Dungeon Siege II

No one said the life of a mercenary would be easy. And when money is involved, there is no telling whom you will be working for or what their motives may be … unless, of course, all you have to do is open your eyes and look around.

Unfortunately, the lead character (you) in Dungeon Siege II is ignorant of all the signs pointing at either him or her. The fact that you are killing everything in your path en route to a temple (and most of what you are killing are dryads), while being insulted by warped, raspy-voiced monsters who treat you as chattel rather than swords for hire should be one thing that makes you think something is amiss. There is a legendary and renowned elf, noted for honorable and heroic deeds, who is fighting for the other side, and who has you in his bow sights and then walks away before sending a missile of death in your direction. And there is your blue-haired elf friend, who has a mysterious medallion that signals something is wrong, who keeps telling you he has a bad feeling and then finally gives you the medallion to hold, an object that is his most precious possession.

But you steadfastly ignore all these signs (Ok, most of it is the game dragging you along without you having much say) and plod forward to the temple. You battle the guardians, then the boss of the horde you are fighting with, Valdis, shows up, and grabs the artifact, then turns his evil blade, dotted with several eyes, on you and your friend.

You awake in a prison, with a glowing ring of submission around your neck. The dryad guard explains you were found under the body of a blue-haired elf, but they knew you were fighting for the Morden against the dryads and so you are a prisoner.

Others speak on your behalf, explaining that they feel you are more than a mercenary and will do what is right. Grudgingly the prison warden gives you first one mission, and then another, for the chance to prove their faith in you is deserved. Of course, boiling at your core is the need for vengeance for the death of your friend, Drevin.

Thus begins the tale of Dungeon Siege II, a PC release from Microsoft Game Studios and Gas Powered Games. There are two ways to play the game, either the single-player campaign or multiplayer (essentially working through the game with others through a Local Network, the Internet or GameSpy).

The single-player campaign (at this stage finding anyone for the multiplayer was not possible – the game is slated to ship to retailers in mid-August) begins with the character selection process. The difficulty levels are tied to this, with characters from levels 0-39 entering on the Mercenary level. Get to level 40, complete the Mercenary level and you unlock the Veteran level; and at level 70, after completing Veteran, you unlock the Elite difficulty setting.

This is not to say that the game does not have challenge. Even at the start you will run into mobs that are several levels above you. There are four races to choose from – human, dryad, elf and half-giant. Each class has racial bonuses which may come into play as you progress in the game and refine your skills. There are no classes, per se, to begin the game. As you use a combat style, you grow into the skill and ability. Use a melee weapon a lot and you will gain points and skill in that discipline. The same holds true for ranged weapons or magic.

Items found are equipped from the inventory and you can pause the game at any time to access the inventory without interfering with the combat. This is handy if you are moving from ranged to melee.

Where the game stumbles, though, is in the controls. This is very much a point-and-click game, with almost everything driven off the mouse. In some regards, this does work, but because everything is tied to the mouse, the game takes on some elements of the reflexive. The camera does not get close to the ground and there are times when mobs shooting at you are just off the top edge of the screen. And in order to attack, you have to right click and either repeat the click, or hold down the right mouse button to continue the attack.

Once you complete a mission, you are given the option to save the game’s progress. And as you travel, you will unlock teleporter locations, which enable you to travel around the map much quicker.

You can put together a party, and see their status along the upper left of the screen. This is handy in that it allows you to switch between party members on the fly. The AI is not bad, and the members of the party not under direct control will work well – for the most part.

The game’s sound is solid, with nice voice-acting work and a good musical score. The graphics are somewhat reminiscent of Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale – you can zoom in to see the action up close but with the camera difficulties, it is better to stay zoomed out, ignore the nice texturing in the environments, and try to get a decent view of the battlefield.

The game feels very directed at the start. Regardless of what you do, you will be dragged down the initial paths of betrayed mercenary to prisoner to redeemed warrior in search of vengeance. From that point on, the game becomes one of questing to aid the cause, exploring for unique drops and leveling your avatar. While in and of itself, this is enjoyable, the game does not really offer much that is different from past fare.

You tend to see most everything coming, which means there are few plot twists that are not either foreshadowed or anticipated. Still, it is a good storyline, and the game is entertaining. For those who have yet to experience a role-playing adventure of this nature, DS II is a good one to begin with. For those who enjoy the Neverwinter Nights-, Baldur’s Gate- or Icewind Dale-style titles, this is somewhat similar. Conceptually the game may not offer much that is original or new, but it does offer solid adventure and entertainment value.

Gameplay: 8.0
Tying the game to the mouse is starting to hit antiquated – especially when you have to constantly hold down the right mouse button to continuously attack. Integrating the keyboard more would have been a good thing.

Graphics: 8.5
The camera placement makes this game a chore at times, and this could have been remedied by allowing the camera to move lower to view all the mobs attacking or decreasing the ranged attack radius of the mobs to make them enter the viewable area. Regardless, the animation is solid and the environments look very nice. The game’s framerate did fluctuate from the 30s through to the 60s fps range

Sound: 8.0
The script may be somewhat predictable but the voice actors do a fine job and the musical score is solid

Difficulty: Medium
The game does have challenges in each class by dropping mobs with higher hit points in lower areas, and you will have to play smart to succeed.

Concept: 7.0 
There is not much new here, thus giving the game an intuitive feel for those who have played this style of game before.

Multiplayer:  N/A
The game does support multiplayer with three ways to connect for multiplayer adventuring, but at this stage prior to the game’s release, there was no one online during the times (and ways) checked.

Overall: 8.3
Not exactly a new gaming style, Dungeon Siege II was somewhat predictable when it came to the evolution of the story. The camera can be a nuisance, as is tying so much to the mouse. However, with solid sounds and graphical elements, and a definite challenge throughout the game, this is an enjoyable adventure.