hack and slash fun. The graphics are done very well; pathing is reasonable; sounds and music are done well. I like the 'classless' system, whereby any character can become strong in any skill just by using it.

The Bad
...but after a while, this game just gets really repetitious and boring. Yeah, Diablo did as well... but Diablo (1) was breaking new ground, and this isn't. Perhaps my tolerance for this sort of thing is just lower now.

An additional problem is that after playing MMPORGs like EverQuest, the monsters in DS seem like automatons. In EQ terms, everything is a static spawn with a fixed aggro radius. This means that the monsters just stand there until you get within a certain distance or attack them, then they come after you. This makes it easy to inch forward and kill them a few at a time... but is inching through a huge dungeon for hours on end really fun?

The Bottom Line
Diablo with improved graphics, a better character development system, and the same repetitious gameplay.

The Good
I was AMAZED at the 100% seamless world! There are no zones, no load time at all anywhere! The graphics are not cutting edge, but ARE extremley impressive! There are 3 levels of gameplay you can choose at character creation, from easy to insanely hard. (People who complain about this game being too simple or easy fail to realize that the default setting is easy mode.)

The Dungeons are incredibly detailed and realistic. I had to pause and gaze in wonder the first time I entered the sewages, with debris floating by me, etc.. The "spider dungeon" succeeds in setting its mood, and being creepy. To see this stunning game in action go to this link:

http://community.webshots.com/album/104967108nPZHDZ

If it does not work, go to this link:

http://community.webshots.com/user/xplororor_archives01

There are many original monsters, like the crawling corpse - missing it's lower body! The AI is very intelligent.. monsters will and can chase you down until you some how hide, get away, or get killed. The greatest feature is how you can make a party with NPC characters you meet - then level them up AND switch from your "main" character and make the NPC your main character and your former main character a NPC! You can switch back and forth as much as you want. Send 5 members of your party to 5 different locations in the game world! It takes getting used to the new feeling of experiencing this incredible game feature! No other computer game has this feature done the way Dungeon Siege does it to PERFECTION!

This is a 100% skill based game. Any character can learn magic, melee, or ranged combat, and wear any armor - as long as they train in the needed skills. You can make your character be a high level warrior that can cast low level magic, a high level magic user who can wield a low level sword, or any kind of hybrid mix.

The Mules are one of the funnest, and funniest, game features in this game, that no other game has ever done! You can get actual Mules to carry your extra items. As you store more items on your Mules, the game shows the luggage on them increasing! LOL! And you can control each of your Mules as if they were your characters! (You can't level up your Mules though... but the Mules can help fight)

Combat is one of the best ever in a RPG game. Your arrows stick in the enemy, you can dodge enemy arrows. My favorite is casting magic Lightning (if your a Star Wars fan, this looks just like the Emperor doing his Force Lightning!). Not every dungeon, or area of the game needs to be visited to complete it... some dungeons, and areas are just there for the fun and challenge. And yeah, it's NICE how your character will just sip health potions drinking only enough drops needed to heal their exact missing health.

This game is super-L-O-N-G! There is a free playable Demo that can be downloaded (search for 'Dungeon Siege' on Google.com). The FREE demo is roughly 15% of the game and can take a few weeks to go through.

The Bad
Some of the monsters (Just a few) do not look like anything special. Like the very first monster you fight. They look like a wimpy, bland, wanna-be Orc. This game is L-O-N-G! Expect to take 3 - 6 months to complete it if you also have a normal regular life.

There are no spectacular puzzles. It's just find out the best way to use your offense (range, melee, and magic) and defense (healing from magic and drinking potions) to survive.

There's not much else dislikeable about this remarkable, revolutionary, RPG. It could've and should've been more heavily advertised - though it still did sell well and still was successful.

The Bottom Line
An ultra-modern medieval-themed RPG, with NICE graphics. And cutting edge, revolutionary game features. Some of it seems simular to Diablo, the majority of it builds on Diablo then does things 1,000 times BETTER than Diablo. The way the party system works - this alone makes this game a MUST to be played. Anyone who reviews this game negativly has NOT played it to the end! LOL! There are tons of dungeons, some are HUGE!

If you can get your hands on the recently released "Dungeon Siege Editor" you are in for an increadible trip! With the Editor you can create your OWN GAME! You can even make a replica of say... the world of Middle-Earth in Lord of the Rings. Or specific dungeons like Moria in Lord of the Rings. Or anything from your imagination!

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.