icrosoft has gotten into games in a big way. Its Age of Empires series has been the belle of the real-time ball for several years, and both of its MechWarrior franchises—MechCommander and MechWarrior—have raked in their fair share of money. It was only a matter of time until the software giant strode onto the computer role-playing stage. Well, that time has come, and Microsoft's role-playing release is Dungeon Siege—a down-and-dirty medieval role-playing game with more than its share of surprises (including a bit of science fiction).
The Kingdom of Ehb was a peaceful place. Once part of the Empire of Stars, the kingdom has long since earned its independence. Life was good: farmers farmed, traders traded, and women of the night—well, never mind. But then came the Krug. Orc-like beings armed with rudimentary swords and clubs, they swarmed over the fringe villages of the kingdom. All knew the Krug lacked the intelligence to mount their own invasion, so there must be a greater malice behind their incursions. It's the gamer's job to seek that malice and save the Kingdom of Ehb.
The seeking is done from a 3-D semi-isometric viewpoint. The camera can be rotated, raised or lowered. Up to eight adventurers may join the quest to save Ehb, and each fights in the real-time battles against Krug, spiders, poisonous insects and such. The quest may be fought alone or gamers may log on to the Internet or a local area network to fight alongside the grocer down the street or the teenager who lives next door.
A new face for
good old monster-bashing fun
Dungeon crawls are as old as role-playing itself. Most role-playing games, be they computer or pencil-and-paper, center on the dungeon and the characters' abilities to hack and slash their way through it. So it is that those games have become a bit long in the tooth. But that was before Dungeon Siege strutted onto the scene. A high-tech, beautifully rendered crawl, the game does a lot right and little wrong.
The interface is simple—press the keyboard to select a weapon and click a monster to attack. As more characters join the party, formations may be set with another click or two. For really challenging combats, pause the game, and then give more complex orders to each of the characters. It's simple, it's fun, and it makes fighting the hordes of monsters a blast.
There is, however, more here than simple monster-bashing. Tons of equipment waits to be found (that when worn alters the character's appearance), large areas beg to be explored, and leveling up needs to be done. Unlike most role-playing games, gamers do not mold their characters' attributes by awarding "attribute" points as the character levels up. No, Dungeon Siege characters level up in a manner consistent with the way they are used. If a fighter constantly swings his sword, his melee skill will rapidly improve. On the other hand, casting spells increases the caster's magic expertise. Very cool.
All that, and the game is beautiful as well. Torches flicker against dungeon walls, wide canyons open beneath narrow wooden bridges, and lightning bolts and fireballs flash during combat. It's spectacular. In fact, that word aptly describes the Dungeon Siege experience. This is a quality game; one that challenges, yet entertains, one that will remain on hard drives well into the next year.
Rarely has a game done so many things right. A blast to play and a beauty to behold.
— Mark
Back to the top.
