We really enjoyed the original Dungeon Siege game and have been distant fans of the series ever since. The Xbox Live Marketplace had the demo available yesterday so we gave it a shot and took some quick notes.
UI / Camera / Graphics
– Camera angle is fine for singleplayer, but in Coop mode where you share a screen the angle is far too low (looking down) so you lose your view of the great world.
– The world and graphics are nice looking. There is a lot of depth and height used, similar to what Blizzard is doing with Diablo 3 in those scenes where you can look down and see you’re way up high. No complaints here.
– The UI and controls are comfortable and function well. The menus and navigation of the important stuff aren’t confusing.
Gameplay
– There aren’t many skills. We were disappointed to see only 9 skills per character even though they upgrade in potency. Talents are also available, although they too are limited and only gain one of two upgrades (you choose). It’s really too bad there aren’t bigger talent trees or skill trees.
– Forward momentum during combat is too low and makes gameplay uncomfortable since there’s a knockback with every weapon. You hit a monster and it gets knocked back, yet you only move forward slightly. The result is that combat does not flow as well as it should.
– There are no potions. This was a complete pain on the boss since the boss’ damage was so high. Killing and attacking mobs gives you health and there are certain abilities you can use to increase regen, but it is a poor substitute for the classic potion model that worked just fine.
– Monster density is way, way, way, way, waaaaay too low. There was so much empty space with no purpose. Is this a demo only thing? Hopefully…
– The ‘stance’ mechanic is neat. Changing stances and using abilities that belong to one stance and switching to the other and using those abilities makes gameplay in combat active, despite only having 3 active abilities per stance.
Overall
The console version feels a little off. We’re anxious to try the PC demo coming on the 7th. If it’s not any better, we’re sad to say that this might be a skip for us. We both recommend that you do not impulse buy this one before trying out the demo. We’ll give a quick update after trying to PC version to let you all know what we decide.
Did they do away with the pack animals?
Good question. There were none in the demo so I am not sure. I loved them, though.
I’ve read this played way more like an arcade beat-em-up than an RPG. That correct?
@SynCaine: Have you ever played Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance or EverQuest: Champions of Norrath? It’s like those. It has definite RPG elements. It has chat trees, story, an inventory (so items), and many RPG elements yet at the same time it’s very action hack’n’slash.
Video Killed the Radio Star? How about consoles killed top down RTS/RPGs. We’re constantly seeing the dumbing down of video franchises so that they “work” on consoles. Sad really.
i loatheeeeeee consoles.