Dungeon Siege II: Broken World

Bad was once running rampant in the world, vanquished and now something else is replacing it. It is déjà vu for most of the titles that hop onboard the fantasy video-game wagon.

Dungeon Siege has brought delightful fantasy fare to the table before with the original release in April 2002, then subsequently with Legends of Aranna in November 2003, and then Dungeon Siege II in August 2005. Enter Dungeon Siege II Broken Worlds. Broken Worlds is the expansion for DS II and while it does bring some new elements to the table, for the most part it is standard fare and a short quest.

In DS II, players were tasked to defeat the end-boss named Valdis. The world is in chaos and even the new race, the dwarves, are unsettled and need your help. A nice addendum is that you can create a dwarf hero and employ said hero in the original DS II. The game also has two new classes – the Blood Assassin (ranged with combat magic) and the Fist of Stone (melee and nature magic).

In the story, a dark wizard has entered the lands of Aranna, and the world has more than its share of problems, which require you – as the hero – to fix them. Broken Worlds also builds on the difficulty from DS II and the game can be a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, you can import your character from DS II (which is required, by the way, to play this expansion) to help ease into the campaign. And you will need it; the monsters in this game can be quite the challenge. 

Improvements to the original include attention to some of the more strategic elements, like properly outfitting your characters and creating the right formation to maximize your parties’ abilities. The combat itself is frenetically paced with bright lights and effects flooding the screen.

While battles tend to play out in environments that seem similar but the monsters and effects are very well done. Don’t zoom in too close though; things start to look a little blocky. And the camera is generally too fixed and limits the viewing range, particularly in battle.

The sound is also very well done with solid voice work and music.

The enchanting system is in place, allowing players to enchant items for stat bonuses. Unfortunately, though, this is not that well realized as – for the most part – you can find better items on mob drops.

Where the game falters is in framerate issues, which essentially means stuttering. This can be a deterrent that really interrupts the game play.  

But what this expansion does bring to the table are some pretty good battles against tough foes and well-designed monsters. It’s just too bad the story itself is so short. Without the framerate issues, and a more involved story, this might have been a much more entertaining ride.

Gameplay: 6.3
Too short. The control scheme is fine, but it just feels like there could have been much more here. The storyline is getting a bit threadbare as well.

Graphics: 7.0
Don’t zoom in too close, but the general design and feel of the game is very good. The framerate problems are a big downfall though.

Sound: 8.2
Voice acting is solid and the music is strong as well.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
This is a hack’n’slash. Be smart and pick your fights well. There is strategy involved, and the monsters present a solid challenge.

Concept: 6.5
One new race and associated new class, but everything else is pretty much the same.

Overall: 6.8
Short game length and a story that is not very original hamper this title. The graphics are based on the same engine as before and thus have shown little improvement since the last iteration of the franchise. This is an expansion but not an overly long one.