Dungeon Siege III

Dungeon Siege III
European cover art
Developer(s)	Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Rich Taylor (Project Director),[1] Nathaniel Chapman (Lead Designer),[2] George Ziets (Creative Lead)[3]
Composer(s)	Jason Graves Timothy Michael Wynn
Series	Dungeon Siege
Engine	Onyx (proprietary)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	JP July 28, 2011 NA June 21, 2011[4] EU June 17, 2011
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T PEGI: 16
Media/distribution	Optical disc, Download

Dungeon Siege III (DSIII or DS3) is an action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows.^[5] Chris Taylor, the original creator of Dungeon Siege, served as an advisor during the development of the game. It is the third game in the series not to be developed by Gas Powered Games, (after Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna by Mad Doc Software and Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony by SuperVillain Studios) and the first to be published by Square Enix after it acquired the complete ownership of the Dungeon Siege franchise. It was released on June 21, 2011.^[6]

Gameplay

The player can choose from one of four characters who have different back-stories and who seek to reestablish the 10th Legion and fight Jeyne Kassynder for control of Ehb. The background is based in a fantasy medieval world with geographic variety in open and closed environments (dungeons). Following an ambush by Kassynder's forces in the beginning, the player character will travel through Ehb in order to fulfill their goals.

As the game progresses and different quests are completed, the other three characters will first meet and then join the player character. Depending on which character the player chose, some events encounters might be subtly changed (for example, while Lucas, Anjali and Reinhart will meet Katarina for the first time in the town of Raven's Rill helping them, players who chose to play as Katarina will meet a non-player character serving the same purpose) and the lines of dialogue are altered to fit the character's back-story. Unlike the previous games in the series, the player can only choose a single one of the three non-player characters to accompany them at a time, although they can exchange them immediately via the game's menu at any point of the game. The companion character will be controlled by the game's AI but can be seamlessly controlled by a second player through the game's online feature. Using the multiplayer feature, up to four players can play the campaign together.

The player character (Lucas) using the block-system to defend against an attacking enemy while the AI controlled companion (Katarina) shoots at the enemies from a distance. Several reviews positively noted the beauty of the character models when zoomed in on.

Each character has two different styles of fighting, each to handle different situations. For example, the character of Lucas can wield a two-handed sword to damage a lot of enemies at once but with less protection or use a one-handed sword and shield to fight against single strong enemies or to block attacks. In addition, there are three different special abilities for each stance that require "focus", the game's equivalent to magic points, to use. The amount of focus required varies based on the ability used. Each of those abilities has a improved version available after meeting certain conditions, such as using the skill a certain number of times. There are also three different passive abilities (such as healing, increased armor etc.). The improved versions of the attack abilities and the passive abilities use a different system of power spheres. All improved and passive abilities will deplete such a sphere. Both the focus points and the spheres are refilled by fighting enemies. While amount of focus available will always be a maximum of 100%, the player will start with only one sphere and gain three additional ones at key points of the plot, regardless of their level or experience points. Additionally, each character has ten different skills they can increase at each level reached, allowing them to improve their attacks, get bonus effects when being hit, etc.

Each of the four characters features nine different sets of equipment, meaning that (with the exception of rings) no piece of equipment can be used by multiple characters. It also features an "transmute item" mode, allowing the player to transmute their items into their worth in gold instantly from the items menu without having to sell them to a shop (although transmutation will yield a lower price).

Unlike the previous games in the series, Dungeon Siege III features a new control system. Created to accommodate the parallel release on consoles as well as on the PC, the game no longer features an automatic targeting system and point-and-click mechanics. Instead, the player moves their character using the keyboard or a controller and has to point the character in the direction of the enemies they want to fight and then press the attack button to fight.

The game uses a display engine that makes the entire experience seamless by constantly loading required game scenes in the background. This way, the game does not need any load screens often found in other games.

Plot

Story

The game returns to the Kingdom of Ehb, which already featured as the setting of the first two games. Roughly 150 years after the events of Dungeon Siege, the 10th Legion, who provided stability and protection for the kingdom for 400 years, has almost completely been wiped out. 30 years before the game's setting, Jeyne Kassynder rallied the people of eastern Ehb and the Azunite Church against the Legion who she blamed for the death of the king (her father). Following a long and brutal campaign, she managed to kill the entire remnant of the Legion in a battle in the Rukkenvahl Forest and the royalist army of young Queen Roslyn has been driven deep into the mines of Glitterdelve, losing almost all of their power.

A small group of legionnaires remained, lead by a man calling himself the Venerable Odo, a former Legion spy. He kept descendants of the Legion safe from Kassynder and, at the beginning of Dungeon Siege III, called them to meet in order to regroup the Legion. The player character arrives to find the meeting place attacked by mercenaries of Kassynder's. With the help of Marten Guiscard, another Legion descendant, the player tracks down Odo at a former Legion safehouse. After hearing what happened, the player sets out to find other survivors and information on the attacks. After fighting more of Jeyne's mercenaries, the player travels to Stonebridge City, to reopen the grand chapter-house there. On the way to Stonebridge, they help a group of royalist soldiers fighting Jeyne Kassynder.

After reopening the Stonebridge chapter-house, the player seeks to enlist the support of the royalists by aiding Queen Roslyn against Jeyne's assault on Glitterdelve and the help of the City of Stonebridge by helping the Meisters who control the city. Their support ensured, the player attacks Jeyne's capital, the Spire of Azunai on top of Mt. Jhereb. After winning in battle against Jeyne, revealed to be an archon, a member of a servant race to the lost creator gods, it is revealed that she seeks to use her power to reawaken her long lost gods in the Rukkenvahl Forest. The player travels to Rukkenvahl and fights a mutant god created by Jeyne. After the battle, the player captures Jeyne alive and may render judgment on her, allowing the player to choose the ending.

Main characters

Player characters

Dungeon Siege III features four different characters. Depending on which character the player chooses, the plot is subtly altered, with the other three characters later available as AI controlled companions or as characters for other players via the Multiplayer feature.

Lucas Montbarron

Lucas is the youngest son of Hugh Montbarron, the Grand Master of the 10th Legion at the time of their last fight against Jeyne Kassynder 30 years before the game's setting. He is also a descendent of the first Lady Montbarron, the protagonist of Dungeon Siege, who is commonly only referred to as "The Farmer" (Dungeon Siege III takes place 150 years after the first game^[7]). Lucas fights with a one-handed sword and shield or a two-handed sword.^[8]

Anjali

Anjali is an archon, a member of a servant race to the lost creator gods. As a mythical being, she can shift between human form, fighting with a spear, and elemental fire form.^[9]

Reinhart Manx

Reinhart is a descendant of Merik the mage(from the first game) and therefore is able to fight with magic at range and in close combat.^[10]

Katarina

Katarina is the illegimate daughter of Hugh Montbarron and a Lescanzi witch. She fights with a long-range rifle or a pair of shotguns at close range.^[11] Rebecca Grant modeled for Katarina's character.

Other characters

The Venerable Odo

Odo is a former spy of the 10th Legion who, after the downfall of the Legion, worked in secret to keep surviving members and descendants of the Legion safe and to restore the Legion to its former glory.

Marten Guiscard

Marten is one of Odo's assistants and helps the player during the first fights. Afterwards, he acts as Odo's bodyguard and will recommend more forgiving, less avenging choices to the player.

Jeyne Kassynder

Jeyne is the daughter of the king, whose death lead to the downfall of the Legion, and an archon. Growing up as an orphan in the Azunite Church, she rallied the Church behind her after her father's death and lead a crusade against both her half-siblings and the Legion.

Hugh Montbarron

The Legion grand master 30 years before the game's setting and both Lucas' and Katarina's father, Hugh Montbarron plotted with other Legion commanders to dispose of the tyrannical king. During the failed coup d'etat, the king was killed by accident. Montbarron died during the Legion's last stand in Rukkenvahl Forest.

The Radiant Youth

A golden-haired child when appearing to the player, the Radiant Youth is a guarding spirit of the Rukkenvahl and appears in the dreams of many Legion-related characters, often guiding them. In a tome found by the player it is implied that the Radiant Youth is actually Azunai, the deity worshiped in Ehb.

Queen Roslyn

The young queen is the grandchild of the king who died thirty years ago and resides with her "Tumbledown Court" in the mines of Glittervelve. Although appearing naive, she is pretty strong-willed and determined.

Comics

A three-issue mini-series also titled Dungeon Siege III were released by Dark Horse.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	72 (Xbox 360)[12] 71 (PlayStation 3)[13] 73 (PC)[14]
Review scores
Publication	Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly	8.0[15]
Eurogamer	8/10
Game Informer	8/10[16]
GamePro	[17]
GameSpot	6/10 (PC)[18] 6.5/10 (Xbox 360)[19]
GameSpy	[20]
GameTrailers	6.3/10[21]
IGN	6.5/10[22]
Joystiq	[23]

The title received a lukewarm response from critics and currently has a Metacritic score of 72, 71 and 73 for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Windows platforms respectively.

Charles Onyett of IGN stated that "Obsidian Entertainment's take on the Dungeon Siege franchise has some merit. The core combat system is well-designed, offering a small but useful set of abilities for each character class. The varied enemy encounters encourage the frequent use of abilities and the dodge mechanic, which makes the basic gameplay – whittling down the health bars of enemies – satisfying. But the rest of the game mostly falters, unfortunately, to a degree that overshadows its achievements. Dungeon Siege III is a dungeon crawler with a boring loot table, poorly implemented multiplayer, and little lasting incentive to continue running around the world once the tedious story ends." Game Informer states that the graphics are dazzling and the character models are beautiful especially when they are zoomed in on.

After the release, a number of gamers complained about the controls on the PC version of the game,^[24] prompting Obsidian to work on an update addressing those concerns.^[25]

References

1. ^ "Dungeon Siege III Details". IGN. July 26, 2010. http://pc.ign.com/articles/110/1108572p1.html. Retrieved July 26, 2010. 
2. ^ "Gamescom 2010: Dungeon Siege 3 Interview". G4. September 1, 2010. http://g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/63853/dungeon-siege-3/articles/72013/Gamescom-2010-Dungeon-Siege-3-Interview/. Retrieved September 1, 2010. 
3. ^ "Comic-Con 2010: Fallout devs on thinking inside the box". Gamespot. July 24, 2010. http://comic-con.gamespot.com/story/6270864/fallout-devs-on-thinking-inside-the-box/. Retrieved July 24, 2010. 
4. ^ "Square Enix Delays Dungeon Siege III". GamingUnion.net. 2011-04-07. http://www.gamingunion.net/news/square-enix-delays-dungeon-siege-iii--4599.html. 
5. ^ "Square Enix announces partnership with Obsidian Entertainment for Dungeon Siege 3". Square Enix. June 7, 2010. http://release.square-enix.com/na/2010/06/08_01.html. Retrieved June 7, 2010. 
6. ^ "E3: Square Enix Owns Dungeon Siege IP, Moves Into Western RPG Market". Gamasutra. June 16, 2010. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/28977/E3_Square_Enix_Owns_Dungeon_Siege_IP_Moves_Into_Western_RPG_Market.php. Retrieved June 16, 2010. 
7. ^ "Timeline". Dungeon Siege III official homepage. Square Enix. http://www.dungeonsiege.com/kingdom-of-ehb.php. Retrieved 14 June 2011. 
8. ^ "Lucas Montbarron". Dungeon Siege III official homepage. Square Enix. http://www.dungeonsiege.com/characters-lucas.php. Retrieved 14 June 2011. 
9. ^ "Anjali". Dungeon Siege III official homepage. Square Enix. http://www.dungeonsiege.com/characters-anjali.php. Retrieved 14 June 2011. 
10. ^ "Reinhart Manx". Dungeon Siege III official homepage. Square Enix. http://www.dungeonsiege.com/characters-reinhart.php. Retrieved 14 June 2011. 
11. ^ "Katarina". Dungeon Siege III official homepage. Square Enix. http://www.dungeonsiege.com/characters-katarina.php. Retrieved 14 June 2011. 
12. ^ "Dungeon Siege III for Xbox 360 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. 2011-06-17. http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/dungeon-siege-iii. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
13. ^ "Dungeon Siege III for PlayStation 3 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/dungeon-siege-iii. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
14. ^ "Dungeon Siege III for PC Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. 2011-06-17. http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/dungeon-siege-iii. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
15. ^ Rea, Jasmine (June 21, 2011). "Dungeon Siege III". Electronic Gamer Monthly Issue 249.03. pp. 33–35. http://www.egmnow.com/egmi/issue/249-3.html. Retrieved 27 June 2011. 
16. ^ Cork, James (June 21, 2011). "Dungeon Siege III". Game Informer. http://www.gameinformer.com/games/dungeon_siege_iii/b/ps3/archive/2011/06/21/old-school-action-with-a-few-new-twists.aspx. Retrieved 27 June 2011. 
17. ^ Neigher, Eric (June 21, 2011). "Review: Dungeon Siege 3 (360/PS3/PC)". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/220591/review-dungeon-siege-3-360-ps3-pc/. Retrieved 27 June 2011. 
18. ^ "Dungeon Siege III Review, Dungeon Siege III PC Review". GameSpot.com. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dungeon-siege-3/review.html?tag=summary%3Bread-review. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
19. ^ "Dungeon Siege III Review, Dungeon Siege III Xbox 360 Review". GameSpot.com. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/dungeon-siege-3/review.html?tag=summary%3Bread-review. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
20. ^ "GameSpy: Dungeon Siege III Review - Page 1". Uk.pc.gamespy.com. http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/dungeon-siege-iii/1177478p1.html. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
21. ^ Posted: Jun 22, 2011. "Dungeon Siege III Video Game, Review | Video Clip | Game Trailers & Videos". GameTrailers.com. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-dungeon-siege/716703. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
22. ^ Onyett, Charles. "Dungeon Siege III Review". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/117/1177480p1.html. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
23. ^ Cocke, Taylor. "Dungeon Siege 3 review: An Id's paradise". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/21/dungeon-siege-3-review/. Retrieved 2011-06-23. 
24. ^ Dutton, Fred. "Reinventing Dungeon Siege - Interview". eurogamer.net. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-21-reinventing-dungeon-siege-interview. 
25. ^ Purchese, Robert (21 June 2011). "Better Dungeon Siege 3 PC controls soon". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-21-better-dungeon-siege-3-pc-controls-soon. Retrieved 23 June 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Dungeon Siege III Wikia