Games

Diablo Done Better

I have not been playing as many games lately as I would like, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps it has been because there are not that may interesting games coming out until later this year. But a few weeks ago, I downloaded a demo of a game I did not know much about and had not heard of (maybe Paul should try reading this site called FiringSquad –ed). It was called Dungeon Siege, and since I have started playing it, I have become consumed. I play this game day and night and find myself just wandering around so I can look at the scenery. It is truly an enthralling game.

Well Designed Menu System

Notice The Roof...

Roof Removed From View

As you can see from the first screen above-left, from the very start of the game, the interface, there is a sense of quality and craftsmanship. The animations and sound on the main menu alone are impressive. As you get into the game, it is stunning how intelligent the interface is. For instance, the screen above-middle shows your group outside the de-facto trading post preparing to enter. Notice the roof in place as it should be. Then, as you enter the building, shown above-right, you can see that the roof has smartly been removed from view so that you can see your surroundings. It is seamless, very well done and makes the game a joy to play, with few frustrations.

Impressive Visuals

The graphics engine is absolutely awesome, particularly in the areas of lighting and transparency. The image below-left shows some of the shadows, lighting and special effects. Dark recesses are slowly exposed to the light, and spells crackle with shadows in the background. The image below-middle shows how you can zoom in to an extreme level and how amazing the transparency effects can be. The use of transparency in this game is one of the most impressive implementations I have ever seen in a shipping release and sets the gold standard for how it should be done in all other games. It is really that good.

Spells & Combat

Zoomed In, Faded Trees

Zoomed Out, Inventory

One of the other completely spot-on things about this title is the interface. Dungeon Siege is a true 3D world, and the ease that which you can move through it is nearly unprecedented. Move your mouse cursor to the top or bottom of the screen and your view rotates from third person to nearly top-down. Move your mouse cursor to the left or the right and you rotate in that direction around your viewpoint so that you can see a full 360 degree circle around your character and will be able to angle so that you can see behind rocks, cave walls, buildings, etc. So in addition to the transparency, you have perspective. Very well done. Further, you can zoom in and out to incredible levels, almost like you can with Sim City 3000. Again, a welcome element. The image above-right shows the view zoomed out to maximum with the inventory and spell dialogs open. As you can see, it is about as simple and well done as any other system around.

Yes, the game play is very simplistic, and yes, it can be compared to Diablo in many ways. But frankly, as busy as life is, I enjoy being able to pop into a game like this and play for as much time as I have available, then save the game and know I can pick it up in a day, a week or a month and still be able to get into it 1 minute after sitting down to play. No names to memorize, no long passages of script to read that contain some critical piece of information you must have to advance, no angst at all. Even though some people slam it for simplicity, once you get behind the surface, you will find you can make it more complicated and more traditionally RPG-like just by tweaking a few settings. You can have your character be aggressive or sit back and dodge the enemies as they come after them. You can micro-manage your inventory or choose not to. There is a lot more under the hood than people may think at first glance, and props to the developers for creating such a rich, visually stunning, incredibly fun game for the PC. If you have not tried the demo, give it a shot. It is worth every minute of time.