The Dungeon Siege series hasn’t made much of a peep since the previous expansion pack for Dungeon Siege II came out over five years ago. That’s why some people might be like “What the heck is Dungeon Siege?” when asked if they’re picking up Dungeon Siege III this week for Xbox 360. However, even if you’re a newcomer, you’ll find Obsidian Entertainment’s latest role-playing adventure, published by Square Enix, to be quite the likable adventure – even if it does come up just short of being a heralded classic. In the game, you’ll visit the Kingdom of Ehb, which is in ruins. The Tenth Legion, which has sworn to protecting the Kingdom and its elders, have been run through by a powerful warrior who calls herself Jeyne Kassynder. To say this woman is a bitch is an understatement – her magical powers expand beyond comprehension, leaving anyone that faces her to a terrible fate. In the game, you’ll choose from one of four characters to help rebuild the legion, while also seeking vengeance against Jeyne.
These characters differ in many ways. Our particular favorite is Katarani, a gunsmith who is able to mix magic together with her attacks. However, each of the characters are worth trying out, including the fiery Archon/human Anjali, the sword-wielding Lucas and the powerful mage Reinhart. Each one can be powered up in a number of ways, using coins and XP points that you pick up over the course of each battle. In fact, leveling up your character is probably one of the biggest points to Dungeon Siege III. There are nine different skills that you can build up over the course of your adventure, along with countless items you can equip with (though we’re not quite sure what good a “battle blouse” will do) and passive attributes to upgrade. You’ll also find no shortage of health and power-up icons, each of which you’ll need over the course of each battle. These characters aren’t invincible.
Along with special abilities, you can also expand your attacks in different ways, including offensive and defensive. Some will help you regain precious XP that was dropped over the course of a fight; others will do more damage to incoming enemies. Considering these guys like coming at you in clusters, and don’t let up worth a damn, you’ll want to keep as much health-regeneration goods around you as you can. While this system is quite expansive, it limits you at some points. For instance, you can’t unlock certain abilities until you reach a particular level. It can be argued that this was added to expand replay value, since Square Enix didn’t want you to reap all the rewards right away. Still, for some people, this could be a real grind – but did you expect anything less from a game with the word “Dungeon” in the title?
This feature review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to see our final thoughts on Dungeon Siege III.
