Reader Reviews
First batch of 2004! Including C&C Generals: Zero Hour, Suikoden III, FFTA, Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna and plenty more.
Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna (PC)
by Gary Moody
Point. Click. Die. Not exactly the most highbrow concept ever to have graced the videogame scene, but past games like Diablo and, err... Diablo II have shown that it works.
It is fair to say that the above description sums up LOA perfectly. There is the odd respite where you get to shop, and buy that lovely looking leafy armour you were after, but the rest of the time is spent moving forward and killing stuff.
Stuff being the operative word. While some monsters make a reappearance from the original, there are a number of new ones. Mutated goblins, some rather fancy automatons, filthy lizards and baboons all make their debut. Also taking a bow is the new jungle environment, which is satisfyingly humid and leafy.
Which leads onto the original's selling point, the seamless environment. No loading screens means no breaks. When you promise yourself you'll quit at the end of the dungeon, you find five hours have gone by as you explore the swamp you just stepped into. Maybe you want to take your wizard to the next combat magic level, but then you want to do it with all your fighters. It takes hold and does not let go.
What shakes you loose is the plot, which fails to connect on any real level, and takes a back seat to the endless killing. The new spells add little, aside from the novelty of turning yourself into a huge troll. The huge amount of pots and crates to break will send you potty (Arf!). Aside from a few little tweaks here and there nothing of any weight is added to the original game.
Herein lies the rub. The original is included in all its glory. It even includes all the little improvements from LOA. Bigger, tougher and with a greater sense of adventure, this is the real meat of the package. If you have played through the original, then LOA is more of the same. But then, that's what you want, isn't it?