Dungeon Siege III Reviews

Category: News Archive

Hits: 2050

Written by WorstUsernameEver on June 22nd, 2011

Tweet

The overall game just didn't seem to be able to catch up with itself. You'll automatically go into the skill tree after leveling up, but combat must first. Sometimes this is immediate, while often a fight would end and we were left staring at the screen for thirty seconds before something happened. Saving the game is similar - you can't save until after combat, but sometimes it denies you even with dead bodies everywhere. These and a list of strange omissions that are genre mainstays no map in the game other than the minimap (seriously), inability to set ally AI behavior, and a lack of a true party of more than two people as in previous Dungeon Siege titles and it's clear that DS III was taken out of the oven too early.

Dungeon Siege III is not a game to hate, but there certainly isn't enough to love. By the end of the campaign we were satisfied with the admittedly-average story, but the stale combat and chaotic multiplayer that are supposed to sell this game just aren't built well enough. On the cheap, you could probably do worse than this, but we can say for a fact that you can do a hell of a lot better.

So, Dungeon Siege III, although taking place in the same world, shares very little in common with both its predecessors and even its namesake. With most of the action taking place in castles, forests, caves, factories, mountains, swamps and numerous other locations, there are very few dungeons to be found at all within the game. Which overall speaks volumes for potential expectations one may have with the game, and in failing to meet them could be an unfair catalyst in dismissing what is a fun, polished, and streamlined action RPG experience that deserves your attention.

DS3 is an ambitious game, to be sure, and it brings a lot of nifty innovations to the action-RPG genre. In fact, it brings too darn many -- that is, it bites off more than its control system, or the average player, can chew. While the adventure you and your party will go on has every right to be massive in scope, the learning curve doesn't, and gamers expecting a Diablo II-style experience here will be given a rude awakening. For those willing to delve deeply into what Dungeon Siege 3 has to offer, especially those with three buddies who are willing to delve alongside them, the game will reward you with plenty of content to sink your teeth into. But this ain't no simplistic LMB-bash fest; make sure you're ready to hunker down for a while... maybe that's where the "siege" part comes into play.

It sounds like my Id's enjoyment of the plentiful loot and monsters was matched by his dislike of the measures required to bring you to said loot and monsters. I couldn't agree more: If you're looking to satisfy the most primal of urges, you could do worse than Dungeon Siege 3. It's unapologetically simple, revels in throwing huge amounts of collectibles at the player, and lets you sift through the mess it creates. It's just a shame the co-op isn't better implemented -- without a compelling multiplayer component, Dungeon Siege 3 lags behind its role-playing competitors.

These issues don't make Dungeon Siege III a bad game at all, but it does mean you might be expecting something different than what Obsidian Entertainment released. If you're looking for an exciting romp through impressive-looking dungeons where you smash monsters, get loot, use tactics to win, and level up a lot of fun abilities, then this game delivers that in a way that's more true to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance than it is to either the past Dungeon Siege games or the Diablo series. And if you want something with the kind of wide-open online play that lasts for years, well, you're better off saving your money and waiting for Diablo III.

If you're a fan of hack '˜n slash RPG's, pick up Dungeon Siege III. If you're not yet a fan of hack '˜n slash RPG's and are looking for one to get you started, pick up Dungeon Siege III. If you're still waiting for Diablo III to come out before you get back into hack '˜n slash RPG's, well. good luck with that.

Dungeon Siege III is a decent attempt at an RPG, it certainly has everything you would expect, from fast paced combat to magic and loot. The only thing which lets it down really is the story telling and the online play, which certainly could have been a lot better. RPG's fans will probably forgive it's flaws, but if you would rather wait then Elder Scrolls Skyrim is where it's at for RPG fans this year.

Of course, any good action-RPG shines as a co-op adventure, so Siege offers friends a chance to kick the A.I. ally to the curb and take up arms by your side, either online (four players) or same-screen (two). Sadly, the otherwise fun times are marred by scaling difficulty that makes the campaign significantly harder in multiplayer, a fixed camera height that's a bit too close to the action, and an odd restriction that requires everyone to stay on the same screen together, even when playing on separate consoles.

We also wish the game had fast-travel options as well as a world map to give it a proper sense of scale, and that camera issues didn't occasionally put the view in an awkward position. Nevertheless, Dungeon Siege III is among the finer ways you can dungeon-crawl on your 360 these days, and if the developers can iron out its quirks, a sequel (which this game sets up nicely) could be epic.

With a multiplayer option that is severely lacking in polish and depth, Dungeon Siege III sets itself as a mainly single player dungeon crawler. With a campaign that was over at around 11 hours and very little replay value, the game is very hard to recommend at a $60/£40 price. This is made even worse when you can find similar titles for download at a $10-$15 price point. However, if you are in the market for a loot friendly game with an enjoyable combat system and a serviceable story then this is a game you could have some fun with. Just don't go in expecting much at all from the multiplayer or any kind of real challenge, with even the hardest difficulty feeling like a nice stroll through the park on a sunny day.

Dungeon Siege III may not be a perfect game, but for dungeon crawler fans, it offers up hours of enjoyment with solid combat complemented by a dash of humor. It's not going to appeal to everyone out there, but if you're part of the target market, it's an excellent way to pass the time while waiting for Blizzard to hurry up and finish Diablo III.

Whether you are new to the land of Ehb or are returning for another adventure across the lands, Dungeon Siege III really gives you a great loot drop game with some fantastic multiplayer to boot. Downloadable content with also be available for this title so the play value is very high. Even if you just play through the main quest and skip side questing all together you are in for a great amount of play time. Dungeon Siege III is definitely some of the most fun to be had in awhile. So come on, it's your time, the Legion is calling.

• Prev
• Next