Review: Dungeon Siege III

Obsidian tries their hand at hack-and-slash with a dash of Mass Effect.

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Square-Enix
Platforms:  PS3/ Xbox 360/ PC [Xbox 360 reviewed]

Obsidian Entertainment is a company that’s known for producing titles with great stories but tons of glitches. Let’s face it, when you hear of a new title from Obsidian you go in expecting a top notch story but ready to be annoyed with more bugs than a cheap motel. For once Obsidian has managed to create a game that not only plays great with an interesting tale to be told but is also relatively bug free!

Dungeon Siege III continues the hack-and-slash franchise that was made popular on the PC thanks to the series original creators Gas Powered Games, but manages to imbue more story and character than either of the franchises two previous efforts. 

You’ll play the role of one of four Legionnaires, members of the once legendary 10th Legion on a quest to take down Jeyne Kassynder and restore The 10th Legion to the glory it once held in Ehb. It’s old-school fantasy fare to be sure but Obsidian has managed to breath some life into the tale of the Legion with 4 likable characters and a storyline with a few surprise twists along the way. 

Out of the four characters, I took a liking to the fire deity Anjali and the geeky and awkwardly amusing Mage Reinhart. It’s a good thing their likable too as you’ll spend more than a few hours hacking away at goblins, hell hounds, cyclops and all matter of beasties throughout Ehb. 

Obsidian Entertainment has done a fine job of bringing their knack for storytelling to Ehb and it shows in every dungeon, character and item. Thanks to Obsidian, Ehb is no a longer a generic fantasy land filled with monsters to be slain but a world filled with history and lore. Lore that you’ll consistently be presented with in the various NPC’s you’ll encounter. 

Obsidian in the past has worked with BioWare and it shows in Dungeon Siege III’s dialogue system. You’ll come across many characters that force you to make choices in a dialog tree. It lacks the punch of BioWare’s Mass Effect when it comes to choice and consequence but it adds a nice layer of interactivity. 

While the story of The 10th Legion won’t win any awards for originality, Obsidian has still managed to weave a story that will prod you to do more than mash buttons for hours but actually take in the world around you, and it’s a beautiful world to. 

Dungeon Siege III is gorgeous, filled with tons of detail in not just the diverse enviroments like swamps, mansions or even mystical pathways to other worlds but also in the main characters themselves. Obsidian has done a great job with their new in-house Onyx engine putting plenty of polish to Ehb and adding some sexy walking animations for the Liscanzi Witch of the group Katarina. 

Best of all, is that all of this visual splendor comes with little loading times, letting you focus on slaying monsters and collecting mountains of loot.

Which brings me to the loot systems biggest problem. You would imagine that the best loot to be found would be on the battlefield, but you would be wrong. Time and time again I discovered that the real high-class gear to be had was found at random merchants in towns. You’ll come across a few powerful artifacts and gear on your quest to defeat Jayne Kassynder in the swamps and dungeons of Ehb but if you really want to trick out your Legionnaire you’ll need to save your pennies for the many merchants that inhabit Ehb.

Dungeon Siege III is a game best enjoyed with friends, allowing for 4 player co-op action online. And while the system works relatively well, it all falls apart due to Obsidian’s decision to employ a shared camera while in co-op play. Similar to Fable II’s co-op system that gave birth to many disappointed gamers, Obsidian has decided to have players 2-4 have little to no control over the top-down camera. Forcing players to go along with player 1 and hope they’re kind enough to give you enough wiggle room to hit back at monsters spilling in from off-camera. 

Playing couch co-op or 2 player co-op online was where I found the sweet spot. Dealing with more than 2 players on screen led to severe camera frustration, to the point it became a hassle. 

Dungeon Siege III isn’t going to set the dungeon crawling genre on fire, if anything most of us are waiting for Diablo III. That said, Obsidian Entertainment has done an admirable job with the Dungeon Siege franchise, producing a slick and highly polished hack-and-slash title that’s highly addictive and fun to play with friends. 

While it has its shortcomings, gamers looking for their next loot collecting fix on consoles would do well to pick up Dungeon Siege III.  

Galaxy Minute

-A solid and polished title from Obsidian… I know, I’m as shocked as you are!

-Old-school dungeon crawling fun that’s best with a friend

-The best loot isn’t always in the battlefield. So save your pennies for the merchants of Ehb

-Highly detailed characters and lush lighting show off Obsidian’s new in-house engine to great effect

-Online 4 player co-op camera is a pain

By: Mike