Rating: Summary: Updated, pretty version of Gauntlet, with less to do. Review: I won't go into detail. This is not an RPG. There is no "role-playing" involved. You simply make a standard character with no special features and you plod forward in a linear "quest" which involves killing everything in your path. This is a shooter, and not an RPG at all. The AI is simply TOO involved. The AI does the fighting for you. It practically plays the whole game for you. All the player is required to do is point in a direction (which is usually just Forward, as there's no real deviation in the path) and press "H" every once in a while to drink a health potion. That's it. You don't really play this game. You watch it play itself. It's like a beautiful graphics demo with some minor interaction. For a good idea what you're in for, think of Diablo II, and then remove all the skills and picture the characters fighting by themselves with you not having to click or control them. That's it. There's little in the line of a plot. There's no character development. There's no real REASON to just keep killing monsters. The game IS gorgeous, but it's a shame that they wasted this engine on such lackluster gameplay. Avoid this one unless you just want something pretty to look at, and want your involvement to be limited to a few key presses from time to time. No gameplay to speak of.
Rating: Summary: Dungeon Siege: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Review: I recently bought Dungeon Siege on a friend's recommendation with some high expectations. What I expected was an open-ended sort of world with some good character development and interaction. What I got was a pretty typical Baldur's Gate-like experience. The game has some good technical points but overall lacks anything compelling. Diablo 2 is a far better gaming experience overall.The Good: Good technical aspects. The classes-less character system allows for remarkable flexibility in character development. Changing perspective is also interesting. I also like the "one click attack" where I don't have to press the mouse button every time I want to swing / shoot. What we need, though, is a "hold ground" order equivalent so my characters will shoot once the target is in range rather than charge after them with a bow. The Bad: Unlimited arrows -- excuse me? That's a design cop-out if I ever saw one. Of the 5 characters (3 fighter/archer types, a mage, and a combat donkey ;) ) in my party, 3 use bows. Monsters foolish enough to approach my party get mowed down before coming close... can we say "game balance"? More seriously, however, is that Dungeon Siege, like Baldur's Gate or Diablo, basically holds the player a prisoner to the story line. Try as I might, I can't wander off to another quest or to explore the world; it's impossible since cliffs and walls conspire to keep me on track. I had hoped for an experience more like the old game by Microprose, "Darklands". (I wish someone would update it, great game). Finally, the monster scene seems to lack creativity. Rather than develop 30 truly different monsters, there appears to be only about 3 different monsters with each slight variation making a "new" monster. For example, there's the "Krug" then the "Krug x" where "x" is some other sort of designation for something not completely different. Not very impressive. The Ugly: Microsoft claims to support the "old" Voodoo 5 5500. After talking with a helpful tech support person, I downloaded 3 or 4 different drivers for my Voodoo from voodoofiles.com and none of them would work with DirectX 8.1, which is required to run the game. As a result, the game runs fine on my beefy Win2k multimedia laptop but not on my Win98 game machine with huge video card. Conclusions: Once I'm done reinstalling and configuring win98 on my game pc (DirectX 8.1 can't be uninstalled and my computer is non-functional with it), I'll probably go back to playing Diablo 2 by myself or on battle net, and save Dungeon Siege for when my friends want to get an IP game going. Come to think of it, I might just dig up my Darklands install disks... They should be around here somewhere ...
Rating: Summary: Too short Review: The game is good but it is too short. I finished the game in three days. I expected it to be a little longer. 8(
Rating: Summary: This is soooo DULL! Review: I would like to write more, but the game just put me to sleep... Go buy some grass seed, plant it, watch it grow... much more fun then this game...
Rating: Summary: From a Critical Gamer Review: In my opinion, the value of a game is directly related to the total experience it offers the player. Dungeon Siege has it all, and is well worth its price. It's refreshing to find a game that was well thought out and designed, yet innovative in its approach. So many of the games out there seem like they are adapted from something else, not designed and built from scratch. The engine powering Dungeon Siege truely is ground-breaking. With amazing graphics and a good score, it draws you in while allowing you to customize the game to fit your playing style. If you still have doubts, download the demo. If you are a risk taker, odds are definitely in your favor. Buy it.
Rating: Summary: Wonderful Game Review: Dungeon Siege is probably the absolute best game that I have played on the computer in a long time. There are many pros to this game. First, the character development system is great. You can design your character how you want too. Once you train in one style (melee, range, etc...) you are not limited just to that style. The graphics and sound are fantastic. I never knew how much loading times and "zoning" bothered me until I played DS and it does not have them. It is by far the smoothest playing game (graphically speaking) I have played. The separate multiplayer campaign, plus being able to play the single player campaign in multiplayer, makes it seem like 3 games in one. For this reason alone, this game is worth the money. A word of warning: If you are a die-hard RPG fan in the Baldur's Gate tradition, this game may not be for you. This is an action-RPG. The focus is on action not on in-depth, time consuming role playing. Keep this in mind when you consider purchasing this game. I do highly recommend this game to anyone and everyone who wants to play simply a fun and enjoyable game! PS - If all you get out of this game is simply pointing and clicking, you are missng a lot of the development, fun and strategy that was put into this game.
Rating: Summary: Diablo 2 and a bag of chips Review: This game owns... Very good graphics, controls, and music. Its like Diablo 2 except 3d and a different way of gaining levels. Pros: Good Graphics, good controls, music, Create your own dream team, additional worlds avaible after release of games, able to make your own world, fun killing 20 monsters at a time, basic archery magic and sword fighting. Nice EXP gain too. Cons: The characters lives are not as detailed. Plot is basic too but differs if you play multiplayer. Automatic hitting. Comrades sometimes stand there and do nothing while your getting beat up. Dungeons last 1-2 hours sometimes Overall: Well I had higher expectations but still one of the best. I suggest if you do not like long games dont get this. Also if you expect a good plotline like diablo or 2 dont get this game. This is just another regular plot.
Rating: Summary: Fun for a while, then gets really B-O-R-I-N-G-! Review: What a disappointment. After 2 years of waiting, I finally get to play it, expecting another masterpiece from Chris Taylor. Instead, I get this pretty dungeon hack. Boo! Even Diablo 2 had a story in there, somewhere.
Rating: Summary: Realistic Review: I want to address the negitive comments I've seen regarding Dungeon Siege. Seems many of the negitive comments about Dungeon Siege is that it: 1. Has little story 2. Has poor character generation 3. Is no better than Diablo II I would agree that the story is a bit weak. More so, the characters you run into have little dialog and the path through the game is pretty linear (not much branching out on quests and such) However, I do find innovation in the way that Chris Taylor approaches RPG & character generation and this is what I think a lot of people miss. First, your character starts off as a farmer, he/she is not born into the world a magic user or fighter...that is decided depending on how the characters skills develop (much more "life-like" when you think about it). And, because of this, character generation at the start is pretty simple - what do you want to look like and what sex are you. This is a much more realistic approach to character development. In regards to Dungeon Siege vs. Diablo II...did I miss something? Dungeon Siege puts you in a 3D world with real trees and dungeons similar to the dungeons one imagines from the pencil & paper D&D days. Diablo II's world is stale, 2d graphics with very little character development or story too! If I want to play a 2D RPG, play the Bauldur's gate series because the story is much more involved. Finally, I was disappointed that as I progressed through the first major Dungeon in Dungeon Siege, it turned out into the a-typical kill-all fest. I am of the opinion that there is more to RPG than killing everything in site. I would like to see more puzzles, quests and fewer endless blood baths. In sum, I'd like to THINK instead of hack hack hack. Overall, its a pretty innovative game (from the wonderful 3D world, simple user interface, and character development)...if only the story were a bit more exciting.
Rating: Summary: Get it Review: If you are a big fan of Diablo II, then this game is a must have. It plays very similarly to the afformentioned title with the notable exceptions being the linear game world, the multiple character parties, the excellent graphics, and the skill tree (or lack there of). The linear game world both adds and detracts from the game as it allows for much more interesting level architecture, but limits replayability. The multiple character parties (up to 8) are awesome, as it allows you to have multiple people in your group each specializing in a specific combat discipline. The graphics are better than just about any game out right now, at least on my system (I have a Athlon 1800+, GeForce 2MX). The skill tree though is the one area I think could have been done better with some kind of research tree akin to Diablo II's, although the fact that any kind of character can specialize in any type of combat is interesting and adds replayability. I highly recommend this game. Buy it right now!
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