The plot of the game dungeon siege 3. Dungeon Siege III - game review
A little less than a year has passed since Square Enix pleased with the news about the development of Dungeon Siege 3. She intended to return us to the world of the Kingdom of Eb, where we once began our journey as an ordinary farmer Obsidian, which has already produced more than one, successful and not so successful, sequel.
New old
Experience recent years hinted that with multiplatform continuations of old series, not everything goes smoothly. By evil irony or evil pattern, this is what happened. The console version of the game suffers from “ladders” and “soap”, and the computer version inherited from it an inconvenient interface and an insane camera.
The attempts to make the game universe familiar and interesting to those who have already played previous parts of Dungeon Siege and to those who visit Eb for the first time cannot be underestimated. Thus, the new old kingdom of Eb, except for plot references and common names, is in no way similar to the previously familiar world. In contrast to the new world, the writers filled the bookshelves of the forts and dungeons with books about the history of the world, families, kingdoms and everything in between. (For those who are especially curious and just collectors, there are a couple of achievements for collecting all the volumes).
Atypical heroes
The game begins with a gloomy introduction, the last of the surviving legionnaires will tell how the king died thirty years ago under mysterious circumstances, how Jane Kasinder gathered an army of fanatics and destroyed the entire Tenth Legion, and how the hero, quite by chance, turned out to be a descendant of those same legionnaires.
The same Jane.
The descendants of the legionnaires, who are also the game characters, turned out to be curious and became one of the highlights of the game. IN Dungeon Siege 3 There was no place for banal magicians and archers. A lover of firearms and also an attractive witch, Katarina. Archon Anjali, in human form wielding a spear, and in fiery form burning enemies. And more familiar characters. Technomage Reinkart, who, in addition to ball lightning, can “creatively destroy” his enemies. And the warrior Lucas Montbarron, who wields both two-handed and one-handed weapons, depending on the chosen stance.
Stands have a special role in the game. By and large, all the mechanics of combat fall on them. Whether we hit those who are nearby or those who are far away depends on the choice of stance. Each character has three in total: melee, ranged and protective spells. (The exception is Lucas Montbarron, his ranged combat is replaced by skills that reduce the distance to enemies). Magics are neatly scattered across the appropriate racks and thereby shape the character’s play style.
The battles themselves seem dynamic at first, but later turn out to be monotonous. Opponents always attack in a crowd and crush in numbers, but this only lasts until you learn powerful mass spells. And boss fights always turn into a technical dance, consisting of endless strafes and magic bullets. Players who like it “harder” can try playing on a difficult level, since the settings can be easily changed during the game in the menu. Then the bosses will become exactly twice as strong, and mistakes in battle can result in “one-shots” (As the developers indicated in the difficulty description: “Not recommended for players who like to throw joysticks”). 
Even the undead are running away from the cemetery.
Dungeon corridors
After each big boss, we are entitled to a debriefing, dotting the i's and a fresh portion of the plot. Sometimes, we will make decisions that will subsequently affect the ending. Whether we decide to regret or execute the defeated enemy, to keep or give away the old mansion, the end of the game will be the same, except that in the finale we will be told a slightly different story.
The plot itself is not drawn out, throughout the 10 hours of the game we are constantly running forward along the “corridors”, doing what we should, and acting according to our conscience. It is simply impossible to get lost in the kingdom. Therefore, just in case, the developers Not provided a map of the world and free travel on it. The only way to quickly get from one place to another is to use portals, in which we still have to run along a long corridor on our own two feet. 
This is what the transition through the portal looks like.
Here it is worth paying tribute to the beauty of the game. The same transitions between worlds and the mines of the gnomes enchant the eye with a riot of colors and unusual surroundings. And the battle with the last bad guy deserves special praise. The only thing that can spoil the impression here is the omnipresent camera, which you just want to move away even more to admire the landscape. 
I just want to move the camera away.
Not heroes alone
Particularly pleasing is the sense of humor of the inhabitants of the kingdom. Party members will not fail in the heat of battle to complain about the death of a character and ask not to do this again. And when traveling around the world, they often make sarcastic remarks. The goblins in Stonebridge complain about the laws prohibiting practicing fortune telling on cats. And epitaphs on gravestones traditionally amuse the Darwin Award nominees.
If the gameplay and combat can cause criticism, then the work on the world was done brilliantly. The vagabonds of Leskanzi speak exactly like vagabonds, the villagers from Vranov Yar like ordinary villagers, and the mechanical guards in Kamenomost demonstrate the wonders of machine logic, and the city of techno-magic itself looks like a real stronghold of magic and technology. All this is neatly placed within the framework of one plot and kingdom, and ultimately gives us a sense of the integrity of the world. 
Tower. Rain. Boss. The epic meter went off the charts.
Another sequel
It's hard to say whether Obsidian overestimated his strength, or, on the contrary, underestimated. Let's chalk up the camera, interface and controls to differences in platforms, and even then it feels like something hasn't been worked on enough. A strong plot and a well-developed world, together with a good storytelling style, barely overcomes monotonous battles, a weak role-playing system and endless corridors. But the main thing is that returning to Eb is worth turning a blind eye to the little things. Having discarded a bunch of minor and not very shortcomings, we get a decent game, with which we don’t mind spending another evening. Well, at the very end we get a hint of a quick return to the kingdom of Eb.
Game rating: 7.5 out of 10
The Gas Powered Games studio, which appeared in 1998, has created many popular games. But the series “Dungeon Siege” brought her real fame. The first “Dungeon Siege”, released back in 2002, was loved by many for its decent, albeit rather banal plot, good graphics, excellent soundtrack, authored by the famous composer Jeremy Soule, as well as a rather interesting combat system and character leveling.
In 2005, Dungeon Siege II was born. The game could boast of a fairly good and interesting plot, much improved graphics, and also improved compared to the prequel gameplay. In addition to this, the game had other advantages: excellent control of party members, a user-friendly interface and many others.
No less than 6 years have passed since the release of the second part. The development of the third part of the game all this time was not carried out by the founder of the series, but by Obsidian Entertainment, known for such games as Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas"and others. But did this company manage to create a worthy sequel? Let's check. So, meet “Dungeon Siege 3”!..
"The Rise of the Maid of Orleans or the Tragedy of the Sons of the Regiment"
The entire plot of Dungeon Siege 3 takes place 150 years after the events of the second part in the kingdom of Eb, which was founded by members of the powerful 10th Legion, which helped the monarchy and for many years provided the kingdom with stability, protection and justice.
But after the death of the last monarch, Civil War between the Legion and a certain Jane Cassynder, who attracted not only ordinary people, but also the Church under her banner, under the pretext that it was the Legion that killed the king. As a result of a protracted 30-year war, the Legion was practically wiped off the face of the earth, and Kassynder herself and the Church controlled by her captured the eastern part of the kingdom of Eb, which disintegrated during the conflict into a smaller territory. From the mighty Legion, destroyed by an unknown and powerful spell, only a pitiful handful remained, led by the Venerable Odo, the last legionnaire of the old school. Deciding, at all costs, to win back the kingdom from the rebel, Odo decided to gather all the heirs of the Legion and restore it...
The plot is quite logical and moderately epic, although, if you look closely, it is not the most original story about how bad guys fought with good guys. There are many books, notes and conversations scattered throughout the game world, from which you can glean a lot of interesting information about the kingdom of Eb, its past and its inhabitants. In addition, the game contains references to previous events.
In "Dungeon Siege 3" there is, in addition to the main storyline, and many side quests. And although a significant part of them, alas and ah, are made in the style of “go-fetch”, “go-kill-bring evidence” and the like, the game also contains more interesting tasks, the plot of which is intertwined with the tasks of the main plot.
Sometimes quests are quite confusing and it can be difficult to determine who is right and who is wrong. Our actions and choice of phrases in dialogues - executed, by the way, in the style of “ Dragon Age 2" - help us gain the trust of our colleagues and others and influence the course of events. Unfortunately, such forks take up at most one fifth of the gameplay, so there are too few such situations where you have to face moral dilemmas.
The graphical performance of “Dungeon Siege 3”, although not the best modern technologies, but is at a quite decent level. The game boasts an almost seamless world and very rare loading times, lasting no more than a minute. The locations themselves are carefully detailed and quite beautifully decorated, this cannot be taken away from the game.
The game also has a partially destructible environment, but mostly it is limited to scripted scenes, obstacles that need to be destroyed on the way, and barrels and boxes that may contain something hidden that you can profit from. In addition, the game has quite good special effects - lighting effects, the use of magical abilities, combustion, explosions and other elements are made quite beautifully and can please the eyes.
Unfortunately, the game does not have an open world. Throughout the game we will have to move through locations exclusively of the “corridor” type. We have the necessary freedom of movement and action, but such restrictions sometimes cause serious irritation.
The camera in the game, as before, is located on top, allowing us to look around everything with an eagle's eye and notice both enemies and stray belongings. Sometimes she chooses far from the most successful angles, but on the whole she is quite tolerant.
Unlike previous installments in the series, Jeremy Soule did not contribute to the soundtrack. His place was taken by composers such as Jason Graves and Tim Wynn, who wrote just over 90 compositions for the game. Among the tracks, where there are mainly choral and instrumental compositions, there is also dynamic, exciting music that fits perfectly and organically into the game style.
Alas, the same cannot be said about the voice acting... Yes, the actors’ voices suit the characters, but there is almost no acting in them: there is not a hint of sincerity, expression and enthusiasm. Throughout the entire game, you can’t help but feel that the actors are simply reading the text from a piece of paper.
"With good intentions, but with clumsy hands"
What about the gameplay? How is it different from the previous parts, and in what direction did the changes go?
In the previous part, we could choose gender, appearance, skills and other elements that allowed us to create, for example, a warrior from a fragile and graceful dryad, scattering the remains of opponents with a wave of his sword, or develop the abilities of a battle mage in a half-giant and hand a bow into his hands. There's nothing like that in Dungeon Siege 3. The game allows us to choose one of four characters, whose skills, professions, races and biographies are strictly defined.
The only good thing, perhaps, is the interesting selection of characters - in addition to the magician and the warrior, the list of available characters includes an archon girl who changes her appearance from human to elemental-fire and a witch who masterfully wields not only all types of firearms, but also curses.
Each character has two fighting styles, and each of them includes three active skills. They also have three more slots responsible for auras, auxiliary spells and/or additional skills.
In the process of increasing the level and using skills, we are given points that can be allocated for pumping up skills, during which it will be possible to add certain effects to them - increased damage, range, stun/weakening effects and others. Points can also be spent on increasing passive talents, which then receive a permanent increase.
At first, using this arsenal in battle can be entertaining, but as you progress, the repeated skirmishes become boring to the point of stupor. The only exceptions are rare “bosses”, battles with which are not the easiest task.
The tactics in Dungeon Siege 3 are not particularly diverse. Mostly the battles look like this: while the hero is fighting against an overwhelming number of opponents, he tumbles like a mad hedgehog across the battlefield, occasionally blocks enemy teeth, and even attacks opponents from time to time, taking out the weak and weakening the strong. The only “tactical maneuver” in such situations is the timely use of special techniques, the energy for which is collected during successful hits on enemies. They usually help to dramatically improve the situation on the battlefield.
By the way: the familiar bottles that restore health and mana are no longer in the game. They were replaced by green spheres that dropped from defeated enemies. On the one hand, this innovation is useful, but on the other hand, when enemies are pressing on you from all sides, and your health is at a critical level, it is not only annoying, but also forces you to restart from the last checkpoint, which are scattered across locations that are not the most literate way.
The ability to dress up your character in any equipment you like has been cut by the developers. From now on, you are allowed to wear and use equipment that contains the face of the main character in its background - that is, a designation that this thing is suitable for you. Changing equipment is almost not reflected on the character - except in those rare cases when it is possible to find unique equipment. The rest of the things look the same and differ only in the buffs offered to them. Those things that do not suit the main character can either be safely sold or gifted to those characters with whom you will walk at certain moments.
Speaking of these same companions... Unlike the previous part, where the hero could take with him a small gang of characters and various kinds of animals, here we will be able to take with us only one companion at a time. On top of that, we won’t be able to control it, as it was before - all the satellite’s actions are controlled exclusively by Artificial intelligence. From time to time, companions die during battle, and you have to revive them. If you die, then the character will perform the same action, if, of course, he has time. If not, then you will have to start from the last checkpoint.
Dungeon Siege 3 has the ability to joint passage simultaneously four people– that is, you and your friends, who will get the skins of the other characters. At such moments, tactical techniques appear in the game - covering, distracting strong opponents, pinning enemies in a ring and other maneuvers that make life difficult for enemies. In such conditions, interest in the game increases by an order of magnitude. The downside of this multiplayer is, perhaps, that you will be free to choose only from those heroes that your comrade does not play.
Let's summarize. Alas, just like Alpha Protocol, the previous independent project of this studio, Dungeon Siege 3 was not the most successful game. Yes, the workers from Obsidian created such projects as Fallout: New Vegas and Neverwinter Nights 2, and the masters of this studio had a hand in creating such a masterpiece as Fallout 2, but to continue the famous series in the same spirit breathe into it new life it didn't work out for them. Dungeon Siege 3 looks rather pale compared to modern RPGs. The game will appeal to those people who want to play something simple and beautiful that doesn’t force them to strain their brains every second, as well as ardent fans of the “Dungeon Siege” series.
Gameplay– 6 points.
Graphic arts– 7 points.
Sound– 8 points.
Control– 8 points.
Multiplayer– 7 points.
Overall score – 7.2 points
Dungeon Siege 3, among other things, came out on consoles, and that's probably great. For console users, of course. I happened to get acquainted with the PC version of the game, and after the stress I experienced, I don’t want to talk about anything other than the poor, inconvenient controls and interface. Why happy users of a computer mouse in a “traditional PC-style RPG” were seated behind gamepad controls is impossible to understand. For the first hour of the game, you want to cry tears of blood, swear, and destroy some of the nearest household utensils. I waited and waited for Dungeon Siege 3, I wanted to comfortably call all the local monsters to death, while at the same time figuring out which labyrinth to go into next and impressively clear territory after territory. Why do I need your console rolls, why this infuriating aiming of the blow?
OK then.
With a stick in our teeth, we launch DS3 for the second time. It’s not just that the money was given to the developers.
DS3 can easily be called a "corridor RPG". Throughout the game, legionnaires (local forces of good, on whose side we actually stand) walk along the pipe. The funny thing is, now we are talking not only about dungeons and forest paths, but also about almost everything else - swamps, cities (!), villages, other worlds - all corridors with rare growths of castles and other city halls.
The plot, for its part, is also not particularly twisted and in this regard pleasantly correlates with the pipe of locations. The enemies once again burned down the native corridor, the native hut of the already distressed better times Legion named after goodness, justice and centralized power. By luck, not included in the general distribution main character(options are possible here) must go on a campaign against the forces of Evil, split and revolution, because you can’t just take it and leave it as it is. Something like this.
Perhaps local intrigues and showdowns will be interesting to fans of the previous parts, but the story of DS3 itself cannot boast of either exciting action or colorful characters (talking busts, if anything, are available, you don’t have to worry about that), and therefore is capable to captivate only the player who is initially inclined to take in the next fantasy.
It cannot be said unequivocally that the transformation of locations into one long pipeline is a pronounced flaw, because various figures of NPCs, monsters, shops, chests and other little things are still skillfully placed by the developers along the walls of the tunnel, and running back and forth can be fun, don’t look, that you can’t take a step left or right. In general, many RPGs are essentially the same pipes leading from point A to point B, only in disguise. Another thing is that such an extreme simplification of locations and the game path as a whole, a seemingly technical aspect, reduces many important aspects for role-playing games, such as the notorious immersion in the atmosphere, after which you can easily swallow a passing story, not choke and even be satisfied, to no. It’s impossible to take all these errands seriously.
The game's role-playing system is traditionally sluggish for recent projects. As in , in DS3 you can either be a completely paladin of goodness, justice and light, or still a little bit of a bastard and not help everyone in need and use salty phrases in dialogues. In general, this is where the room for maneuver ends. It is not clear what the differences are between the various lines in the dialogues. There is no need at all to listen and read the explanations of those you meet, what exactly they want from you. What monster is hiding where, who it eats and how it attacks, who offended the next victim and who needs to be punished - it doesn’t matter, the outcome is the same, goodies for the quest and ends in the water. The little stories of the quest givers are not interesting enough to be valuable in themselves, alas.
Pumping - yes, pumping is cute. All sorts of perks, talents, statistics and percentages of critical hits - everything is in place, it’s interesting to play. True, the names of some parameters-attributes do not mean what they mean: for example, I had to give up weapons and armor that increase “rock”. That is, rock to everyone, guys, of course, but... what is this attribute about? It is not entirely clear who exactly should be blamed for such confusion, whether the developers were too clever or the talented translators.
Another cruel joke of the “team RPG” Dungeon Siege 3 is this very team component. On the one hand, we were not deceived; from time to time during the adventure we meet characters who were rejected by the player when choosing the main character/heroine, and join the campaign in supporting roles. Even that same system of influence (see BioWare) with allies’ approval and disapproval of your actions and ways of doing things on the spot, but: only the main character and one of his comrades can enter the battlefield at the same time. At this time, according to the rules of the game, the rest must hide somewhere in a backpack among the equipment.
Maybe I’m already completely finished with my Starcraft 2, but after the first message “the limit of allies on the battlefield has been exceeded, let the rest hide in the house” I didn’t even try to find out whether this limit would increase over time or level, but simply sold all the accumulated I scrubbed and forgot about all the allies, except for the first archon I met.
However, without succeeding in almost anything that concerns the concept of “deep RPG”, DS3 remains a more or less interesting slasher. Having cried all your bloody tears over the dead “computer” controls, in the end you begin to put up with console controls (you can plug a gamepad into the computer’s USB port somewhere, it certainly won’t get any worse) and you begin to truly enjoy the game. You can safely ignore the dialogues, don’t bother with a fine selection of complementary skills of your partners, don’t bother with battle tactics - we just run from one end of the pipe to the other and fervently bend everyone over until we get bored.
Over the past few years, even the most persistent PC exclusives, unable to bear it, fled to the console market, and well-known brands crashed on the reefs of casuality. turned into a linear disgrace with colored tracers, said goodbye to its simulation roots, spat on the layout before operations, and only the developers know how low-fat the autumn game will be on the Xbox 360. Dungeon Siege 3 does not dishonor the glorious name, but hardcore fans of the original can safely pass by. This game is not made for them at all.
Belongings after ancestors
Despite its considerable experience and rich heritage of the series, Obsidian Entertainment I decided to return to hateful topics. The king, beloved by the people, was treacherously overthrown from his throne, and the glorious legion, which included respectable knights, magicians and spies, was blamed for this. But the popular persecution had not really begun when another attack struck the order. Jane Cassinder- a merciless creature. She gathered a huge army and, having destroyed almost the entire military power of the legion, began to wreak havoc and terror everywhere. But it’s too early to despair! Elder Odo in secret from everyone, he raised several children from a noble family and is gladly ready to shake the old days in order to revive the legion again.
The authors abandoned the character generator, offering a fixed set. The choice is one of four orphans. Each one has their own little backstory and unique calling. Lucas Montbarron- an excellent warrior. Prefers contact combat with swords and blocks enemy blows with lightning speed. Semi-mythical creature Anjali does not come close to the enemy, throwing fireballs at him, covers himself with fire and causes faithful dog. Reinhart Manx– a gifted magician with an unusual steam-punk device on his belt. He likes to fry his opponent with a large charge of electricity, both from close range and from afar. And the beauty Katarina In general, she grew up in a tribe of nomads and mainly uses only firearms. As you progress, all the characters will come together, and the player will have a constant companion. Choosing a hero in Dungeon Siege 3, basically, only affects dialogue.
The boring and almost linear plot is diluted with a bit of side quests. Residents with exclamation marks above their heads are not eager to share stories about their plight and, like the Ministry of Internal Affairs officers, briefly report only the most important things. A young widow has been grieving for just a few days over her recklessly brave husband. She is ready to pay a decent amount to the first person she meets, just to avenge the dead man. The dilapidated castle, saturated with darkness and fear, frightens not only with atmospheric music, but also with the contents of scattered diaries and a huge painted picture. The ghost of a girl languishing in captivity asks for help to find peace, but the path will be blocked by magical spirits. Seems interesting? But the hope for an intriguing story burns out like a candle when the ghost says a few words of gratitude and leaves. The task is over, the story is forgotten. It’s sad, but even with such quests there are requests that have not gone beyond the boundaries of MMORPGs for a long time, like “bring me the teeth of this monster.”
No illusion
One button - and the magic GPS will show the player the path to the goal of the task selected in the menu. A pointless function, because even a blind person can hardly get lost in the locations of Dungeon Siege 3. The maximum that the designers could do was to make a winding path out of a linear path and pave the way to the left or right. It’s a pity that it was prohibited to transfer the user to the desired location using one button. A true hero needs to fight against respawning opponents!
The names of the items are, as always, pleasing.
The Reinforced Jacket of Determination is just what my character needs
Even rare and beautiful dialogues are not able to hide the artificiality of what is happening. The hero who turned out unsuccessfully during the conversation does not move his lips. Local residents stand in place for hours, do not talk to each other, and in attempts to simulate life, they crash into the nearest barrels, walls, benches, move away and again meet obstacles head-on. The fact that the city has been captured by bandits can only be learned from two or three people. Killing all the invaders in the area will not change anything - the residents will be in the same meditative idyll as before. After “live” this approach seems outdated. However, so are battles. Now, in order to get acquainted with a process similar to, it is not at all necessary to suffer with the choice of the next armor and nervously distribute the experience points received. The local role-playing system is too poor for creativity. Nine abilities and ten talents - all are opened at the will of the developer. Each ability can be upgraded only six times, talents – five.
In theory, the character should constantly change his positions, make “strafes” on narrow maps and disorientate his opponents. After all, stupid idiots try to crush them with numbers. It is difficult to build an original battle on this - in the worst traditions of the genre, the player is asked to call enemies to death. As in Darkspore, opponents leave behind blue balls, which are needed to restore energy (for magicians - mana), and green ones to replenish the health scale. Energy is spent on special attacks that are stronger than regular ones. Killed - your partner will cure you. For variety, you can use an analogue of rage. They are filled by beating enemies, so there won’t be a full-fledged freebie.
Where's the RPG?
There is no point in visiting stores - the bottomless inventory does not force you to sell unnecessary junk, and the goods in the stores differ from each other only “on paper”. +13 to attack, -6 to defense. Set this up and try to catch a barely noticeable difference in the battle. When purchasing, you cannot sort items by purpose, but this is of no use - six or seven items offered there can be examined without any help.
But everything starts out quite healthy. Huge spiders hide in deceptively beautiful dark forests where even the moonlight is afraid to shine. Streams babble briskly around the village, and the Sun, approaching the horizon, covers the settlement with a yellow veil. The set fire to the estate still seems like a majestic structure, but bright flames engulfed it, and the insides were filled with thick smog from the scorched wood. Dungeon Siege 3- a very beautiful game.
Moreover, it is beautiful not only in graphics, but also in potential. The boy's spirit has been guarding the forest for a thousand years and drives out all travelers from there, but is ready to help the legionnaires. Mysterious world, which is located outside the main one and serves as a portal. Witches who perform unusual rituals. All this is in the game, but the writers didn’t even think to try for the curious, not only in the dialogues, but even in the book texts. It’s not for nothing that the developers added co-op, where the assistant is replaced by a real player. Multiplayer battles in such games are much more interesting.
Dungeon Siege 3- a game of false impressions. For the first half hour I like it so much that I want to swallow every piece of dialogue given out by the developers. However, then it becomes clear - Obsidian Entertainment, contrary to its template, did not harbor any ambitions or desires to do anything deep. The company developed simple entertainment for those who do not like difficulties. But this time there are no bugs and a dozen patches after release.
Graphic arts: 4.3
Sound and music: 3.4
Gameplay: 3.5
Plot: 3.5
Cooperative: 3.8
Many players probably remember that the well-known RPG series Dungeon Siege was created by developers from the Gas Powered Games studio, led by Chris Tayler. At one time, the original Dungeon Siege made quite a stir in the world of role-playing games, but the second part turned out to be not bad, but simply not very successful. It's all due to outdated graphics, since otherwise the game was almost perfect. And in 2010, the third part was announced, the creation of which was entrusted to the talented developers from the Obsidian Entertainment studio, who “ate the dog” in this matter, although they often ended up with projects that were not completely finalized, but not through their fault, but through the fault of the publisher. Now the publisher is Square Enix, known for its patience and ability to finish games to the end. It turned out to be an excellent symbiosis, don’t you think? Such a friendly team is capable of creating a very high-quality project, which Dungeon Siege 3 could not fully become.
Developers from Obsidian decided to completely change the basis of the original Dungeon Siege series. To do this, they created their own graphics engine, codenamed Onyx, which can display amazing images, while being very well optimized for console hardware. It turns out that Dungeon Siege 3 became one of the first hack and slash games to visit gaming consoles. Console players had something to play until it came out Diablo III. In addition to all this, the game has an updated interface, which has become much more functional and easier to use.
It has become quite popular for games to use a depressing atmosphere and show a once thriving world (in our case, the kingdom of Eb) torn apart by war and civil strife. The level design has become darker compared to previous parts. Danger awaits us almost everywhere, and finding a safe place in this world is quite problematic. Speaking of us: this time we play as one of the members of the tenth legion, who, due to certain circumstances, fell out of favor with the king (somewhat reminiscent of the backstory of the ninth legion of the Roman Empire). It is up to us to save the next world from destruction by killing evil monsters and completing many quests.
On the one hand, Dungeon Siege 3 may seem like a second-rate product, another Diablo clone, but seeing how the developers were sensitive to the origins of the series, you begin to understand where the real charm of the game lies - in its atmosphere. After all, you must admit that in the previous parts she was simply magnificent.
Graphically, Dungeon Siege 3 looks quite good: excellent play of light and shadow, detailed character models, beautiful animation, coupled with excellent design creates the most positive impressions of the project. It is worth noting that the levels are designed with an integrated vertical effect, i.e. It seems to you that everything that is in the distance goes down a little. Thus, the game makers created in the player a desire to discover more and more new territories, exploring the entire area around.
Like any average hero, our character (in this case, the guardsman) has a number of abilities that he can use as the game progresses. In addition to these, he can also switch stances - from one-handed to two-handed and back. It is advisable to use the first stance for fighting bosses (one on one), and use the second for fighting with big amount opponents. Using skills consumes stamina; its reserve can always be checked by looking at the lower left corner of the screen. Combat requires the player to make tactical decisions that must be made very quickly.
We will not be alone on this dangerous and exciting journey. Other characters will join us very soon. The first of them will be a magician girl with a stern face and very powerful fiery blows. You can invite her to your team at the very beginning of the game, simply by selecting a special option in the dialog box. Obsidian games have always had a lot of conversations and options for passing, but here everything is quite linear, and the number of conversations has decreased significantly, which is not good.
Our companion's name is Arkon, she will be controlled by a computer for the time being. Then the second player (if you have one) will be given the opportunity to take control of the magician. Especially for playing together, the developers changed the camera - it takes a more vertical position, making playing the game together more fun and convenient. Unfortunately, besides co-op, there are no other online modes in Dungeon Siege 3.
A lot depends on the choice of class. For example, how certain opponents will behave, what magical abilities you will have, what combat combinations you can learn. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, so you will have to combine the skills of your party members with the skills of the main character. Character development is predetermined by the choice of one class or another, but a little freedom will still remain.
As a result, we have a good RPG project with good graphics, an interesting plot and exciting co-op. However, crooked controls and the lack of a normal role-playing system spoil all the positive impressions of the game. However, this only benefits console players.