Dungeon Siege Demo

[cronicler]

I just downloaded and tried the demo. And to be honest, my first impressions are not good.

 

Now the story and the writing is nice but the voice-over and the map logic (not design) are absolutely rubbish.

 

I mean, come on, you arrive at a rural estate and the place is under attack. And you don't see any bad guys around the Estate trying to stop people running away or going in. And then you enter the burning building. errr what?. You face a couple of waves of enemies inside a burning building in the cellars. You meet a survivor and guess what? you calmly chat with the bloke. I don't think anyone could have provided such a jarring voice-over. There is no excitement, no panic, just stoic nonsense...

 

Map logic is also a poor point. At the end of Estate, you light the fuse to some gunpowder barrels to blow a bridge in the cellars. In the cellars... I mean would it be too much to transition into a cave system from the cellars then have the bridge in the caves or something? Not to mention entering a burning building in the first place...

 

I only played the Warrior so far and I want to ask Obsidian; whose idea was it to omit strafe and back-pedalling? You can run forward, roll forward and backwards and that's it. The whole sword-play is just a chaos especially when your guy starts to auto-face to nearest target and your camera starts to swing with him.

 

What bothers me most is the feeling of wasted potential. The game looks and plays nice, the effects are solid. The writing is good. The story is unimaginative but usable. The whole things feels like a broken bike with loose bolts. If the controls were a bit more precise, if the voice actors were acting a bit, If the maps were a bit more logical... It could have been such a better game.

 

[Morgoth]

Hello DSIII forum section

[C2B]

I just downloaded and tried the demo. And to be honest, my first impressions are not good.

 

Now the story and the writing is nice but the voice-over and the map logic (not design) are absolutely rubbish.

 

I mean, come on, you arrive at a rural estate and the place is under attack. And you don't see any bad guys around the Estate trying to stop people running away or going in. And then you enter the burning building. errr what?. You face a couple of waves of enemies inside a burning building in the cellars. You meet a survivor and guess what? you calmly chat with the bloke. I don't think anyone could have provided such a jarring voice-over. There is no excitement, no panic, just stoic nonsense...

 

Map logic is also a poor point. At the end of Estate, you light the fuse to some gunpowder barrels to blow a bridge in the cellars. In the cellars... I mean would it be too much to transition into a cave system from the cellars then have the bridge in the caves or something? Not to mention entering a burning building in the first place...

 

I only played the Warrior so far and I want to ask Obsidian; whose idea was it to omit strafe and back-pedalling? You can run forward, roll forward and backwards and that's it. The whole sword-play is just a chaos especially when your guy starts to auto-face to nearest target and your camera starts to swing with him.

 

What bothers me most is the feeling of wasted potential. The game looks and plays nice, the effects are solid. The writing is good. The story is unimaginative but usable. The whole things feels like a broken bike with loose bolts. If the controls were a bit more precise, if the voice actors were acting a bit, If the maps were a bit more logical... It could have been such a better game.

 

 

You enter the burning building in the first place to LOOK for survivors and help them. Its not like you have anything else left in the world or it wouldn't be a stretch considering one of the people you trust most could still be in it.

 

Also its not that unusual for a cellar beeing built into/onto a cave.

 

About the camera. Try disabling the auto function in the options. It helps a little.

Edited June 10, 2011 by C2B

[LadyCrimson]

Wait...there's a demo? Finally another reason to use Steam for something.

 

*rushes to Steam to DL*

[cronicler]

C2B:

I don't have a problem with cellar being built into a cave. I just wish there were some (more) indicators for it, like a "brick walls -> rough stone walls -> stone cave" kind of transition before the said part.

 

And mate, I have been around a burning building, there is no bloody way I would go that deep into a burning building. Ever.

That said it is not the looking for survivors that bothers me. "The building is on fire" aspect just seems ham handed to me. If it had been something like:

 

You enter the ruined building, you link up with the bloke then during the next fights sequence a fire breaks out and the bloke says "No, they are waiting for us outside, lets go trough the cellars!", it would have been mighty fine. As it stands now, it feels irritating to me.

 

The camera; yea I did jump in the game with just a cursory look at the keyboard layout. Didn't check the options deeply.

[Hurlshort]

I've been playing video games for a long time, so illogical levels are pretty par for the course.

 

That was a frickin' huge house, by the way.

[Monte Carlo]

A few thoughts having played the demo:

 

1. The game is real purdy

 

2. It doesn't feel like a Dungeon Siege game

 

3. It's a console game, meh

 

4. Don't like the camera, and the need to use keyboard buttons to interact with the environment. It's the reverse of days of yore, now the PC-port crew are the victims

 

5. Combat feels smooth, hack & slashy and fun

 

6. Inventory / skills etc aren't great to access and look at, but hey its a console game.

 

I won't be buying the game, will wait for D3. Sorry Obz, loved FO:NV, I love H&S Diablo clones too but this hasn't grabbed me.

[sorophx]

but but but... they say the demo is nothing like the actual game

[LadyCrimson]

1. The game is real purdy

The effects & colors were nice.

4. Don't like the camera, and the need to use keyboard buttons to interact with the environment. It's the reverse of days of yore, now the PC-port crew are the victims

Yeah....agreed.

6. Inventory / skills etc aren't great to access and look at, but hey its a console game.

Didn't like that either, felt awkward/a pain. But not a game I'd probably be looking at those things too often.

 

Not sure I'll buy it on release date. I could use something else to play & D3 is probably still a ways away. I'll wait for reviews on the full game first tho I think.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Hello DSIII forum section

 

This.

 

My 2 cents is that the problem (well, besides the fact that the port to PC is REALLY sloppy and feels like something done last minute) is not in the various niggles one can point, but the fact that it feels very mediocre, generic and uninspired overall.

[Hurlshort]

I'm still going to buy it. I spend way too much time here to be comfortable not picking it up around day one for full price. It would be one thing if it was simply a game I had no interest in, but after the demo it seems like a solid game, albeit with a few flaws. I can overlook those because I love Obsidian and want to see them stay in business.

[Tigranes]

Moved.

 

I thought the design of the manor was pretty stupid as well, but not because of the caves, etc - because the enemy placement made it seem like a random place on fire, not a place where people just got ambushed and killed. Thought it gets much better after that, though not enough - devs have said that numerous adjacent areas & sidequests were cut out of the demo part.

[glenn3e]

Moved.

 

I thought the design of the manor was pretty stupid as well, but not because of the caves, etc - because the enemy placement made it seem like a random place on fire, not a place where people just got ambushed and killed. Thought it gets much better after that, though not enough - devs have said that numerous adjacent areas & sidequests were cut out of the demo part.

 

You can actually see that yourselves. There were a few doors such as the start of the area after the burning mansion that was closed off due to it being the demo. It even says so if you click on it. The game might not be that linear after all, since a lot of optional stuff in the demo looked to be blocked off on purpose.

[Oner]

"The area you are trying to enter is filled with quicksand, lava and undead mules"

[Tigranes]

Oh, were there? OK... so my fault I missed those.