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Some RPG’s require careful thought, moral decisions, strategic combat formations, attention to character statistics…but not Dungeon Siege. Similar to Diablo and its wildly popular sequel, the original Dungeon Siege only required a willingness to move throughout the Kingdom of Ehb slaughtering all manner of enemies, only stopping once in awhile to upgrade weapons and armor. Legends of Aranna, the new expansion, while not tampering with the game engine or basic gameplay, does include some nifty new features and a whole new story.
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When Microsoft published Gas Powered Games’ original Dungeon Siege in 2002, gamers and reviewers were surprised and generally delighted by the action-RPG’s fluid 3D engine, colorful graphics, smooth area transitions, and exciting, combat-heavy gameplay. I’ll admit to becoming addicted to the game’s simple leveling system and linear path after spending over six months in the experience grind of Everquest. The storyline in Dungeon Siege, however, seemed almost an afterthought as it was the journey itself, filled with thousands of hostile creatures that constituted the bulk of gaming fun.
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While Gas Powered Games is presumably hard at work creating Dungeon Siege 2, the job of designing the expansion Legends of Aranna was given to Mad Doc Software, who did not stray far from the original’s successful hack & slash formula. The expansion comes bundled with the original game which benefits from the various enhancements created for Legends. I spent 27 hours dicing and slicing through the new areas, both above and underground before reaching the final conflict; a respectable amount of gameplay for an expansion, but it’s up to the player to decide whether more of the same quality of gameplay is necessarily better.
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STORY
The story is new, but not really; your neophyte character (the expansion does not allow your high-powered party from the first game to carry over) learns of a great threat to the island of Aranna called the Shadowjumper who must be stopped before…well, you know the drill. One noticeable improvement in the narrative was how the books/letters/documents found here and there actually relate to the unfolding story, unlike the arcane background lore in the original DS.
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GAMEPLAY
As in the original game, your character improves his or her abilities through usage. Stick with melee weapons and you automatically level up that skill as well as your strength. Ranged weapons improve dexterity, and using spells increases intelligence. Some NPC’s you’ll meet along the way are willing to join you (at no cost, unlike the mercenaries in DS) and a full party is preferable to confront the hordes of enemy clans, though it seems melee specialists have an advantage as they get a few hits in before the casters can get their damage spells to make contact.
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Speaking of magic, Legends includes a host of new spells for both Combat and Nature mages, including some new monsters to summon to your aid and a little shape shifting to make the mage into a big old bear or wolf. The problem with these spells is one of duration: summoned monsters last a few minutes at best and since you’ll be spending half your time busting open crates and chests (oh, the many, many crates…more on that later), your Vile Mucosa beast will often be standing around twiddling his six thumbs until he vanishes. Other new spells, like the glyph line, which sets a trap on the ground, need to be re-cast each time which isn’t as convenient as the damage spells that are cast automatically. Spell effects are colorful and full of sound and fury, but not visually impressive.
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While your party is cutting a path through the vast jungle of Aranna, they now make brief (very brief) comments along the line of “We must work together!” or “Behold my strength!” This is a nice attempt to give party members more distinct personalities, but their given scripts are too small to really flesh out their characters. You may find yourself turning the voices off after awhile, just don’t do that before you hear some of the crazy comments from Kraal, a fighter who sounds a lot like Christopher Walken. In battle, the party pretty much takes matters into their own hands (depending on how you set their action behavior in the interface panel) leaving you time to massage your wrists while they swing away at the enemies. The behavior of some enemies seems a bit more complex this time around, as some of them will start to run away when severely injured.
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After any fight, there is loot. Lots and lots of loot. This expansion has more unique and magically enhanced items than all the Black Isle games put together, to the point where I felt my party was a bit overpowered. There are also new item sets which grant better enhancements with each piece you find. But to get these randomly generated goodies, you must confront and tear apart hundreds of crates, barrels, chests, pots, and cages until it seems you have cleared out the wherehouse in the final scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I can only assume this was a design decision based on complaints that merchants in the original Dungeon Siege always had better items than what you found in the field (which was true), so this time around the better weapons and armor have been stored in tiny little pots.
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To help with the vast inventory management, some new convenient features were added such as the re-distribute potions function which at the press of a button shifts health potions to fighters and mana to casters, a time saver indeed and something other RPG designers should consider implementing. The player character gets a backpack which provides additional inventory slots, and a new pack animal is available which will also fight for the cause. You can also save time at the store by choosing to “sell all items” or just certain kinds of items, which works particularly well in Dungeon Siege since there is no real economy and merchants buy and sell for the same price. Many armor pieces have slightly different enhancements but in the grand scheme of things does it really matter if your half-giant (a new class of NPC but not available for the player character) has +5 armor compared to the human fighter with +1 to melee skill? I’ll admit it was comical to see those two with the same design outfit; sort of like father and son on a wilderness outing.
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Outdoor areas in Legends can be vast and confusing, though the ultimate path through the game is decidedly linear. The expansion now has a world map which shows your progress across the island, but the area map is still too localized and the gameplay would benefit from a full area map for each zone and dungeon. Most areas have a stationary NPC waiting to give you a quest, but since Dungeon Siege is all about clearing away the enemy, there isn’t much depth to these missions, and some of them gave no tangible rewards other than having them checked off in the quest journal.
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GRAPHICS AND SOUND
By now you may be thinking this is a fairly negative review, but now we get to elements that make the Dungeon Siege experience worth trying. The original game boasted some beautiful and varied environments and part of the motivation for continuing on was to see what the next area looked like. Legends of Aranna, though shorter, of course, also has some lovely jungles and primitive architecture and the atmospheric lighting changes to suit the mood of each new area. The background music and sound effects are pleasingly subtle and unobtrusive, while the noises in battle are chaotic and even smashing a crate reverberates like a small explosion (have I mentioned there are crates?). Though some of the underground rooms displayed a limited group of tile sets, the final confrontation room was brilliantly conceived and animated.
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MULTIPLAYER
Microsoft’s Zonematch service offers a multiplayer connection, or you can use a direct internet connection or LAN. There are no joinable NPC’s in multiplayer, which may make smaller parties more vulnerable, but there are resurrection shrines available so you can continue the hunt. As with any game’s online feature, connection speed can make a big difference.
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CONCLUSION
It’s a tricky business writing an expansion review since you are essentially reviewing the first game as well. Legends of Aranna continues the non-stop hack & slash of Dungeon Siege while adding some nifty new utilities and plenty of near-uber items to make an already newbie-friendly game even friendlier. Since the expansion comes with the original game, it’s a great gift for someone who hasn’t already played DS. Those who have may feel the $30 price tag is a bit steep.
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System Requirements:
- Microsoft® Windows® 98/Me/XP/2000
- PC with 333 MHz equivalent or higher processor
- 128 MB of system RAM
- 1.5 GB available hard disk space
- 32x speed or faster CD-ROM drive
- 8 MB video card required
- Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio
- Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
- 56.6 Kbps or better modem for 1-4 player online play; broadband or LAN for 5+ players
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