Dungeon Siege II: a successor is named (again)

Through a mixture of flagrant opinions and glowing reviews, Diablo II has come to define the action RPG. After the recent release of the 1.11 patch I reinstalled, hoping to pull myself away from the steely grip of World of Warcraft. Playing Diablo II again reminded me of a few things that one should come to expect when playing an action RPG, creating an ideal opportunity to prepare for the Dungeon Siege II demo.

Ever since Diablo II's release five years ago, many games have tried to claim its mantle. In the past I've named Divine Divinity, Dungeon Siege, Guild Wars and World of Warcraft as successors to the game until Blizzard sees fit to revisit the world of Sanctuary. Even Wild Tangent's Fate has been recently compared to the elegant simplicity of Diablo II, but for me it plays more like a clone of Darkstone than a true homage.

Dungeon Siege II is probably the closest anyone's come to duplicating the Diablo II experience. Overbearing story aside, every single gameplay mechanic is intact - complete with the waves of monsters intent on your destruction.

Maybe it's nostalgia, but I remember Dungeon Siege having fairly impressive visuals. Dungeon Siege II seems to have taken a downturn, or at least assumed that we wouldn't notice a significant advancement of their three-year-old engine. Character models and environments appear meager in comparison to Neverwinter Nights. While the expansive canopy of trees in the demo's first mission can be impressive, it gets to be distracting when you're trying to click on the swarms of monsters heading in your direction. Thankfully, the original game's camera system is still in place. I also liked that the automap actually follows you this time, complete with auto rotation. I can't even describe how livid I was at having to determine what direction I was going on Dungeon Siege's static maps.

When Gas Powered Games said you would have more control over your character in Dungeon Siege II, they came through with their promise. In addition to leveling one of the four main skills through use (Melee, Ranged, Combat Magic or Nature Magic), you gain points to spend on "specialties" for each of those skills. Specialties are passive abilities that add bonuses to your character's attacks such as improved fire spell damage, or more accurate shots from ranged weapons. On top of that, these passive skills contribute to what Powers your character can use. Powers are a unique twist - they're one-off abilities that are separate from your mana pool, but take time to recharge. My fire mage gained a Power called "Flame Nexus" early on, which does a great amount of damage - but is indiscriminate in its sphere of casting.

The "Kill-Reward" philosophy is alive and well in Dungeon Siege II, and for the most part that's the only reason I kept playing. The story is absolutely horrid, and the voice acting does little to alleviate its hollowness. Though this could hardly be considered a weakness, as both the original Dungeon Siege and Diablo II focused very little on developing the backdrop for your quests, and instead stressed the need to level up and get more powerful gear to take on The Big Boss Monster. The truth is, this meta-concept didn't matter during play - it was always about one more level, one more quest, one more chapter - the act of clicking itself became an addiction of sorts. I'd say the biggest problem I have with playing Dungeon Siege II is that you must click every spot you want your party to go. This is infinitely annoying during the many retreats I had to make from its intimidating larger monsters.

I think what impressed me the most about this demo is the amount of gameplay included - there's enough in there for anyone unsure of delving into the final product to make an educated decision. It's very clear that Gas Powered Games has gone through great lengths to try and duplicate the experience of Diablo II; that it should come five years after the fact is probably a testament to Blizzard's original design. That Dungeon Siege II should succeed in doing so is an indicator of its own quality, and I fully intend to be playing the full version when it hits next week.

fresh blood through tired skin