Amazon.com: Dungeon Siege (Mac): PC: Video Games

17 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, clean (or bloody), fun..., February 14, 2004

By	Tom (Berryville, VA) - See all my reviews

I very much enjoyed this game. The graphics are great, the gameplay is fairly linear--a drawback for some, but I *like* linear--and the story and dungeons here are both inventive and challenging. I have tried Icewind Dale (tedious and aggravating) and Neverwinter Nights (complicated and, once again, aggravating) for the Mac, but Dungeon Siege is better than either of those games, in my opinion.

I don't want to give up half my life just trying to figure out how to play a game and then spend the other half resolving arcane puzzles that you have to get a clue book to help you with. Geeze. Unless you're a professional gamer (or college student [yeah, I still remember those days!]), who's got time for that? Just a bit of hack and slash adventure is all I crave, with an assortment of challenges (not all of them battle oriented) with a few good digital companions at your side (I found Kroduk, Gloern, and Merik to be particularly helpful). What more could you ask for?

Dungeon Siege is good fun for someone who doesn't want to waste a lot of time trying to figure out character stats and complex rules of engagement. Moreover, while there are a couple of minor side battles here (and one major one that which I missed my first time through), I still found the game entertaining and replayable. I like the idea of fully realized companions that join up with your team along the way (if you want them to and/or can afford to hire them). These are not just mindless drones but as controllable and accessible as the primary character that you create at the beginning of the game. I also like the way characters' abilities are enhanced based on the way you choose to play them; if you have a character use a bow, for example, then they gradually increase in that particular skill.

The music is great, the various levels are seamlessly woven together, and the "gore level" is adjustable, as is the game difficulty level. All in all, this game was just what I was looking for: fun, "winnable", and not irritatingly complex.

I highly recommend Dungeon Siege for Mac owners who enjoy this sort of thing. I haven't had this much fun with a Mac game since the Wizardry, Bard's Tale, and Might and Magic series of long ago. And, yes, I know how old that makes me!

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An great game, with limited appeal, December 10, 2003

By	Kirk Huff - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree with many of the other reviewers on this page. I am talking exclusively about the single player campaign, which I have managed to get a third of the way through. Dungeon Siege does a number of things very well - graphics and simplified character creation - while sacrificing character depth, interaction, and basically everything else that makes a roleplaying game special.

Good stuff: (1) There were points at which the graphics made me pause to admire the landscape - in particular the trees swaying in a light drizzle and fog falling off the walls of ice caves. All of this requires some hardware of course. I bought the game when I had a 600 mHz iBook with 256 MB RAM and a 16bit graphics card, but recently had it replaced with a 933 mHz iBook (I love the things) with 640 MB RAM and a 32bit card. On the first computer I turned everything to low resolution and got rid of the object detail and particle effects and the game was doable. On my current computer, I've maxed all the settings and the game consistently stuttered only during a snowstorm, where I guess all the falling snowflakes pushed the limits. Considering that the graphics are a major draw, if your computer can't handle them you might want to think twice about buying this game. (2) The system of character creation is simplicity itself. At the beginning you decide what your character looks like, and the game starts. Your three abilities (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence) and four skills (Melee, Ranged weapons, Nature magic, Combat magic) all start at the same low level. They are raised by doing related things, so regularly casting a fireball raises Combat Magic, which in turn raises Intelligence, and higher intelligence gives the character more mana points to cast spells. It's so simple that it quickly fades into the background of the game, and makes Dungeon Siege approachable especially for players who don't want entire lists of abilities, skills, and derived charts to worry themselves with. (3) No upload time! Wherever the characters go there is a never a pause while the new area is uploaded, which makes gameplay one continuous experience. Big "Oooooh!" factor here. (4) Great inventory control. With a single click, the computer will organize the inventory of a character. There's a spell which turns an item of loot into gold, at a slight cost. And the best innovation of any game ever - mules! Honest to the maker four footed mules that you can load with all the loot.

Bad stuff: (1) Almost entirely linear play. There are a few side areas to wander into but the game is mostly (journey during which you kill everything in sight) followed by (safe place where you can buy and sell supplies/companions/mules) followed by (another journey of death), etc. (2) Simplified characters. I'm one of those people who likes the sub-charts of derived scores as part of my character, and finds the decision about whether or not to raise my Blacksmithing skill gripping. There's not enough detail and control of your character. (3) Storyline essentially disappears early on. The game starts with a quest to tell the authorities about a new danger, but the plot is quickly abandoned for a combat free-for all. Despite talk about your character being the hero of the land, it is possible to dismiss your character and replace him/her with a hired mercenary!

I'm not against combat-fests and I really enjoyed Diablo, but I think what makes this game particularly uninspiring is its puzzling lack of attitude, or what might be called soul. Even really bad games, which Dungeon Siege is not, usually have someone who was inspired to make it and the maker's enthusiasm comes through somewhere in the game. I don't know if the speculation about it being because it is a Microsoft product are correct, but in the end there doesn't seem to be anything to this game except pretty images, good programming and killing stuff, which may be enough for some players.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, but the fun wears off, September 3, 2003

By	Douglas K. Beagley "Reader, Hopeful Writer" (Colchester, VT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First, remember that I am an RPG fan... recall Wizardry, Pools of Radiance, The Bard's Tale, Baldur's Gate(s). I am also a fantasy fan, and a gaming fan, so I loved Diablo II despite its weakness as an RPG.

Given my gaming history, I should *love* Dungeon Seige, and I did enjoy it a lot for a while. Unfortunately, it just failed to capture my imagination. I'm not fully sure why. The build-your-character aspects were kind of weak, but not nearly as weak as in Summoner, and I *loved* Summoner. But Summoner had a really, really good story. And characters I had affection for. *Places* I had affection for. Dungeon Seige's level design was kind of boring and repetitive (though gorgeous), but Diablo's level design was a bunch of random pathetic mazes, and I *loved* Diablo. But Diablo had style. And strangely addictive character building.

To sum up: Dungeon Seige takes all of the elements of a good fantasy or RPG game (character building, storyline, style/gameplay, etc.) and does an "okay" job on them all. Dungeon Seige has some really, really great moments-- but I very rarely got pulled in to it. A good RPG has to feel like a real universe, through and through. Usually, DS didn't.

Oh, and I could never get multiplayer to work right. Darn it all.