Looking to buy Dungeon Siege II? (short review)

[CrazyEyes]

Don't. I'll send you a copy of Diablo II. Except, I'll take a big, fat-tipped magic marker, scratch out "Diablo II" as harshly as possible, then write underneath, "Dungeon Siege II". I swear, you won't be able to tell the difference. If I was around 17, working at Wal-Mart, and a guy comes up and says, "Hey, uh, do you have any copies of Dungeon Siege II?" and we were out of stock, I'd give him a copy of Diablo II. "Err... this isn't-" "Yes. It is. Trust me. Plus it's only ten bucks." The only real difference is that you can freeformly choose your classes. Basically, there's only three real character stats, Strength, Dexterity and Intellegence. There's also four main skills, Melee, Ranged, Combat Magic and Nature Magic. So eager n00bloids get to make a ****ty character build by mixing three of the skills together, wow, that makes such a difference. Besides, Diablo II has five classes anyway, seven with the Lord of Destruction expansion pack, which is about five bucks extra.

(NOTE: Skip this paragraph, except for the first scentence, if you've played Diablo II. It's just me explaining the item system.)
Don't even get me started on the goddamn item system. It seems an awful lot like they just copied the code from Diablo II for the item system. See, in D2, there's Magical, Rare, Set, and Unique items. Unique items are hand-coded items which are special and not randomly generated. They're the best, but Set items can be just as good. Same with Set items, except when you equip more than one, you get more bonuses (hence, "set"). Rare items are basically very good Magical items with more properties which can get pretty good in the Hell difficulty of D2 (the hardest difficulty, also yeilding more loot from monsters). Magical items usually have one to three magical properties and are common, and usually suck balls. The Rare items would have a randomly generated two-word title from a word list, like "Soul Song". Magical items would simply add words to the title to describe properties, for example, a "Crimson Battle Axe" would add some 5% to fire resistance, and a "Sharp Longsword of the Leech" would add 10% damage, plus steal 5% of the enemies' life on hit.

Dungeon Siege's system was the EXACT SAME, except the often awesomely generated Rare item titles were removed, and it just said something lame and ****ty like "Rare Good Club." Even the Magical item's titles were the same. You'd have to see it as a D2 veteran to be really amazed by their lack of innovation. I mean, D2's item system is great, but what the ****? Get your own item system, Microsoft and Gas Powered Games.

There's also the randomly generated unique monsters, except they don't have titles either. It's just something like "Fierce Morden Spearman". It really is sad. I bet if I would have looked at the server list, I would have seen something equivalent to games like:
Freeeeeeeeeeeee
Baalrunz-01 (or Diablorunz if you don't have LoD)
Bring Sigon Plz
I Dupe 4 U
Low Lvl Duels
And so on. Diablo II veterans know EXACTLY what the **** I'm talking about. If you play Diablo II, you have seen all of these servers at least once in your lifetime. Sadly, I puked on the disc in disgust before I tried the multiplayer since I forgot, and I'm about to uninstall.
So, if you want a rating system:
Diablo (II out of 10). (hahaha, get it? Diablo II... and 2 out of 10... I'm a funny guy.)

 

[Ilex]

Yeap, DS2 sucks monkey arse. There was no variety at all. (Good thing I didn't buy the thing, because I would have been so damn mad [I never was going to though]).

 

[Sir Prince]

That's just sad/sick/scary/stupid/etc.

 

[guspav]

that's not the only Micro$oft game that's a ****ty clone of another.. for instance I just got combat flight simulator 3 looking for a red baron 2 - esque experience and the campaign was sooooooooo mediocre I got bored in 5 missions whereas playing red baron I could be there all day with all that cool action.. want another example?.. age of empires is a warcraft 2 clone (and pretty bad also) age of empires 2 was a decent game though..
want another? zoo tycoon 2 ( a kind of simcity clone) though graphically nice is very buggy and gameplay gets very old very quickly, it is MEGAUNREALISTIC and the animal info they present in their zoopedia is often dated or just plain wrong (tigers living in african savannahs.. yeah right)
my advice is: don't buy micro$oft games, they only seem to focus on cloning an old hit, adding cool graphics, adding multiplayer and just doing a some fast, ****ty and boring coding for gameplay.

don't buy crap, support games like M&B!

 

[cheesemonger]

hehe, i remember someone describing dungeon siege one to me as 'slightly more interactive than a screensaver', and after turning on auto-loot, auto-equipbetteritems, auto-healwithpotions and auto-attack, i released all i was doing was clicking my dudes down the linear-path! haha! very lame.

the second was a little less 'auto', but from the demo, it does seem pretty diable-cloned.

it even says in the game tutorial 'don't go making a weak jack of all character, you're better off sticking to one skill and saying'...
why bother giving us the option to make a 'jack of all' if it's fecking useless.

bah.

does look okay when graphics are cranked, i suppose though.

 

[Sir Prince]

Um, Age of Empries is not a bad game ,erm, you mgiht want to go into witness protection, especialy if this gets out to AOE fanatics.

 

[Ilex]

It wasn't even pretty, even D2 looks better in its own crude way.

 

[CrazyEyes]

I concur. The models suck big time, I'd prefer the D2 sprites. Although, I did like the blood.
And Princescamp, it's a kindness act for me to rant how much these games suck ass to you guys. I'm serious, I think you need to know so you don't blow your money on ****. I can tell when a game actually sucks at what it's doing and when I just suck at the game, though.

 

[Santtuvaltteri]

Yeah. DS2 is a simplified version of D2. But it's still fun, if you haven't played such games to death before (like my girlfriend, who's rather enthralled by it).

Fortunately, M$ has managed to publish a few good games... Halo and Freelancer come to mind...

 

[Lhorkan]

Is there any difference with the first game? :/

 

[Chris the Cheese]

I fail to see why you choose to slate DS2 in such a way. Alright it may have ripped from other games, but the entire genres like that. This game is just like, say Icewind Dale, Neverwinter nights or Baldurs Gate, etc.

The basic fact is that all RPG's of that type are similar; lets take Icewind Dale as an example, you start of weak and useless attacking rubbish creature, you collect stuff from various sources, dead bodies chests, etc. You increase your character level as you kill more things and you follow a very linear story line.

That is exactly the same format of all games of this type. Alright you had six character stats, Stg, Dex, Con, Int, Wis and Cha. But unless you were playing a character which required the latter three, these stats Int, Wis and Cha were largely completely irrelevant. So if you were a fighter, ranger, rogue, etc then you may as well only have three stats. If you were a Mage, alright you have a high Int, but the other two were still utterly irrelevant, the same goes for Druids and Clerics, though wis replaced int.

Indeed the only fundamental difference, other than cosmetic and plot, is that Icewind dale ran on a different set of rules. You still just progress through a nearly completely linear plot just hacking anything and everything to pieces on the way. The only exception I have ever found to this basic rule is Baldurs Gate, its sequel and morrowind, which involved a very large amount of independent plots quite irrelevant from the main plot.

The same goes for the item types, alright you didn’t get sets in icewind Dale, but you still got normal items, magical items and unique items. The same goes for Morrwind, Baldurs Gate and so on. Fine, maybe the system incorporated into DS2 was similar to that of D2, but the fact of the matter all of the games of this type operate in a similar manner.

But the simple fact of the matter is, I actually enjoyed DS2, it kept me playing to the end, D2 kept me playing for maybe a week on and off before I uninstalled the game in disgust at how utterly boring it was.

that's not the only Micro$oft game that's a ****ty clone of another.

But they published Freelancer which was an awesome game and anyone who has a different opinion on the matter is wrong, get that, your subjective opinions are wrong.

It wasn't even pretty, even D2 looks better in it's own crude way

Whatever you’ve been taking… I want some. It must be a powerful hallucinogen.

 

[Skyrage]

Freelancer was not good. It was anything but completed. So much potential and so little that actually lived up.

 

[ThVaz]

We already have a candidate for the worst post in the new year! Chris the Cheese, for compare Dungeon Siege with the sacred Baldur´s Gate series!
And Freelancer was awful.

 

[Chris the Cheese]

Pardon? I rather suspect you completely missed the point of my statement. The point was that all games within the genre are similar, if they weren’t they wouldn’t be part of the genre, after all is what genres are. If you actually bothered reading my statement you would see I pointed out the most important difference between DS2 and Baldurs gate, incidentally the same difference which separates BG from practically every other game of the genre. The difference which incidentally makes Baldurs gate one of, if not the best RPG I have ever played.

In regards to the Freelancer comment, like I said, your opinion has now been rendered irrelevant, like all asinine data. Freelancer was excellent and anyone who says different either didn't give it the chance it so clearly deserved or is devoid of taste.

 

[ThVaz]

I played Freelancer from the beginning to the end, and the genre (space simulator) is one of my favorites. But there is just too flaws in it that just break the immersion completely. I am not enough articulate in english to point just why this game sucks.
About Baldur's Gate, you are right, you pointed out what makes the difference. My bad. But what makes DS2 a awful game is the fact it uses what defines the genre(RPG) and add nothing. Nothing att all. It's CRPG at the core, and just this. I hope I made myself clear.

 

[CrazyEyes]

I really don't ****ing understand how Neverwinter Nights is anywhere NEAR being able to be compared with this lump of horse****. Neverwinter Nights is a fun game with very good servers that have tons of variety. Diablo- I mean, DS2 is a repetitive game (especially if you die, it starts to get real bad) with hardly any variety in the monsters, and if you've played Diablo II, there's even LESS variety. Don't even try to compare ****ty games with good ones, because you just won't make sense, no matter how similar they are (although NWN is completely different). You ever try to play Diablo II in singleplayer? It gets boring as hell fast if you've played multiplayer first. Yeah, Dungeon Siege II is the EXACT SAME WAY, except I don't need to play DS2 multiplayer since I've played Diablo II multiplayer. Bottom line is, Neverwinter Nights nor Baldur's Gate are similar to DS2. I'm sure if I asked you if Neverwinter Nights was similar to Diablo II, you'd say no, because they're NOT similar. Thus, it is not similar to DS2. I get the feeling you hate me just because either: I hate a game and you were able to play it for more than one day before coming on the conclusion it sucked, or I'm saying that a game sucks because there's another game made almost the exact same way. OR you were really looking forward to this game, and I gave you every reason not to look forward to it anymore.

 

[Worbah]

playing DS 2 was like... having cold, oiled cocks rubbed and slapped in your face. Not exactly my cup of tea, but someone might be into it.

 

[Chris the Cheese]

I really don't ****ing understand how Neverwinter Nights is anywhere NEAR being able to be compared with this lump of horse****.

Try reading my post, as I recall I made my reasons quite clear.

Neverwinter Nights is a fun game with very good servers that have tons of variety.

Excuse, but quite what the quality of servers, in what is primarily a single player game, has got to do with the standard of game play is beyond me. Multiplayer is a fun extra, but it does not make or break a game. To be honest I don’t play any RPG’s on the internet very much, the concept does not appeal.

Don't even try to compare ****ty games with good ones, because you just won't make sense, no matter how similar they are

Try reading that statement again, and realise the utter stupidity of it. If it is in the same genre it is open to comparison, whether you like the game or not.

(although NWN is completely different).

No, its just like all RPG's of this type.

You ever try to play Diablo II in singleplayer?

Unfortunately; yes.

Bottom line is, Neverwinter Nights nor Baldur's Gate are similar to DS2.

No, the bottom line is you clearly failed to read my original post on the matter.

I'm sure if I asked you if Neverwinter Nights was similar to Diablo II, you'd say no, because they're NOT similar.

Wrong, they are similar, similar in that the share the same characteristic of all games of this genre. It's similar in the same way that Quake 4 is similar to Fear, or similar in the same way that Swat 4 is similar to rainbow six 3. Or an example from a different genre, similar in the same way that Imperial Glory is similar to Medieval Total War.

I get the feeling you hate me just because either

I don't hate you, why would I? You are just a name on an internet message board who has a different view of a computer game to me. Why is that a basis for hate, even dislike? I don't hate you or dislike you, I don't even know you.

I hate a game and you were able to play it for more than one day before coming on the conclusion it sucked, or I'm saying that a game sucks because there's another game made almost the exact same way.

No, I'm simply pointing out that your criticism isn’t really that relevant, because all games of the genre are very similar and have numerous parallels. The important difference is in plot and how intriguing the game is, which is why BG and BG2 win by miles against all the competition.

OR you were really looking forward to this game, and I gave you every reason not to look forward to it anymore.

I completed the game prior to reading this thread, so you can consider your self safe on that score.

 

[Rabid Potatoe]

www.theelderscrolls.com NOW STOP MOANING![/url]

 

[Sir Prince]

I think Crazyeyes should take a time out before he gets banned. Maybe this thread should get closed too if it gets out of hand.