Today Microsoft showcased the sequel to one the industry's biggest hack'n'slashers. Many have already labeled Dungeon Siege 2 as a blatant copy of Diablo II (well, duh!). Fair enough, the resemblance to Diablo is obvious, but then one finds that to be true of almost every other slice 'em and dice 'em RPG out there. Still, when we saw Dungeon Siege 2 on display at the show, it was clear the franchise made some progressed over the years, both visually and in terms of gameplay.

I like to iron my hair!

Somebody light a fire. I'm freezing.

The sequel to Dungeon Siege features a few enrichments in terms of story-telling as well which is the first thing the design team brought up at the presentation. GPG still refuses to give us the details on the plot, but we do know you begin the game as a mercenary fighting for the bad guy. Also, you no longer take charge of a group of anonymous characters. This time around, a thorough background and a deep story surround each member of your party. Characters think and feel independently which, although it makes things more interesting, might cause a few problems during your journey. How you assemble the team has a great impact on how well individual characters perform in combat. So, if two party members disagree on something they could easily start fighting each other (once again, I am reminded of the never-ending pain caused by certain disagreements here at the office... that reminds me, I have to sharpen the scimitar).

Character development seems simple enough. The tree-based customization system allows you to choose appropriate skills and abilities for certain character classes. Depending on the class, you can select different fighting styles (using two-handed weapons, dual-wielding, using a sword and shield, etc.), specific magic skills, and so on.

Using pets is another interesting twist. Like we've mentioned in our recent preview of the game, pets are no longer just there to drag all the junk you collect during the game. Now they can be upgraded and trained, eventually growing into capable fighting units. The game boils down to two choices. You can either go down the standard path by assembling your RPG dream team consisting of various characters, or you can surround a single character with an army of these pets. Unlike other characters in the game, these pets have skills of their own which cannot be used by other classes. You upgrade each pet by feeding it different magical items. A pet will then attune to a particular style of fighting, depending on which items you've been shoving down its throat.

Enemies are a lot smarter than in the previous game. We saw a few creatures in action as our party walked along a path surrounded by rich wildlife on either side. At that time I was thinking: "What a perfect place for an ambush." Almost instantly, a pack of minions emerged from the shrubs and took our team by surprise. The programmers obviously did a swell job improving the AI routines this time around, allowing them to adjust to the environment and use it to gain the advantage. Boss creatures are no exception. Each boss creature is a serious opponent and not just a huge damage sponge with a ton of hit points. It takes quite a while to bring some of them down, but the good news is there's always a variety of ways to pull that off. All you have to do is weigh out the situation carefully, and use whatever means necessary - be it magic, melee combat or something in the environment (like a fire extinguisher or a coffee mug).

MS and GPG (Gas Powered Games) are pretty careful not to let any info slip out regarding the new content. In any case, what we noticed is that Dungeon Siege 2 is a party-based action game at heart, much like its predecessor (and the add-on). The greatest aspect of the gameplay, however, comes with the new skills and the power system used to define and customize your characters. Same character classes won't necessarily have the same skill set. For instance, a level 15 fighter will not have the same skill set as another level 15 fighter. When it comes to power attacks (i.e. special Hero Powers), they are extremely potent and should be used sparingly since they take a long time to recharge. We saw one of these in action, and believe me, some them can be quite devastating.

Sadly, nothing further was revealed about the multiplayer mode, other than the fact that it supports co-op.

That's all we have for you on this one, boys and girls. We hope the good people at GPG will find the time to release a playable demo of the game before the final version hits shelves this holiday season. Until then, feel free to rummage through our extensive media library.