Dungeon Siege III Previews

Obsidian Entertainment’s Dungeon Siege sequel has once again been given the hands-on preview treatment from a fistful of websites, including IGN UK:

As you’d expect from an RPG it comes with a fleshed out levelling system, but where it differs from some other action RPGs is that the world is open and can be revisited, even if its plot is linear. Having defeated the spiders, we wander off in the wrong direction but a quick press of the d-pad brings up a Fable-like breadcrumb trail that sets us back on the right path.

Pleasingly, it’s a path that’s littered with some of Obsidian’s densely entertaining stories – in dialogue, in pick-ups, on plaques throughout the dungeons but sadly there’s no sign of the much-missed mule from the first game. “The mule’s a tough thing,” explains Fergus, “I want to thank and punch Chris Taylor in the head for the mule.”

“We didn’t want people to worry about inventory anyway, to be forced to go back to town all the time.” If you’re truly distraught, there’s hope; “We’re talking about it for things in the future, as a lot of people really miss the mule – you know, [for] Hardcore Mule DLC,” explains a chuckling Fergus.

Then we stop by Evil Avatar for some more:

Two character choices were available when I began my 45 minutes or so play session. I chose Anjali; a character that shifts from a female humanoid form armed with a spear into a hovering flame hurling elemental based being with both melee, ranged and blast radius type fire attacks. Most of the levels that were played were based in a castle like structure, a small town and a forest with ample chances to provide a beat down for interested hostile individuals while also providing enough variant loot to keep you interested in busting open the chests that are littered throughout the country side.

As with previous iterations of the series it is easy to jump in and play. The upgradeable powers and multiple stances that influence your current skillset can vary a great degree and especially in cooperating play(Jump in and out) would indicate the replay value should be pretty high. Four players can play online together, one of each class which is a pleasant surprise given how easy it would be to take a full set of tank like players and turn it into a bash fest. The previous iteration theme continues as homage has been paid for previous versions with various story elements and items that revolve around heroes from Dungeon Siege’s past. One can only hope lead creative director that brought his A game to Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer(fantastic) does this title justice.

Before paying a visit to G4 for a three-minute video preview that rounds off the previous content.