Review - Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna

The lovable farmer-turned-adventurer is back in Microsoft/Gas Powered Games highly anticipated sequel to their acclaimed hack-and-slasher, Dungeon Siege. Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna expansion brings back the intense battles and addictive game-play that fans couldn't get enough of in the original. Though dubbed an expansion, Legends of Aranna is a stand alone game, which includes the original Dungeon Siege as part of the install. This new vision boasts nine new areas for adventurers to explore in addition to improved party controls, new spells to wield and new treasures to amass.

The story of LOA begins much in the same way as the original. An ancient evil has invaded the land and it is up to the player, a young farmer, to take up arms and fight this being and his numerous minions. Initially, the player is asked to deal with an immediate threat to his hometown. But then, a more sinister plot is revealed, when the powerful Staff of Stars is stolen, catapulting the player from his home of Ehb to the island of the Utraeans where he will encounter a horde of new creatures to fight as well as new races to befriend. Some examples of the creature features are the feline Hassat, the gargantuan Half-Giants, mysterious and magical Utraeans, the lizard men known as the Zaurask, and the crocodilian Droc.

Graphically, it is very evident that improvements have been made with the additions of new armor textures, monster models and textures, and some very detailed environments. One of the most fascinating locales, the Dark Jungles of Mhakesha, home of the cat-like Hassat, brilliantly uses colors and textures to create a lush environment for players to explore. Some other locales that were equally impressive include the fabled, Utraean Wizard City, Illicor, which is collection of interconnected islands (though surrounded by bottomless drops as opposed to water). One thing I would have liked to see was some higher video resolution options (the max is still 1024 X 768). However, the plethora of eye candy makes up for that particular shortfall. The in-game sounds didn't appear to waiver much from those of the original, though the voice acting in the game is superb. In one particular of the spider queen, each new area of her domain was littered with her booming proclamations of my imminent demise. Needless to say, she was all talk! One aspect of the sound that I particularly enjoyed was the music. As always, it provides an unparalleled gaming experience, swelling in ebbs and flows with the dynamics of the game. The original "Dungeon Siege" theme that began the original game is given new life in this sequel. Personally, it's one of my favorite game themes ever.

Character creation has pretty much stayed static with the exception of multi-player, which allows for additional playable races from the game. In each character creation module, players are able to choose the gender of their avatar and some minor cosmetics such as clothes, face, as well as hair style and color. Once in the game proper, players take a trip down to the basement to choose their tools, be it melee, ranged or magical spells.

Gas Powered Games' winning formula of game-play hasn't changed in LOA. An intoxicating mix of fast-paced melee and those oh-so-sparkly spell effects, LOA knows what works. However, not satisfied with the status-quo, GPG has added some significant improvements to the UI to aid players in their quest for fame and fortune. One of the most intuitive features that can be used is the "potion redistribution" function. Basically, what this does is take a look at all of your party member's potion stores and their associated abilities and then redistribute more health potions to the melees and more mana potions to the casters. All of this is done instantaneously with the push of a button. Who would have thought? In addition, the UI has become more caster friendly in particular, which will allow players to set up "control groups" of spells (allowing them to switch between 10 different ones), so that there isn't any more muss and fuss with the inventory. Some other party optimizers include "localized" attacks, which will instruct the party members to attack the closest monster or if no enemies are around will direct them to "liberate" the closest chest of it's treasure. Also, party members that are being attacked off-screen will indicate this by their portrait flashing orange. AI has been improved also, as characters that haven't been told to stay put will assist members in need.

The two schools of magic in the game, which are nature and combat, have also received a few new goodies for players to dabble with. Ever wish that wimpy caster of yours could dive into the battle royale and open up a can? Well, wish no longer as LOA introduces transformation spells, which allow casters to take on the shapes of heartier creatures, complete with all of the melee power of their chosen shape. Another addition to the arcane arts is orb spells, which allow casters to summon swirling orbs that attack any threats to the party. Magic users are also able to create glyphs, booby trapped jewels that explode on contact and release acid gas, for example. But the spell grab bag doesn't end there. How does summon clone sound? Or how about Zorkon's Exploder, which transforms standard enemies into living bombs? Now, that's just evil. *grin*

Melee characters won't feel left out with the addition of a cornucopia of weapon and armor sets to the game. Armor sets marked in light blue add additional benefits when all of the "pieces" are acquired. There are also rare items, marked in purple, that provide permanent "buffs" to the wearers, such as increased armor rating or additional hit accuracy. Each "buff" is accompanied by an appropriate graphic effect that surrounds the wearer. But the visuals aren't just limited to spell and buff effects, the armor textures are stunning. I'm still looking for that catwalk level... *chuckle*

Mutliplay is handled in the same way as before, through an in-game matching client. Players are able to import characters created in either the original Dungeon Siege or those played in the expansion. Additionally, a multi-player save feature has been included in the expansion to allow friends to adventure together and save their progress. I found the online client very stable and didn't have any issues completing a quest or two with a few friends.

Bottom line, Legends of Aranna is just plain fun. It's got an RPG-lite formula that works. With new monsters to slay, new spells, new treasure and that familiar, in your face addictive game-play, there isn't much the player is going to be left wanting...except maybe more hours in the day!