Dungeon Siege 3 is developed by Obsidian Entertainment and Published by Square Enix; it is the third instalment of the series. The original Dungeon Siege was an unforgettable game that one can still greatly enjoy today. Its first sequel was Dungeon Siege 2; which suffered from a number of issues, yet it managed to retain the charm & character of the series. This unfortunately is not true for the third instalment, where they have changed the game in almost every way.
First thing that you will notice is that game only offers you four pre-made characters: a Sword master named Lucas, a Gunslinger named Katarina, an Archon/Fire Elemental named Anjali and finally a Mage named Reinhart. These characters cannot be modified in anyway like you were able to do in the original games. Some of the most basic ideas from the original games have just been left out. Such character restrictions are not only a major divergence form the series tradition but also a serious flaw for any RPG.
Dungeon Siege 3 has been made to work on all formats; so when you come to play the PC version you will see that this is a hasty console port. The controls are a nightmare for the PC, you can move with the W and S keys where as you turn the camera with the A and D keys. You get to change your fighting stance by using the Q key, you select your special abilities with the 1, 2 or 3 number keys, open your inventory with the F key?? (What the hell), finally your character page with the C key. Every time you wish to pick up or interact with something you will need to use the E key. You would normally be able to change the keys to bind them how you want, however for some unfathomable reason you are unable to do this. Fans of the Dungeon Siege series will remember that the PC games where playable mostly with the mouse. Click on the character icon to open the inventory, click on the ground to move your character, click on a chest to open it.
When you played the original Dungeon Siege games you always would be managing up to 6 companions. Selecting and balancing your companions, then equipping them and setting their default spells or attacks. In this third instalment of the franchise there are no permanent companions and only get one companion at a time – and they don’t stick around for long. The inventory is much larger now and your hero can transmute loot into gold. However, such transmutation for some reason is only offered for some but not all of your unequipped items and can only be accessed by opening the Character page and selecting the Items tab not the Inventory.
The environments in Dungeon Siege 3 especially the exterior ones are beautiful and well designed, from the dynamic shadows, the swinging lanterns and the swirling leaves and the dust stirred up by the hero’s footsteps even the flames and effects caused by heat look rather realistic. The inside environments on the other hand do not look impressive which is a let-down; Dungeons are dark, too dark with no real atmosphere; even where I turned up gamma it was still hard to see around.
The game uses an auto save feature at pre-set points within the game which are usually spaced too far apart, so when you die you may find yourself way back in the level. However, whenever you pass through yellow plumes of smoke normally placed at strategic points such as just before major groups of enemies you can select to make either a new save or overwrite and existing one.
Final Thoughts
Dungeon Siege 3 is yet another game that been changed to suit the console audience was this a good idea to do? Yes & NO!!!! The game is now just a hack & slash / lootfest game that will last about 12 hrs. I would recommend anyone that is thinking of giving this ago, grab the demo first. A lot has changed from the original games. For Alienware users you will be happy to know that the game supports Alien FX however it does suffer from communication issues as Alien FX reacts rather slow compared to the Demo version something that would need to be fixed with a patch.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
