Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna Hands-On

First off, let me begin this hands-on preview by saying that I got my hands on Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna. And when I say 'got my hands on it,' I mean got my hairy, sweaty man-hands all over it like a drunken Japanese businessman at a Chinese brothel! (Ed.- Now there is a lovely mental image.) If the preview build of this game was a woman it would surely commit suicide by now for being so violated. Hack'n'slash RPG's will do that to ya; one minute it's noon and the sun is shining and the next thing you know, you look out the window, and it's pitch dark. I played Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna so much over the weekend that I got in big trouble with my wife. I think she's jealous of video games the way wives of normal people are jealous of other women. (Ed. - That, or the fact that you have twice referenced this game as a hot babe in need of violating. Chicks get testy about that sort of thing.)

I’ll turn you into little pork chops!

The developers modeled this level after my living room.

So, in light of my marital dispute and the fact that Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna was the soul reason of our clash I have decided to sue those responsible for making this game. At first I thought about suing Gas Powered Games for making the original. But then I figured, why not sue Mad Doc who made this expansion. And then it dawned on me! I'll sue Microsoft - the publisher! I figure they have plenty of dineros to throw around, so what's $20K between friends, as compensation for getting me in so much trouble with my wife. I plan to contact Microsoft WinXP technical support and lay it all down on them. Why? Because I can't exactly phone MS's lawyers directly, that's why! Apparently, no one takes me seriously there. Bastards! (Ed. - No one takes you seriously man, you might as well get used to it.)

Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna is one huge mutha of an expansion pack. It comes bundled with the original Dungeon Siege, which means that you can play the original game, or you can even play the original adventure using the new expansion executable, thereby gaining the new features and new spells and equipment. I'm almost at the end of the expansion and it took me roughly around fifteen hours to get there. The team at Mad Doc has done an excellent job on broadening the DS universe by creating a layered story with two main storylines. On the top level, you need to defeat the Shadowjumper, an ancient evil that is seeking revenge against all humans, and in particular against the Utraeans, an ancient race of human mages who once ruled all the lands of Aranna. But you are also trying to unravel the mystery of what happened to your parents. It just so happens that you come from a long line of heroes and your parents, adventures themselves, disappeared twenty years before while fighting another great evil.

The thing I really liked about the story is that, besides offering numerous other side-quests, it actually branches at certain key points depending on the paths you make. You can basically use the Utraean teleportation device to go to a different location or continue to explore the current location thereby uncovering pieces of the equipment your parents brought with them on their final quest along with explanations of how they lost each piece. What this does is create a more consistent game universe by tying the past with the present. Tolkien once said that a secret to creating a great fantasy world is forming its entire history that is implied to the readers as they reveal more of the story. (Ed. - He said it? Hell the guy DID it too!) Obviously, this is the direction that Mad Doc wanted to take the franchise, and I applaud them for their effort. In terms of gameplay mechanics LoA doesn't differ too much from the original game, but in terms of the general design concept it's safe to say that Mad Doc has included some fairly original and engaging solutions. I also liked the fact that character voicing has now been personalized. The designers gave the party members unique voices that acknowledge movement and attack orders in order to give them more personality.

Of course, we mustn't forget the myriad of new spells, weapons and terrain that are on display in the expansion, along with some very interesting new boss creatures. It's pointless to name all the additions here, but I will tell you a thing or two about the boss creatures. Granted, some of them are more cliché than the others; like the Death Knight and his minions of the undead; but, there are some that definitely stand out for their unique appearance and history. One such boss creature is The Lost Queen. She was once an Utraean "enemy of the state" who was tortured and magically merged with spiders and Mucosa. She was to be used as a weapon, but when the Utraean Empire fell, she remained imprisoned for hundreds of years, and has just been set free by the Shadowjumper. The Lost Queen has a giant worm-like tail that spews out enhanced spider warriors that will keep attacking as long as she keeps blowing them out of her ass - kind of like the alien race in Stephen King's Dreamcatcher. The spiders will basically crawl out from a huge, wet hole in her... well you get the picture. (Ed. - Uh, yeah.) Once you've managed to put her ass out of business (Ed. - Cue Drum Roll) you'll have to attack the front to finish her off. Of course, this is even more difficult to pull off as The Lost Queen has excellent melee and ranged skills. I eventually defeated her by having two of my party members heal my ranged warrior as she kept shooting arrows at the queen.

Line up against the wall and give us all your valuables!

One big dungeon mess.

The awesome thing about the boss levels is the buildup before the final battle. The way that scrolls and manuscripts with details of the events that took place long ago are left on the ground for the player to pick up, and the eerie screams and words of warning from the boss creature itself. As it was the case in the original, Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna manages to perfectly fuse the gloomy and intense dungeon crawls with some incredibly moody outdoor levels; featuring weather effects, abundance of vegetation and of course some very creative level design. The reason why the levels appear unique is not so much in the actual map layout (which is at times fairly linear and railed), but in the art design, which makes them visually distinctive. This is, of course, excellent news for the player as he/she should rarely get bored from running around the countryside.

Generally speaking, I got the impression that Legends of Aranna offers a more immersive gaming experience than the original. The layered story combined with a more personalized party and a rich brooding history of the land certainly add an air of authenticity to the DS fantasy world that wasn't accented as much in the original.

It should also be said that players can play through the whole world in MP, and that the expansion includes the incredibly handy option to save your quest state. This makes it much easier to complete the whole adventure.

Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna is slated to appear in stores in mid November. Personally, I'm delighted that I got to play this VERY polished beta. Sure, the AI needs a tad more work (certain enemies would get stuck on terrain obstacles), but overall, it appears that Mad Doc has managed to substantially polish up the original AI. The enemies will make smarter choices when attacking, and they'll even use some more advanced combat strategies to focus their attacks on your weakest points.

I love the fact that the expansion comes bundled with the original game. Fans of the original should dig it for its added personality and history, and newcomers will get a great deal by getting two games for the price of one. Mad Doc definitely deserves credit for a job well done. Now we wait anxiously await news about Dungeon Siege 2.