Review Something stupid about DS2 at GamePlanet NZ

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Dungeon Siege 2; Gas Powered Games

<a href=http://www.gameplanet.co.nz>GamePlanet</a> has posted a very positive <a href=http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/mag.dyn/Reviews/2932.html>review</a> of <a href=http://www.gaspowered.com/ds2>Dungeon Siege 2</a>, giving it <b>5 out of 5</b>, because the graphics are so amazingly awesome and that's what RPGs are all about. That and collecting treasures and looking for "evildoers to kill".
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<blockquote>Whilst all of these games [WoW, EQ2, GW] offer their own brand of unique storyline, challenges and heroes, none of them has been able to compare to the experience of Dungeon Siege.
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The thing to note about character types in DS2 is that the developers have tried very hard to create character classes that match the hybrid mold as much as possible; casters that can fight and fighter classes that can drop their weapons and cast a firebolt if they have to. This is an element of RPG characterisation that is being explored in quite a few games on the market at present, and DS2 delivers it without a flaw.
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Graphically, Dungeon Siege II is astounding. Right down to the intricate detail of the characters, armour and weapons, nothing was overlooked by Microsoft. The environments and sound effects are so awesomely put together that you find yourself completely and utterly immersed in the game. There really hasn't been a game of this calibre for PC in a long time.</blockquote>
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That's where I stopped reading, but I'm sure that there is plenty of even more stupid stuff where these paragraphs came from.
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[Second Chance]

Exceptional reviewer. He has managed to precisely praise all the weak points of DS2

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Somebody's been making morons...and at an alarming rate!

 

[Shagnak]

Somebody's been making morons...and at an alarming rate!

It wasn't me, honest :shock:
(I have so far avoided the breeding impulse)

 

[Pr()ZaC]

Somebody's been making morons...and at an alarming rate!

It's called consolitis.

 

[Shagnak]

Well, yes, this is one of the more inane reviews I have read.
The reviewers pedigree as a CRPG-player is pretty obvious with statements like these:

Many RPG fans have had their thirsts quenched by some of the bigger RPG titles on offer during this time - Games like World of Warcraft, EQ2 and Guild Wars to name a few.

And then he announces that he reviewed it entirely on the basis of multi-player:

For this review Dungeon Siege II was played over a LAN in multiplayer mode.

So, really, the problem is that the reviewing process was fucked right from the start. The review is based entirely on multiplayer, from the point of view of a MMORPG aficionado.
Given that even some rather shitty games (the original DS, Lionheart, etc) become quite playable as a bit of LAN fun, combined with his rather skewed view on the genre it is no wonder that a reasonably good game has become tis gaym roxors tis da bestest evar honest.

The game isn't bad (IMHO), but this pushes it way too far and is rather misleading for those expecting a review of single player.

As for the site - I find it rather useful for demos and release dates that are locally valid to me. The reviews have never been all that balanced. Perhaps their association with GPStore is the problem.

Edit:
Interestingly, their review scoring seems to be based on fists.
Apparently Dungeon Siege "gets 5 fists up ya". New Zealanders, eh? :wink:

 

[tiefling]

Graphically, Dungeon Siege II is astounding..

Mm.... Ok... :shock:

The more experience you get, the easier it is for your character to level.

If you say so.

 

[Jung]

Edit:
Interestingly, their review scoring seems to be based on fists.
Apparently Dungeon Siege "gets 5 fists up ya". New Zealanders, eh? :wink:

Must...resist...fisting ....joke.

 

[Tintin]

He has managed to precisely praise all the weak points of DS2

Whilst all of these games [WoW, EQ2, GW] offer their own brand of unique storyline, challenges and heroes, none of them has been able to compare to the experience of Dungeon Siege.

Graphically, Dungeon Siege II is astounding.

Yes, story and graphics are weak points of a game.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

No, but they're some of the weak points in DS2.

WAY TO MISS THE POINT!

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

The graphics are definitely a huge ass weak point with Dungeon Siege 2. I'm still amazed the designers decided to do close ups of people talking in the cut scenes when their mouths don't move.

 

[Noviere]

DS2 has good graphics? I must need to upgrade my drivers or something... cause it looked like DS1 on my x800.

 

[Sarvis]

Yeah, I remember loading up DS2 after playing Diablo 2 and thinking these graphics aren't that much better...

 

[Ryuken]

The graphics are definitely a huge ass weak point with Dungeon Siege 2. I'm still amazed the designers decided to do close ups of people talking in the cut scenes when their mouths don't move.

I recall that Guild Wars did that too, a bit odd to say the least idd.

 

[Sol Invictus]

DS2 has pretty good terrain and architecture. The pixelshader effects on the various weapons (there's tons of effects) and a bunch of the spells are pretty neat, too. But there's really nothing impressive about the models or the textures of the characters at all.

Still, it's a decent game and it plays rather nicely.

 

[Second Chance]

DS2 has good graphics? I must need to upgrade my drivers or something... cause it looked like DS1 on my x800.

I think DS1 looked better!