60 Second Review of…
Dungeon Siege
Mark's review: You see these commercials on late
night TV for devices designed to make your life simpler - robotic
potato peelers, juicers that will mash carrots, oranges, beans,
and even bricks into healthy life-reviving juice, rotisseries that
can cook anything from a tiny cornish hen up to a wild boar speared
just this afternoon in the dense underbrush, and self-cooking, self-cleaning
woks, crock pots, and toaster ovens. Dungeon Siege can stand right
among these wonders of the modern era, hawked by the energetically
earnest middle-aged man in the bad toupee and shiny suit along with
the rest of the miracle devices. Just let your finger lay lightly
on the mouse (think Michelangelo's God giving the divine spark to
Adam) and click on the healing or mana potions now and then. That's
all it takes. What can we expect in Dungeon Siege 2? You start the
game and go to dinner and a movie and come back to see the ending
credits? Someone tell Chris Taylor and Gas Powered Games that what
works for RTS isn't always a good idea for RPGs, even action-oriented
ones.
Tom's review: It's probably not a good thing when
a game makes you appreciate how good its direct competitor is. This
is what happened while I was playing Dungeon Siege. It made me appreicate
Diablo II for being a flexible game that constantly presents interesting
decisions at a brisk pace with compelling multiplayer support and
nearly limitless replay value. Dungeon Siege does none of this,
opting instead to streamline gameplay so much as to nearly eliminate
it.
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Gas Powered Games
Genre: post-Diablo RPG
Requirements: policy of non-interference when it comes to gameplay
June 19, 2002
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