3 years have passed since Microsoft and Gas Powered games teamed up to release the action RPG game known as Dungeon Siege. Although the reviews were mixed towards the game, it did introduce some great new features to RPG games such as controlling a large party of adventurers in real time action, not turn-based, and having a real mule instead of a so-called mule that other games used in strategic ways to transfer loot. Dungeon Siege 2 brings a totally new game and storyline to the table and improves on all the aspects that made the first game memorable and did away with those that just didn’t fit. Along with the upgrade to the way the game is played, Dungeon Siege 2 brings with it an entirely new story so that playing the first DS isn’t a necessary feat and allows anyone to jump right in on the action.

You start the game by creating the main character that you will use, be it human, elf, half-giant or Dryad. Once you choose your character style, you are dropped in the middle of the action with your friend Drevin. Drevin and you both are in the Morden army and work for the evil Valdis who is at the head of the charge. The Morden army is in search of the 5 pieces of the Azunite Shield of the Defender, the shield that was split apart years ago when Azunai the Defender and the evil Zaramoth the Unmaker battled atop the Plain of Tears. The battle ended the first age and bought about a cataclysmic event that tore the souls away from all that were present and reshaped the entire world. When the sword of Zaramoth struck the shield of Azunai, it shattered and was scattered around the world of Aranna so that it would never be put back together again, thus preventing the end of the second age. Being that Valdis now has Zaramoth’s sword, the sword of the unmaker in his possession, he needs to locate the 5 pieces of the shield to become unstoppable in his plan. When Drevin and you discover the first piece in a temple, Valdis turns on you and leaves you for dead.

The long journey begins here as you are captured by Dryads, the race of nature worshippers that are enemies of the Morden. Once you are released from your prison, you gain the trust of the Dryads and they allow you to return home. As you you’re your way, you quickly learn what Valdis and the Morden are up to and vow to stop them. You then set off in your journey and come to see that there is much to stopping Valdis then originally planned. The story of Dungeon Siege 2 is enormous as it progresses through each of the three acts the game has. There are many side quests that you may choose take but are not essential in the completion of the game. They are there to extend the game life with short stories and to reward you with some extra loot at the conclusion of them. Over all, there are 21 side quests for some extra leveling and goodies and there are 27 primary quests that do need to be explored.

As you make your way through the land of Arrana, you will need some help along the way and this is where the party aspect of Dungeon Siege comes into play. Your first time through the game will allow you to have a party of 4 people. As you complete the game and begin again on a harder setting, you will be able to add more members. You start with your character and each time you want to add a companion, you need to fork over a large sum of cash to allow it. There are plenty of adventurers to choose from, all with their own abilities and skills that can be found all throughout the land. As well as characters that you can hire, there are also creatures and elementals. These range from ice and fire elementals, to scorpions, dragons and even a mule. When you hire the creatures and animals to be in your party, they gain levels by feeding on the unwanted weapons, armor, spells and anything else that your party finds. Unfortunately, the creatures that you can bring into your party only have a few attacks and sometimes will have to wait for your main character to level up before you can feed it more items.

Players will automatically identify the game play of Dungeon Siege 2 with Diablo 2 and World of WarCraft. The hack and slash style of action and similar skill trees that you use to upgrade your abilities are very familiar as is the rising damage count and glow beneath stronger opponents. The resemblances also go further with the armor and weapons you can find scattered about. Unique and set items are often found as well as items that can be enchanted with items such as feathers, skulls, jewels and such that will add abilities to the particular item it is being fused into. While the graphics in DS2 are not awful by any stretch of the imagination, they do seem to lack a certain zest unless you crank up all the effects and shaders. One of the biggest gripes of the game is the character panels on the left side of the screen. When you are playing in 1072 x 768 resolution, the panel is huge and blocks a large portion of the screen and therefore the game play and you will find yourself rotating the camera quite often to see what is going on behind it. When you are playing in 1280 x 1024, it is much smaller and much more acceptable, although you’ll need a hefty video card to handle it.

You will be on many dungeon crawls and visit many different locales throughout the game, all of which are seamlessly integrated with no loading. The only time you will see a loading screen is when you are traveling via a teleporter. Along with the various locations, there are plenty of different enemies you will run into. During times in the game, you will face 3 or 4 enemies at once, but sometimes you will just get swarmed and overwhelmed by hidden enemies that appear out of trees and the ground. Usually the enemies will be weak enough to take out with some blind mouse mashing and setting your party to rampage mode where they will attack anything near them. However, there are times, when there will be a crowd of enemies that are lurking about that are strangely enough 4 or 5 levels higher than you and decimate you and your party in seconds. Times like this just seem to slow the game right down. It feels as though it takes you 20 minutes just to progress 5 feet further.

Along with the rather lengthy single player campaign that can easily take up 50-60 hours of your time, Dungeon Siege 2 also comes with a multiplayer co-op that can be played over a LAN, the internet or through GameSpy’s online service. With this feature, you control one character while your friends or other online players control the rest of the party and make your way through selected maps. Along with the fantastic storyline which gets more intricate and complex as the game progresses, and the hack and slash style gameplay that many action RPG gamers will recognize and feel comfortable with, Dungeon Siege 2 is definitely worth checking out for some hectic sword swinging action. If you missed the first outing in the series, don’t make the same mistake twice and do yourself a favor by picking this one up.