Dungeon Siege 2

Ever felt that you're the tranquil axis in a planet spinning from madness? The calm eye at the centre of the cyclone? The stability in a chaotic world? If you do, then you can at least relate to what's going on with Microsoft's Dungeon Siege II. Up front, there is nothing wrong with this game. No bugbear problems that hinder your fun, no crucially bad judgment calls in its development. Even so, it's hard to escape the feeling that it's going to partition gamers.

First, a(nother) confession. The old Might and Magic games, I loved em. Might and Magic 2 sucked down so much of my time it still horrifies me to think of it. On the surface, there wasn't anything extraordinary about it. You could roam the world, but commonsense - and a steadily escalating series of hard-to-kill monsters - stopped you from running all over the joint. And the focus was almost squarely on combat. Forget "role playing", advanced enemy AI or detailed alliances and conversations, pretty much everything that cropped up on your screen was killable.

If you played M&M2 the "proper" way, it was rare for you to get to an impasse where you wouldn't be able to get through with a bit of perseverance. Frustration wasn't an issue, but then again, mental stimulation took second place to factory-line repetition. So it's not as if I have a problem with the old hack and slash. It's just that I like the idea that games nowadays require a little more brain power than just making sure your character can always prevail against foes, with a bit of a tussle.

Dungeon Siege II remains true to the original DS, by Gas Powered Games, in that you won't often be stymied. Unlike the first in the series, it's meant to be open ended, not just running from A to B to C etc. In practise, thanks to a less-than-helpful map (a backward step from DS) wandering around with no aim is largely a pointless exercise. Even so, this isn't that huge a ***** for most players. If you're a casual hack and slasher, you probably want some direction. Save drifting around the landscape for EverQuest II and World of Warcraft players.

It's wishy-washy stating a game will appeal to "certain" gamers, but there's no escaping it here. If you're the kind of person who wears D&D underpants and mutters spells under your breath at your co-workers, you won't have much time for this. Actual "role playing" is nonexistent, instead you're just ploughing through a succession of monsters and... not-quite monsters. RPG fanatics, save your money and buy some deodorant... you won't enjoy this as much as us simpler, more hygienic folk.

Mainstream gamers will appreciate how Dungeon Siege II looks and plays a lot more. The original DS looked pretty nifty for it's time, but this one makes it look pretty... old. Even so, you won't be thinking this is the third person version of the Source engine. RTS games are beginning to get their act together, and this is perilously close to being "not as good" as current strategy games. Hack and slash, "action RPG" games really need to ramp up their visual standard and get closer to FPS games... and DSII, as a leading title falls a little short of leading the charge.

DSII has a party structure of sorts, so you can recruit folks to join you in bashing up the waves of bad guys. The storyline is a little messy, but its heart is in the right place. It's akin to watching one of those frustratingly predictable stories where you know the main characters are heading into certain peril, but you're powerless to prevent it. Despite all the signs telling you that you're on the "wrong" side, you still persist in being a pawn of greater powers until the plot decides its time to wake up to yourself. Even so, the makers have made an effort, and that goes a long way in a genre cluttered with "why am I killing this orc for?" style games.

Progression is key to a grind-based game like this, and there's a lot to love about the scalability of the DSII challenge. Kick off on mercenary difficulty until you rise to level 40, then you qualify for Veteran, and ultimately Elite (at 70). You also have items that can be powered up so they don't necessarily lose relevance as you go along. The more you employ a given action - melee, ranged, etc, the more proficient you become. And seeing as combat is pretty much your raison d'etre in this game, you'll get very proficient at it.

If you're the kind of person who loved Diablo II, and thought the likes of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance were just peachy, you'll dig on it. It's got that certain "something" that made Dungeon Siege stand out way back. It's prettier than Diablo II, even if it isn't likely to spawn the same kind of rabid fanaticism that that game managed. Then again, Diablo was a revolution, back in the day... this is by now, very familiar territory.

While there will be a chunk of gamers thrilled with what the game offers, the thing that bugs me about Dungeon Siege II is that in the middle of a massive upheaval in the games industry its playing style remains pretty old school. Accept it on this level - a brain-off RPG lite - and you'll profit from the experience.