Multiplayer and Sound

Multiplayer

The best aspect of multiplayer is that there is a second world you can play on, the Utrean Peninsula. This world has new towns, people, and quests. They use the same look and feel as the Kingdom of Ehb, but it’s not the same map. The single player map is available, but it doesn’t have the Utrean Bascilicus, a teleportation device that allows you to jump between the towns in the Utrean Peninsula. This is handy since the early parts of the map are too easy for high level characters. The two maps are about the same size – huge. This is much better than Diablo II, where there was only one world in the multi and single player.

Monsters are scaled so that you can be very low level at the beginning of the world, but very powerful by the time you get to the end, just like single player. Monsters also get stronger as more people join the server. Higher level players make monsters even harder, so be careful with the game you join – you can end up screwing low-level players if you join with a high level character. When you create the game you can also set the difficulty level (making monsters tougher), as well as set the game to “veteran” where the minimal level is 50 to join. On this mode even the weak monsters are pretty tough.

These pop out everywhere

Some weapons freeze

Flame tanks?

There are several modes you can play in multiplayer. Besides the standard co-op, you can also play a team game where the teams race for the highest number of kills. PvP is also available, if you’re the masochistic type. The vast majority of games I’ve joined were focused on leveling character stats. This is one of the few RPGs that allow you max out all available classes. With time and effort you could be level 50+ in melee, ranged, nature magic, and combat magic. Let’s face it; everyone loves power-leveling in RPGs.

They really need to fix a few things in multiplayer games. Your connection quality or ping to a game isn’t listed in the games list, so you have to join a game to check how good your connection is. Even after you connect to a game which looks like you have a good connection to other players, it can still be very laggy. Passworded games are also not marked as such. The most annoying problem however, is that the game pauses as people connect to the game. So if you’re in the middle of a battle and someone tries to connect, you can end up sitting there for a few minutes. If they made a new lobby and these problems were fixed the multiplayer would be stellar, but right now it’s just good.

Lightning guns

Damn goblins

Mechanized combat

Sound and Music

The sound effects are handled very well. Every monster has its own set of sound effects, including a very functional “alert” sound. When a creature spots your party it will make a noise as it prepares to attack, alerting you of their presence. This comes in handy when they pop up behind the camera or out of some bushes. Since the sounds are unique, you can also tell what type of monster is headed your way.

Music in Dungeon Siege is done very well, but it was left in the background too much. Game developers shouldn’t shy away from using music as a tool to set the mood. Music has an ability to invoke feeling into situations, and should be used often to do this in games. While the music is good in Dungeon Siege, it should have been used more to set the mood. The few times it did kick in for this reason it worked well, but for the most part it was just background music.