Dungeon Siege

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.

The Good
The best parts of this game are from a technical standpoint. The first is the graphics. They are some of the best around, and include a variety of enviornments to explore. The second is interface which is very easy to understand and use. It gives you the information you need without being obtrusive. The panels are collapsible so you can have more of the screen visible if you choose. Then theres the camera system. It's simply the best implementaion for a 3D isometric game, period. Every developer making a similar game should just copy Dungeon Siege's and be done with it. Also the seamless loading of levels is very nice. There are no loading screens at all between areas. Just smooth transition from outside, to inside, to underground. Very well done and again something other developers could learn from.

The Bad
The downside is the general gameplay and character development. Its a straight up hack'n slash game which for some people can be fun, but others will find it getting repetitive after awhile. There are only 4 basic classes and a few skills that improve with use. Although you can control up to 8 characters as opposed to 1 in Diablo 2 the skill system isn't as good IMO. The mule is a nice idea but I never really used it much. Games that let you gather up lots of "stuff" get old to me after awhile and I just end up leaving most of it on the ground.

The Bottom Line
Like most others have said this game is basically a 3D Diablo clone allowing up to 8 charaters in your party at once. Don't expect a deep story or lots of NPC interaction. Just lots of hack'n slash gaming with a very nice 3D engine.

The Good
Great graphics, seamless loading, various automations such as gather loot, follow leader, formations, etc., plenty of graphical touches such as varied swings, lots of enemies

The Bad
Only one type of damage means there's no "resistance" at all, impossible to grow characters beyond a certain level without cheating, no persistent savegame in MP

The Bottom Line
Dungeon Siege can be described as a streamlined version of Diablo with various improvements. Instead of controlling a single person, you control a party. Instead of grabbing loot manually you now can carry almost infinite gold as well as automatically collect gold and loot. There's no poison to worry about, and potion can be sipped instead of drank whole. The graphics have also been improved to truly gorgeous 3D. It's almost someone read the "wishlist" for Diablo series.

However, such things come at a cost. Diablo had multiple types of damage, fire / ice / magic / physical. In DS there's only one type: damage. That takes a lot of decisions out player's hands. Also, the weapons "top out" after a certain point, making growth beyond a certain point EXTREMELY slow. Also, the game mechanics are not quite the same in MP vs. SP. In MP you are limited to a single character, and the world state is not saved, just personal state. Thus can be very confusing.

The fan community has released variety of new content, from simple new weapons to full campaigns with their own stories and such. Still, longevity of the game may be a problem as the game simply ceases to be fun after a certain level. While you can replay the game as different classes and specialize in different areas and such, starting over may not be for everyone.

Overall, this one is a 7 / 10. It gets most things right, but has some faults that prevents it from being "great".