Dungeon Siege

aka: Di Lao Wei Gong
Moby ID: 6088
Windows Specs
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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

  • 地牢围攻 - Simplified Chinese spelling
  • 末日危城 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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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 111 ratings with 11 reviews)

A great game overall.

The Good
First of all, I'd like to point out that this is not a descendant of Diablo like all you youngsters probably think. It's a descendant of games like Rogue, from a time before all these new fangled sprites and polygons. Go play some Nethack and learn where Diablo's roots really are.

I was expecting Dungeon Siege to be another poor attempt of somehow revolutionizing RPGs and failing in the process. I was expecting a dungeon crawl with dumb 3D graphics and a dumb storyline and just a downright stupid game. But after playing through it, I've really changed my mind. Dungeon Siege is more than a dungeon crawl, it's more than a "3D Diablo", it's a very large and very fun game.

I'm sure many people are going to absolutely hate this game, but I think that's because they were expecting more than the game was even attempting to offer. Dungeon Siege isn't about revolutionizing RPGs and it's not about setting a new standard for games. Instead, Dungeon Siege simply gives you a great adventure to play through. Sure it's linear. Sure you've seen this kind of thing before. But Dungeon Siege isn't about giving you something new. It's about giving you a better version of what you've seen before. And it does that very well.

Dungeon Siege is a 3D hack 'n slash RPG. You control your character, and all characters you recruit from a third person perspective with the ability to rotate and angle the camera with almost complete freedom.

The story is fairly simple and straightforward. It seems some bad guys have infested the lands, and you, a lowly farmer, must fight through the hordes of enemies and save the world from evil. Maybe the story is dull, but hey, if it gives you a reason to pick up a pitchfork and start slaying green things that want to kill you, I won't complain. Once again I'll point out that the story wasn't trying to be something better. I felt that if it had tried to accomplish more than it did, the game would have suffered.

The distance you travel from your farmlands in the beginning of the game to the enemy stronghold at the very end of the game is VERY long. Despite the seemingly unbelievable "lowly farmer turns hero and saves the world" setting, you really do get a feeling of how very far your character has become. Because of the game's length, you've seen your character really evolve from fighting tiny little rodents in rags with a pitchfork to slaying dragons with steel armor and a battle axe.

And probably the best part of the game is the fact that it loads all the area on the fly, so you'll only see one loading screen whenever you start or load your game. After that, it's a seamless transition from one area to the next, from above ground to subterranean dungeon.

While the dungeons aren't randomized, most of the weapons are. This is what made Diablo such a blast, the fact that when killing monsters, you'll never quite know what kind of loot they'll drop. They'll usually drop something along your current level, but occasionally they'll drop something with an enchantment that'll put you levels ahead of where you were. Ahh, the spoils of war.

The amount of monsters found in the game is tremendous! Each one differs from the next and you'll find them in their appropriate setting. Graveyards will be filled with the walking dead, in forests you'll find wolves, swamps will be filled with trolls and tentacles that thrust out of the mud and attack you. And in between you'll find an army of literally hundreds of different monsters, each one with a certain uniqueness that makes them as exciting to fight as dangerous.

Unlike nearly every RPG, your character isn't trapped in his role from the beginning of the game. You don't choose his class, because he's equally horrible at everything from the start. But pick up a pick-axe and he'll eventually get better at melee combat. Let him take the enemy on from a distance with a bow and his ranged combat skill will go up. See how well he fares with spells and he's a mage in the making.

The graphics are done very well. Not so ridiculously polygon-filled that it makes the game chug, but you're not likely to find many blocky low-poly things among the Kingdom of Ehb (well, unless you crank the detail levels down).

You can recruit up to seven adventurers (or six and a mule) to journey with you. While you're not forced to recruit anyone at all, you would be wise to do so, as you'll find yourself so overwhelmed at times by hordes of monsters that there's not much more you can do but let your men fight on their own and hope for the best. And if things do get out of control, you can pause the game and issue orders, a la Baldur's Gate (or more appropriately, Icewind Dale).

Also something I personally liked about the game is that it includes guns and the like. I was always curious as to why, in most fantasy games, there was the invention of gun powder but no trace of any kind of guns. There are guns in Dungeon Siege, and even a laser cannon!

The music is also very good and fitting, though the sound is choppy (but it's probably just my sound card)

The Bad
I gave a lot of praise to this game, but there are a lot of things that aren't so great. Like the camera. For the most part, the camera is okay. It's easy to navigate and gives you a lot of freedom of movement. But there are times when it is your worst enemy. Many times, the camera will hijack your screen and move to where you can't see anything. And there's no way to stop it from hijacking you. If you move it so there is a wall in its way, it will move away. You would think that would be a nice feature, except the "wall" that the camera detecting might just be a little rock, or something else that is in no way blocking your view whatsoever. Sometimes you must move the camera in such a way so that you can see the enemy that's hiding behind the corner so you can attack him, but just as you click to attack him, the camera suddenly pans away and you send your entire party into the middle of the monster's lair and get them all killed.

A feature that would have been quite nice would be the ability to move the camera in a complete 360 degree area. You can never look straight ahead, you always must be looking at a downward angle. If you could look farther ahead, it would have been a great advantage.

Another poor thing is that you can only rotate the camera around. You can't just roam free with it, and when the game is paused, your view is stuck on your currently selected character. If you have another character far away from your view and you can't see him by rotating the camera, you can select him by clicking his portrait, but you can't shift the view to him without unpausing the game first, and that can sometimes cost you your battle.

The game isn't without bugs, and these bugs haven't been addressed yet in patches, though they most likely will later. For one, monsters will sometimes retreat, and your men will just let him! And your ranges units don't always respond to your orders if they'd just fired. If you want your archer to destroy a barrel, and then (while the arrow is still in the air) you tell him to destroy another barrel, he simply won't do it. There's about a one-second delay in which they won't follow any additional orders.

The packmule seemed like a good idea, but the way the enemies overwhelm you, you need eight men to fight on your team, and a mule quickly becomes a pointless asset. At least the enemies leave him alone after he gets knocked unconcious.

There are some instances where you'll have no choice but to walk into a trap of the enemy's. Like a part where you take an elevator down into a horde of enemies that would be impossible to defeat. So the only way to can beat them is by using the elevator, hit them as much as you can, and retreat hoping nobody got killed during the skirmish. Repeat about seven thousand times until the enemy is finally dead. There are only two instances I recall of this happening, though. Thankfully.

The Bottom Line
One of the funnest games I've played in a long time. It's a long game, guaranteed to keep you occupied for a long time. As long as you're not expecting some "breakthrough" type of game, you'll love it.

Windows · by kbmb (415) · 2002

It could've been better....

The Good
Well where to start? The environments are beautiful and colorful. When you walk into a town you actually feel like your in this town. And the armor and weapons are in one word,wonderful. Awesome design and texture and cool names. The ability to gain followers is awesome and the sure fact it supports multiplayer is amazing. Play online and just show how much you rock. And the most fun I had was buying a donkey and overloading him.

The Bad
The things I thought could be better are that the shops sell armor so expensive that you have to kill for hours just to get armor to learn you can't even wear it. And sometimes they put high leveled enemies for when your only low level.

The Bottom Line
An overall awesome gaming experience. All fans of these kind of RPGs should definitely try it. Though I found it a little time consuming and not fun enough.

Windows · by Lord Dayin (9) · 2007

One of the NICEST, most Revolutionary NEW RPGs ever created! FUN as Heck!

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!

Windows · by XplOrOrOr (14) · 2004

[ View all 11 player reviews ]

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.

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  • MobyGames ID: 6088
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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.

Game added March 31, 2002. Last modified March 6, 2024.