Like the previous entries in the series, Dungeon Siege III will take place in the Kingdom of Ehb with the lore and inhabitants remaining largely the same. The opening cinematic we saw told a story about two warring kingdoms and the bloody history between them. The plot is your typical tale of two kingdoms with the events of the game taking place during a major turning point of the epic saga. The build we played started off with us taking control of a young human warrior who finds his family estate set on fire and under attack by enemy troops. As he goes inside to fight off the ruffians he finds a survivor, and together they set out seeking answers and searching for other survivors who were able to escape the cruel and unprovoked attack.
Dungeon Siege III is an action RPG that features a hack n’ slash style of gameplay as opposed to a highly strategic and menu driven style of gameplay found in most RPGs today. It gives the game quite the old school Gauntlet feel where the battle system is far more hands on than your typical modern Western RPG. We were able to dish out melee combos using two different combat stances, block and dodge attacks and basically have full control over our character during battle. It’s a nice change from the usual ‘dice roll’ mechanic of games like Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age, which is largely driven by random luck. We quite enjoyed the combat system of the game as it has quite the old school feel, where pure gaming skill matters more than cycling through menus and taking your time with stratergising. At the end of the build we encountered a witch who served as a boss, and to defeat her we had to study the pattern of her main fireball attack and dodge it properly, showcasing the kind of hands-on action driven combat experience that isn’t common in RPGs anymore.
Bah! The odds are in my favour!!
While we haven’t had the chance to explore the various classes and skill sets, we did however get a brief look at the character building system of Dungeon Siege III. The two main areas of interest are ‘Abilities’ and ‘Talents’. Abilities grant special moves that can be used with a press of a button during battle and during the demo we were able to try a simple but effective shield bash move. Talents are more inherent skills that enhance certain stats such as attack, defense etc.
The build we played allowed us to take a good long stroll into the in-game world where we explored a castle, village, forest and cave. The areas were populated with enemies, treasure chests and NPCs that we could converse with. Apart from the main story mission, we were also able to engage in a side quest for an elderly widow. The usual RPG elements seem to be in place but what struck as particularly interesting was the conversation system, as it seems to take a page out of Mass Effect and Dragon Age, giving players a variety of different responses and choices.
BioWare, you better watch out for Obsidian!
Even though we were playing an extremely early build of the game, we were quite pleased with the quality of the graphics. Dungeon Siege III is being powered by the Onyx engine, and the results so far are very impressive. The lighting and particle effects in particular stand out and the texture work of the environments (especially the cave) are quite detailed too. It’s certainly impressive that the game looks so good early on and we can expect the final build to be something spectacular.
We quite enjoyed our time with Dungeon Siege III and see a lot of potential in it. The game could very well end up being a solid RPG and we really think fans of the genre should keep an eye on it and see how it comes along, especially considering the talented team working on it. Even with games like Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3 and Lord knows how many Final Fantasy XIII titles, it’s nice that there is something a little different for fans of the genre to look forward to.
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