Dungeon Siege II

DSII takes all the great elements of DS (and Legends of Aranna) that made it such a classic game and streamlines them into a very slick package indeed.

Improvements abound with character development. Choose your own skills - as a ranger there are several options you can take depending on wether you want to specialize with the bow/crossbow or thrown weapons. Very well thought out!

Gameplay, although similar to DS, has had a bit of an overhaul and the result is a much smoother experience. Besides the main quest, there are a broad range of interesting sub-quests that will see you journeying the length and breadth of the country to accomplish. And it's worth exploring any little nook and cranny you come across - not only for the rewards but for the sheer pleasure of the range of diverse locations.

Don't underestimate the power of your pets! I got through most of the game with just myself (combat mage) and 3 pets - and I can tell you that they can help you survive some very, very sticky situations. The attention to gameplay is evident here as well because your pets receive bonuses depending on what you feed them. Love it!

Weapons, armour, spells, etc are brilliant and keep you playing and playing in order to upskill your characters so you can make use of higher level stuff. And you can enchant certain items too.

There's stacks more I can go on about - the replayablility factor for example is quite high - but stop reading this review, buy the game, and see for yourself. As for me, I'm off again ( as a ranger this time ) with my more traditional party of a fighter and a nature mage to kick some ass......er, no, I didn't mean you Pookie (my mule).

Highly recommended!!!

DS II is definitely what a "version 2" should be. The basic gameplay is the same as the original, but the engine, graphics and plot have been improved out of sight! The graphics are awesome. The AI is smart (but not omnipotent). The plot is interesting. Some game-sites have reviewed this as "good-but-not-great" due to the similarity with the original, but I say that is a bonus. If you've played DS I, then you won't need a tutorial to play DS II. Well done GPG!

If you loved the first Dungeon Siege you're almost guaranted to like the second.

It's not a completly new game but an evolution, it builds on what made the first game good as well as adding in some new features like evolving the control you have over pets, enchantable items and more.

I give it a 5/5 not because it's necessarily the best game ever, but because it acomplishes what it was supposed to, build on the first game and to keep you playing it from begining to end.

This game is a great RPG. Many of the elements of this game are similar to its predecessor but they have all been streamlined and updated. There are many neat new aspects to the game aswell, many are purely optional but allow for a great replayability score. Great for both single and LAN games, hours of fun. I totally recommend this game - trust me on this one.

Graphics - 8.5/10 (Not heavily improved from DS-1 Legends of Aranna, but still great and not too resource instensive - plays great with moderate video cards)

Gameplay - 9.5/10 (More customisation than you could throw a stick at, but still fluid; great and engorssing storyline)

Lifetime - 8.5/10 (Enough to keep you coming back multiple times)

Enjoy,
J

This is definitely what a sequel should feel like. Dungeon Siege 2 maintains the great combat with new improvements, great variety of enemies, more spells and skills to learn! There are plentiful amounts of weapons and armour just like what a RPG should have. Rares, uniques, sets, sure it's blatantly copying Diablo II but it fits in the Dungeon Siege world. The story isn't a let down, the NPC's are varied enough that if you don't like one you can just ditch them and get another! There are NPC quests, secret quests and an abundance of quests to take.

The scenery is beautiful with lush forests to dark foreboding caves. Spells look amazing as usual and the new skills are great! They can really turn the tide of battles. Visual effects have always been a strong point of Dungeon Siege and the sequel does everything brilliantly.

There are a few disappointments though. In Dungeon Siege there was an emphasize on saving up money (hoarding anyone?) and buying only what you could really afford, like in the first town where you could either buy new gear for your people, or choose between a mage and an archer, which made me cheat cause I was obsessed with getting everyone. xD With Dungeon Siege 2 though you have a main town for each area so ultimately never need to save up money because if you run out of room in your inventory you can just teleport back. If you need equipment you can just teleport back. If you need potions you can just teleport back. It loses the feeling of adventuring and hoarding potions from enemies as well as just picking the best stuff to take to the new town which, if it was your first play through, you really didn't know when you'd get there and with Dungeon Siege 2's set up of a main town and teleporting it goes back to Diablo II's repetitive nature.

A brilliant game still but I believe it loses part of what made Dungeon Siege 1 unique.