Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna Expansion - Includes Original Dungeon Siege (PC)

To some people, the game style would seem a little linear with little else to do but hack and slash your way through monster after monster, but on the positive side this does give you a push into the storyline and gives you a bit of a sense of adventure right from the start. Sometimes you'll be wandering through the worlds with little more than a generic quest such as "find this person" - a concept that seems boring to some and offers a chance to think a little harder for some.

The LoA expansion adds a number of interface and AI improvements over the original, making the game smoother and easier to control for those of us who like to get the most effect from minimal effort. One such improvement is the addition of the "redistribute potions" button that automatically shuffles the potions in your party's inventories and gives them to those who will have the most need for them, with fighters passing the mana potions they don't need directly to your mages and vice versa. The addition of control groups also makes your mages far more effective by letting them recall spells to the active slots faster for quick casting.

The expansion isn't quite as long as the original, and the higher than average price tag for the expansion might turn people off the idea of buying it. But as the expansion also contains the full version of the original, you don't need to buy the original to play the expansion. That's two games for the price of one! And if you're into the multiplayer aspect of things, you'll also find a third huge multiplayer only map with its own rich storyline to explore. Not to mention the dynamic treasure system that means that the items you discover along the way will never be quite the same, no matter how many times you play it.

And just in case this wasn't enough... You can download extra mods and siegelets that give you even more. More maps, more spells, more items, more everything. What have you got to lose?


Brilliantly stunning   May 8, 2005
Brett Roberts (Worcester, england)
2 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is one of the best games I have ever played, and can now play multiplayer (LAN) with my dad, as I have the original game as well. The add-on is also 'ace', as there are many added features. An over all stunning graphics game, with an added feature.


More of the same - bring it on!   February 16, 2004
N. Tanter (England)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

As a big big fan of playing the original (particularly multiplayer) I have to admit that my expectations for this game were high - and I was not disappointed).

Yes the graphics are the same and they aren't fantastic, yes it's not a BIG expansion so to speak, yes as a solo player game this hasn't added that much to it....on the plus side however, there are new monsters, new maps, new items (the kit that you find just before the end is ridiculously so), and plenty to keep two players happily levelling away trying to find better kit than the other.
The gear at the end that I mentioned is comprised of a staff of stars that is immensely better than any weapons that you will have up to that point (+3 int, +300 mana, about 500 damage per 10 secs more than your weapon etc), and a spell book worth 12 million gold....no more money worries then!

My only gripe (and this costs the game a fifth star) is that once you complete Aranna you are about thirty levels short of starting veteran mode (say about the equivalent of Lang level) and you have to level up in Utrae and Ehb to get to a high enough level to start Aranna again in Veteran mode....I hope MS release another pack that bridges that particular gap but with DS2 on the backburner I doubt if it will happen.

If you like the first then buy this for sure, if you weren't sure about it then don't bother as like I said this is more of the same.


Was it worth the wait?   January 18, 2004
A. Pearshouse (Surrey, UK)
12 out of 18 found this review helpful

I enjoyed the original Dungeon Siege, so I was looking forward to the second. Here are my thoughts:
1. The game engine is much the same as in the original, not many improvements. But then the original engine was the best I have come across.
2. The new game is an expansion pack but is priced close to that of a brand new game.
3. All but the last level suffer from a lack of design. There is very little offers anything other than "kill it" and "open it", the latter referring to the bozes containing goodies to collect.
4. There are thousands of boxes to open. Repetitive and boring. I do not call it gameplay.
5. In the last chapter, the value of goodies goes up and there are so many that lots have to get thrown away. However, there is no shop so collecting them is utterly pointless.
6. I had little difficulty killing the monsters (difficulty set to hard) until the last chapter when, suddenly, they become much harder to kill.
So, was it worth the wait? Frankly, no. The original was better because it was fresh and the level design was better.