Dungeon Siege 2 Review

Other objective factors, which may hinder someone's gameplay experience with Dungeon Siege 2, include the relatively dated looking visuals, which haven't improved much since the original and the expansion pack, coupled with the still present linearity of the maps themselves. I didn't find this to be a big problem as first: often, the linear paths branch off, effectively making only the main story a linear romp, and secondly, it would rather hinder the flow of this single-player game if things weren't the way they are.

HEADSHOT!

Ain't I a handsome devil?

Ironically, where Dungeon Siege 2 fails the most is in the presentation of the story line and some of the dialogue that was written for it. There are some very poor attempts at humor at some portions of the game (they are mostly parts of the side-quests). There are even more bits of the dialogue that are, let's say, less than believable. However, this is all small potatoes compared to the voice acting. The voice-overs are absolutely horrible. They are some of the worst I've heard in a video game ever. Porn actresses with a slab of man meat in their mouth and a gargled voice can produce a much more convincing and emotional performance, looking up at the camera fitted over the shoulder of the actor, than the obvious amateurs that were hired to do the voice overs for Dungeon Siege 2. I simply cannot understand what the hell happened here. Dungeon Siege 2 is a high-profile PC game being published by one of the biggest companies in the world, and they couldn't find someone who took like two acting classes in their entire life? Staying with the sex analogies, playing Dungeon Siege 2 while listening to the gruesome voice-overs, felt like kissing the nape of the neck and then making your way down the line of the back of a beautiful woman only to run into some man hair in the lower back area (Ok, I just threw up a little -Mo.). That's how the voice-overs felt while trying to enjoy Dungeon Siege 2. Even with this, I managed to block the negative factors out and still enjoy the game for all the reasons I have mentioned above, but it didn't help also that the itemization (while good in most regards) would fail miserably by allowing for several identical unique drops. Go ahead, spot the paradox there.

In a nutshell, Dungeon Siege 2 is far from a perfect game. It has some clear and often inexplicable drawbacks, and yet it still manages to deliver a deep and immersive single-player gaming experience that had me glued to my monitor screen 'till the wee hours of the morning. Chris Taylor and the gang managed to do a lot of things right, most of which has to do with the care and attention that was given to exploration and the side-quests, while still botching up some things that I was sure they were going to get right this time around. The game gets a rating of 'very good' purely on the basis of the reviewer's tilt. After all, reviews are a subjective category no matter how you spin it.