Dungeon Siege III: Obsidian Square

[jrrtoken]

This one actually looks pretty good and actually representative of gameplay, even though the selected target graphic looks identical to the one used in NWN2:

 

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[Miltiades]

It seems it has that same "subpar overall graphics, beautiful spell effects" thing NWN2 had.

[Sabretooth]

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This screenshot makes me about as excited to play the game as I am to poop tomorrow.

[Astrotoy7]

This screenshot makes me about as excited to play the game as I am to poop tomorrow.

 

That's unusual, you seem genuinely impressed with recycled cliches in the Black Ops thread

 

That one scene where the heli goes haywire and you crash into a building looked cool...

 

I don't have a huge issue with the Gfx from what has been posted thus far(2 images?). DAO managed to be a decent game whilst looking pretty lacklustre - as long as the interface and story are up to scratch, that what makes or breaks an RPG, surely?

 

mtfbwya

[Sabretooth]

That's unusual, you seem genuinely impressed with recycled cliches in the Black Ops thread

 

I don't remember the last game I played where the player crashed into a building after hanging off of a crashing helicopter, do you?

 

I do however, remember oodles of games with scimitar-weilding skeleton warriors attacking magic-wielding players.

[Astrotoy7]

I don't remember the last army game I played with a helicopter, do you?

 

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mtfbwya

[Sabretooth]

With statement misquoting skills like that, you could be the next big thing in the Hindi news media!

[DarthParametric]

The debut trailer has been released: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-debut-dungeon-siege/703954

[Bob Lion54]

The debut trailer has been released: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-debut-dungeon-siege/703954

 

Looks pretty good, actually. Still, the thing you don't see is the controls and such. But, yea. Marketing people got me again! I wants it, and I don't know anything about the gameplay! AHHHHHHH! Marketing... sigh.

 

Also, that one guy looks like Frodo.

[Meowster]

Ooh, that reminds me of my old days playing Gauntlet. Any chance of it being multiplayer (never played the original two)? If so, then this might be a definite buy if reviews are good.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

The debut trailer has been released: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-debut-dungeon-siege/703954

More of the same, just more of the same. The original DS had an uncanny charm in my eyes and I dunno about this one.

[Darth InSidious]

(Deja-fu!)

 

Just in case you thought SWK had forgotten about Dudgeon Segue and Obscenix...

 

There’s been a fair amount in the gaming news recently about Dungeon Siege III, produced by Obsidian and Squeenix, in case you’ve been watching inconsequential little things like the politics of the Middle East instead of the defining events in the history of the world. Ahem.

 

So, having trawled through half a dozen pieces or so, here’s the Official SWK Prediction, so you can all point and laugh when we’re horribly wrong: It’s going to be a total mess, which will dive-bomb horribly.

 

And here’s why, with a helpful roundup of all the info we've found so far.

 

Full Story @ SWK

[Achilles]

New hands-on preview from Gamefront.

[Miltiades]

This game got my interest, oddly enough. I don't care much for Diablo-style combat or the Dungeon Siege brand, but what I've seen and read so far makes me mildly optimistic. Dragon Age 2 and especially The Witcher 2 are higher on my list when it comes to fantasy RPG's, but I'm going to look out for this game. Should I feel ashamed?

[Achilles]

A little over an hour of gameplay with the devs.

[Darth InSidious]

DS3 Demo now out on Steam.

[jrrtoken]

Played the demo.

 

I don't know, there's not a lot to say. It's a very average action RPG... and that's about it. It's not a bad game, mind you, there's just nothing really appealing here.

 

The game plays it safe when it comes to gameplay; it doesn't take any risks. Combat is standard click-'n-slash, augmented by The Witcher's combat stances for basic tactics. You have special abilities that amount to "knockdown", "rage", etc., that are upgraded through standard character progression.

 

I guess there's a lot of loot, complete with a near-infinite armor & arms permutations. Then again, I've never understood the appeal for oodles of pick-ups.

 

The writing is... average. Not really mediocre, but nothing in-your-face that's typical from Obsidian. The same goes for the voice-acting.

 

The music on the other hand, is pretty damn good. It's generic Oblivion, high-fantasy fare, but with more bravado and orchestration. Honestly, I wouldn't mind buying this game for the soundtrack alone.

 

Graphics are good. When I mean good, I mean it looks "sufficient" for the mainstream gamer, and doesn't cut corners with any aspect. Textures look bland and muddy, but there's still some definition to it; this a console game, really, not the Witcher 2. The shadows and lighting are rather impressive, however, and this definitely is the Onyx Engine's strong suit here.

 

There's been a lot of complaints over the control scheme with standard mouse & keyboard. Basically, if you tolerated the camera in The Witcher and KotOR, then DSIII isn't much different. It's leaps and bounds over NWN2, but still nothing intuitive enough for a quasi-isometric paradigm. I've heard that using an Xbox 360 controller works wonders, but makes sense considering the consolized focus.

 

Speaking of consoles, the interface is built for those playing ten feet away from the screen. Big font sizes and UI elements abound. It's really atrocious for all PC configurations, but most PC players should be used to this schtick by now.

 

Technically speaking, this is most likely Obsidian's most solid game. The Onyx Engine is relatively well-optimized and still looks decent and pretty; I'm running with all graphics on "High", 2x MSAA, 16x AF, V-sync @ 1366x768 on an ATI 5650. Haven't had any crashes, bugs, glitches of any sort, but this is still just a demo, however.

 

Overall, it's a standard game. Nothing to run out and buy immediately, but nothing to really piss at either. For an Obsidian game, it's pretty uninteresting and generic, and is really just "another game" that will most likely sell moderately and have an "average" critical reception, but nothing to really write home about. Kind of disappointed knowing the developer's reputation, but not really grossly pissed either.

[Miltiades]

Previews and early reviews have been pretty positive about the writing and story. Maybe the demo's not showing that potential. Hopefully somebody buys this thing and can tell us if the full game is any good. In any case, I never expected a game like Dungeon Siege III to be of the standards of the great RPG's of this era and at this very moment, The Witcher 2 is still fresh in everyone's minds, so that'll influence things, I presume.

[Lerusarion]

For an Obsidian game, it's pretty uninteresting and generic, and is really just "another game" that will most likely sell moderately and have an "average" critical reception, but nothing to really write home about. Kind of disappointed knowing the developer's reputation, but not really grossly pissed either.

 

Actually, how can you even know that? For an Obsidian prolouge/opening it was actually pretty good.

 

For refrence judge the following games the same way:

 

Alpha Protocol - Greybox/Saudi Arabia

Planescape Torment - Mortuary

Baldur's Gate 2 - Irenicus Dungeon (Ok, not Obsidian. Still counts)

NWN2 - West Harbor

MOTB - Spirit Barrow

KOTOR 2 - Peragus Mining Facility

 

Also Standard Charachter Progression?

 

I don't know a game that has similiar charachter progression. (I just guess you mean leveling here) Its about specalising your existing abilites instead of choosing new ones. It actually reminded me a lot more of Fallout than typical Action-Rpgs.

[Primogen]

Obsidian really does need to figure out how to make a decent prologue, though.

[DarthParametric]

Baldur's Gate 2 - Irenicus Dungeon (Ok, not Obsidian. Still counts)

Black Isle (from which Obsidian partially descends) was the publisher of the BG games (and even then purely as a marketing label of Interplay). They were developed by Bioware. So no, it doesn't count. The only IE games that Black Isle developed were Torment and Icewind Dale 1 & 2.

[Lerusarion]

Black Isle (from which Obsidian partially descends) was the publisher of the BG games (and even then purely as a marketing label of Interplay). They were developed by Bioware. So no, it doesn't count. The only IE games that Black Isle developed were Torment and Icewind Dale 1 & 2.

 

I meant as an example for an opening not representative of the rest of the game. Otherwise I would have said something on Torment too.

 

Also Feargus was actually a (if not THE) main driving force on the publisher side of the project. So not only as a label.

[Miltiades]

Actually, I think Peragus set the tone perfectly for KotOR II's events. In NWN2's case, you can include the whole first chapter as a pretty slow intro.

 

On the gameplay, well, that's never been Obsidian's strongest suit, so that shouldn't really surprise anyone.

[mimartin]

Played the demo. Not going to judge the game by the demo because the demo was pretty bad, but so was the last demo I played and I ended up loving the game.

 

The best thing I can say about the demo is I thought it broke my computer. My PC is usually lit up blue, but after starting the game the key board, mouse and PC all turned bright green. When I quit the game all went back to normal. So I restarted the demo and bright green again. So I played annoyed that my preferences were overridden. Later upon finding a horde of mercenaries everything made sense. Everything went from green, to blue, to yellow, to red, to Anjali’s death.

 

Not going to give the demo much credit, reminded me a little of Fable 2 and the first half of Fable 3. Nothing really exciting, but thinking I will give it a go since there is nothing else is out right now that interest me.

[stoffe]

Nothing really exciting.

 

That just about sums up the first Dungeon Siege game (by Gas Powered Games). The feeling I was left with after playing that game was horribly wasted potential.

 

It was a game with a beautiful seamless game world without any loading screens at all, where building interiors and exteriors existed in the same world space (so none of the usual deal where a small shack has a palace-sized interior). This beautifully crafted game world was essentially empty, though, and devoid of a story other than "get to this castle at the far end of the continent to take revenge on the bad guy that burned your farm", or some such.

 

Sure, you tripped over new nameless, irrationally aggressive creatures every 2 steps, but they were pretty much all the same, and combat got boring after 2 hours. The whole game only contained 4 fights that stood out from the rest. No NPC interactions other than some NPC monologuing at you to give you a quest (which there wasn't many of). Sure, it was an Action-RPG, essentially a Diablo II clone, but the end result still turned out to be boring to play.

 

So if Obsidian can keep the same beautiful seamless game world and fill it with actual memorable RPG content then this game might be able to live up to the potential that the original had but squandered.

 

But I guess we'll have to wait until the full game is out to know, since developers seem to have the odd idea to put the most boring and dull levels of a game first, and subsequently make a demo of that. So I'll just skip the demo to avoid disappointment.