Dungeon Siege II

The Good
I recall this was one of those lousy years for the PC in general. Ironically this was probably one of those few games that was playable. If there was such a thing called “Depression” in PC gaming, this game was born in one of those years.

The game faired a little better than the first. More complexity, more spells, more everything. The updated journal is worth mentioning. Any game that has a bestiary (compilation of monsters) should warrant some attention in my book.

If you only knew how many hack-and-slash RPGs out there cannot even fulfill the notion of click-and-attack. Fortunately, this game is not one of them. The game mechanics of clicking were "almost" perfect, so you can click away to your hearts content.

The game is also extremely long. Which means it qualifies as an RPG. Though I must admit, a little too long.

There really are a lot of other good features in the game, but they seem to be overshadowed by the bad, which is what I remember. Well, time for the bad.

The Bad
I DO NOT want to finish this game twice!

This has got to be the most stupid idea I've seen in a game in many, many years. There are 3 levels of difficulty in the game. No problem. What is a problem is that there are consequences in playing the lower difficulty levels, that is you can only play a limited number of members in your party. The novice level only allows a maximum 4 person(s) or pet(s) in your party. To have more, you have finish the game to activate the next difficulty level. Guess what, if you want more still, you have to finish it AGAIN to activate the next level of difficulty.

I rarely use swear words in reviews, but this really does warrant:What the Fuck? If this was a freakin platform game, hey no problem. Do you realize how long you have to play to finish this game? Weeks, dude, weeks, only to get some lousy new party members in the game you have to finish this crappy game twice? Who was the idiot who proposed this idea in the first place? I never recalled Microsoft being stupid so it must be the developer's fault.

Gah, Graphics hampering Gameplay

There is a lot of graphical detail in the game. Which is fine and to a certain point, commendable of course. What is not fine is that a lot of the graphical detail really disrupts game play.

First thing you notice is that you really don't like jungles with all those little leaves in the way. Since they tend to block your view when your party is walking around, worse still when you are in combat. Very irritating.

Second thing you notice is that all those "nice" rocks and trees are in the way when your fighting. Why am I not moving? Oh, I clicked on a rock instead of the ground. Hey, I can't tell the difference between the rock AND the ground.

There has been one too many instances where I died just because I clicked on the wrong geography when retreating from a tough fight. What a lousy way to die. No, its a stupid way to die.

Quality Assurance should be fired!

And the game testing people. I feel this game was rushed. You notice this every time your one of your team mates chats a dialog. When your listening to the story, suddenly a monster comes up and attack, abruptly ending the voice-over dialogs. WTF? Hey, I was listening to the dialogs you jerk! This doesn't happen once or twice. It happens almost every time. What's the point of having a dialog if you can't freakin hear the whole dialog in the first freakin place?

Anyone ever hear of a "pause" option?

Irritating Storyline/ Quests + Maps

This game is huge. The thing is, many side quests require you to go back to places you've been. The thing is often you don't freakin remember where it was. The maps don't help either. First they say its in X forest. So I go to the teleporter of X forest, only to find out its 2-3 teleporters away in the wrong direction. The map in the journal sucks big time, more than often gets you lost. Plus the fact all those irritating leaves and detailed graphics get in the way, exploration in this game isn't really fun.

The Bottom Line
If your new to RPGs, you will really enjoy this game. If your a veteran, only play this game if there isn't anything else available.

Well, I'm currently still playing the game (Chapter III) and will no doubt update my review and burn the game some more.