Reviews of Dungeon Siege III - Xbox 360

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Dungeon Siege 3 has been much awaited as it brings the Dungeon Siege element to the Consoles. While the game has under gone a drastic amount of changes is it enough for this game to stand on, or have the changes made done nothing but sink the ship? In short a bit of both! Dungeon Siege 3 simplifies the experience and gears the entire game for console users essentially putting the PC experience on the back burner. In doing so gone are the micro managing of your comrades, a basic inventory system with a very basic leveling system that does little to promote individual variety(you eventually unlock everything).

Still what we have here is a solid game that will not be a disappointment to the Hack & Slash RPG fans of ye olde day such as Diablo, Titan Quest, etc.

GAMEPLAY

What can I say.. it is a hack n' slash RPG. Be prepared to go through dungeons grinding away on mobs and collecting loot! Dungeon Siege 3 does not disappoint in this category. It brings lots of gameplay something crucial to any video game; especially a hack and slash type. You have a choice of 4 pre-made characters which of course breaks down into typical Warrior, Caster, Rogue etc. When not in dungeons you will be visiting towns to buy and sell goods, pick up some simple quests that are not to bad to complete, and of course continue the storyline. It is fairly simple but gets the job done. Dungeons are varied as are the types of mobs you encounter so things get changed up enough to not get boring. Throw in a variety of difficulty levels and drop-in/out co-op and you have a pretty solid gameplay experience.

Combat is handled exceptionally well I feel for a hack & slash on a console. Your main attack and 3 skills are bound to your attack buttons while blocking and your stances are controlled via the shoulder/trigger buttons. During mid-combat with the warrior-type lets say, a bunch of trash rushes you just switch to a 2-handed stance and hack away. By doing this you open up your 2 Handed skills. Middle of the fight a boss mob comes in you can just switch, on the fly, back to a sword/shield stance and of course unlock 1 handed skills. You can map 3 skills per stance which makes you have to choice between the available skills per stance. Toss in Proficiencies, which add some customization to the skills by allowing you to pick a perk for that skill, and you have a simple yet somewhat diverse set of skills. While it is no Diablo or Titan Quest in skill variety and customization it keeps it very simple.

GRAPHICS

The game looks pretty good on the console. I have not checked it out on the PC but it is a very pretty game. The fire effects aren't bad and the variety of colors and effects for your skills are awesome. By no means is this a perfect engine here but it has graphical appeal and does help to make the world a bit more recognizable. I did notice some slow down on the PS3 version when I was looking awkwardly at fire with the camera, but I tend to try and kill the frame-rates on purpose at times. Combat however was very smooth and I noticed no difference between the PS3 or 360 versions when it came to the FPS during combat or cut-scenes.

SOUND/STORY

The effects and sound track here aren't bad. I would say average. Nothing special to talk about but the voice acting I would say is sub-par. Many times it seemed as is the actors/actresses really did not care much about their lines. This puts a damper on the already boring storyline. Yes there is a storyline here for a Hack & Slash! A detailed storyline to boot! Problem is I found the storyline incredibly boring and uninteresting. A lot of it had to do with the dialogue as it really didn't sell you on the story. Still there is some meat here to give purpose to your adventure.

REPLAY/LENGTH

What good is a hack & slash without replay!? Well this game boasts some solid replay value if you are up for it. Where as past Hack and Slash games I have played allow you to continue on harder difficulties with your existing loot... not the case here. There is no Game+ feature here. Instead you just start a new difficulty from square one again. Replay value will come down to simple trophy/achievement collecting, simple enjoyment of the game and of course Co-Op. The game itself took me around 13-15 hours to complete on my play-through; and I have yet to replay it on another difficulty since nothing carries over.

*** CO-OP FEATURES *** ( 4 player ONLINE support, no LAN support, 2 player LOCAL co-op )

A crucial part of this game that people have been getting confused about. Co-Op works very strange in this game and while it does work.. it doesn't at the same time. Much like how the game really simplified the elements almost to a fault, the Co-Op was simplified far past a fault. Not only is there a lack of Game+ here, but Co-Op works fairly backwards for a game of this type. If you hop into a game online or with your friend only, your SP character WILL NOT be used. No progress you make with your friend/PUG will carry to your account. You are simply there for moral support you could say. To make things worse, even if you are doing Co-Op on different accounts (like a 4 player PUG group) the host is who the camera centers on. Meaning you are locked into the hosts camera frame. While this just takes time to get used to, it seems like a colossal step backwards compared to previous hack&slash titles. The overall Co-Op experience can be a lot of fun if you put aside gear, level and just work as a team to have some fun.

OVERALL 73% (7.3) .. C

Dungeon Siege 3 is not a bad game by any means. It simplified the Hack & Slash elements to suit the console but in doing so it over-simplified the elements down to a no-brainer. While perhaps a disappointment at first glance Dungeon Siege 3 still brings gameplay to the table and lots of it. There is plenty to do here, and despite a slightly simplified dungeon design you still have tons of baddies to plow through and loads of loot to gather.

A weak inventory system holds it back as does the Co-Op method used by the game but still... this is the kind of game Hack and Slash fans have been craving for a long time. It is a fresh change of pace for the genre despite being simplified. While not a full-price for some, it is a game worth picking up if you are a fan of the genre. The flaws in DS3's armor are not bad enough to ruin the game but it might leave a sour taste if you set expectations to high.

**NOTE: I was disappointed with the absence of SET items. However with no real game+ mode, and a 10-15 hr campaign it is understandable why they were probably absent

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This is a pretty good game in the under 20 price range (currently) if you like playing rpgs with action elements and don't want to be playing the same game for a 4 month stretch. It's typical hack and slash gameplay; there is one sword button and the rest are special moves. Some strategy is required for the bosses and mini-bosses; you will die if you go head long into the battle and just stand there pressing the button. As has been stated in reviews it's a bit like gauntlet legends except with more story and upgradeable weapons and armor (maybe dragon age light is an appropriate description). Certainly not a boring game and you'll end up playing for a couple hour clips.

It's fairly short as far as length even if you do all the side missions but for 10-15 bucks you should enjoy the game.

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Born from legend to unite a legion, Dungeon Siege 3 is a very addictive action/rpg game that is in the same game play types as such as Dragon Age and LOTR War In The North. You can team up on Xbox Live or with friends at home in 4 player co-op. The story wich I wont talk about so I dont spoil anything for new fans is very solid and has some good depth to it. Players should also know that this was a PC game first that was ported over to the ps3 and the Xbox 360 so of course it may not look as good as the PC version but on Xbox 360 it still has crisp detail and excellent sound quality.

Return to the kindom of Ehb to define your destiny as one of four unique heroes, reunite with the last of the remaining legionnaries to rid the land of evil as you collect countless treasures, upgrade your abilities and acquire the ultimate combination of armor and weaponry. Join forces to expierence the true power of the legion. With full HDTV support, Dolby Digital Surround Sound and 1-2 player offline or 2 player co-op offline Dungeon Siege 3 is a multi-player expierence and on Xbox Live you can play 1-4 multiplayers or co-op 2-4 player where players can drop in or drop out of the game anytime they choose.

Honest reviews on Dungeon Siege III - Xbox 360

This game is somewhat short and almost predictable. While the graphics are amazing, the game however falls short in many categories. Ill break it down below.

Solo If you like to play solo, this game is NOT for you. Unless you play as Marcus, you are pretty much going to have a tough time in this game. The AI team mate does not...I repeat does Not hold aggro or act with very strong AI support. I played as Katrina, and found it extremely difficult to get through the campaign because she is range. The so called dodge/roll is like a double edged sword. You can avoid attacks completely but when you come out of the dodge, you can not pre-aim while rolling. So if your rolling away from the mob, when you try to fire...you will have to spend the extra 1 or 2 seconds to re-aim or you will just shoot in the opposite direction of the mob. I put this in this part because if your not tanking, you will be doing this since the AI party member can not attack first or get aggro. There is no party member tactics. So your stuck with it.

Camera control Still kinda hurt the game because you can not go low enough to see that far in front of you. Yet, you can look directly down at you which defeats the purpose of great graphics.

Character skills/abilities Yes I only played Katrina but understand that there is NO reason to play this game again once you complete it. The selection of abilities/spells is rather limited and somewhat child's play. There are 3 tiers and with in the tiers there is 3 abilities/spells. You can increase each one of these but it is divided into 2 different categories and limited to a total of 5 improvements in each spell. By the time you reach the end. you will have mastered most of the skills even the ones you do not want to. Its a big waste. No reason to limit what you want your own abilities.

Travel you run everywhere. There is no ability to teleport back to down or even take a short cut. In most cases, you have to go back and forth several times. While this may seem legit, it is worse when you have no ability to explore unless doing a quest. Although if you go every part while in a quest, you will find random chests everywhere. What is worse, you find yourself attacking the walls of the environment because you can not tell the difference between a breakable object with treasure inside or the wall.

Final review If you are looking for a decent rental, this is a decent game for that. I would not recommend buying this game. The story line is excellent but do not expect too much from this game. If you play online...make sure you create your own server. You can transfer items from one character to another.

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This type of game is one of my favorite genres. Its one that my wife and I can play through together and have fun doing it. That being said there are some definate problems that I feel must be written down so other fans will know before the purchase of this game.

1)Probobly my biggest issue with this game is the scripted combat. Once you start your character swinging, punching, shooting, etc. the combat follows a pattern that doesnt vary. It is nice when the game makers give you the ability to create your own combo within your combat.

2)Next and maybe I'm nit-picking here but with the multiplayer there is some one sidedness to the conversations here. Yeah it is nice that all four players can select which dialogue that they would prefer in conversations but ultimately the party leader/player one has the only real choice in the matter. Also the money goes into a community pot rather than individual accounts which can be frustrating at times.

3)There is no way to have two players in the equipment selection screen as with other games in the genre. My wife and I have been fans of this type of game since the Balders Gate game came out on the PS2 whenever we could find a dungeon crawling multiplayer game we were there. Now this might not seem like such a big deal but when you each get something new that you want to checkout it can be quite annoying to have to wait while the other person takes his sweet time checking out the new item he just recieved(my own personel flaw).

There might be some other minor issues that I have with this game but all in all this is one of the best games in the genre to come out recently I would definatly recommend buying this game if you are into a good dungeon crawl with friends just be aware that player one ultimately in the one in charge of the story.

Hope this helps anyone still on the fence about this game.