Dungeon Siege III: Treasures of the Sun
Written by Tyler Sager on 1/11/2012 for
PC
Some expansions completely revitalize a game, and others merely give us more of the same. Dungeon Siege III: Treasures of the Sun falls mostly in the latter category, bringing players some new content along with a few new bells and whistles, but not really raising the bar all that much. This is a good thing for those who enjoyed Dungeon Siege III, but those who found the earlier title wanting shouldn't be bothered to make the journey back.
Treasures of the Sun weaves its way rather well into the original storyline, allowing players to hop aboard at a few different points in the main plot. Players who have completely finished, however, will need to re-load from the final post-boss save, and so all that work completing a play-through will need to be re-hashed. Regardless, once installed, players receive a message detailing exactly how to head to the desert wastes and begin investigating a mystery that will take a close look at the very origins of the Azunite faith, a religion central to the series. Actually, the plot contained in the expansion is rather tightly written, certainly more so than that of its predecessor.
Soon players will find themselves hacking and slashing across dry and desolate terrains, all of which are satisfyingly detailed. There won't be any surprises here, with all the monsters one would expect when the words "desert" and "tomb" are used in the same sentence. Still, everything remains very thematic and well-animated, even if the hundredth wave of sandy skeletons does overstay its welcome before the end.
In addition to a few hours' worth of tomb-raiding goodness, Treasures of the Sun also adds a few extra tidbits that weave their way into the main game. First up is the addition of "ultimate abilities", super-charged attacks or defenses players can activate by spending all their power orbs. Each player has their choice of three abilities, but only one can be carried at a time. Ostensibly this leads to a difficult decision to pick the perfect ability for the upcoming battle, but after a short time I found the "kill just about everything" attack was much better than the defensive or healing choices. Still, it was very satisfying to clear an entire room of mummies in a single blast.
Treasures of the sun also introduces an item enchantment system of sorts, but this tended to feel more like an afterthought than a necessary part of the game--other action RPGs have done much better. Rounding out the bag of goodies is an increased level cap and the ability to re-allocate character advancement points, for those who want to a slightly different flavor without restarting.
One additional change for the PC came in a patch sometime between my original review and this DLC--the ability to re-map the keyboard for a much more PC friendly experience. One of my bigger complaints with Dungeon Siege III, the remapping did improve my time in Ehb somewhat. Still not enough to keep me coming back for more, but if that was the only gripe a PC gamer had about the title, they might want to give it another look.
Dungeon Siege III: Treasures of the Sun is a very straightforward expansion--it simply offers more Dungeon Siege III for players to enjoy. It won't change any minds, so I can really only recommend this for those who truly liked the previous outing. It wasn't enough to drag me back in any sort of meaningful way, and I'm sure it'll be a faded memory in a few weeks
Treasures of the Sun weaves its way rather well into the original storyline, allowing players to hop aboard at a few different points in the main plot. Players who have completely finished, however, will need to re-load from the final post-boss save, and so all that work completing a play-through will need to be re-hashed. Regardless, once installed, players receive a message detailing exactly how to head to the desert wastes and begin investigating a mystery that will take a close look at the very origins of the Azunite faith, a religion central to the series. Actually, the plot contained in the expansion is rather tightly written, certainly more so than that of its predecessor.
Soon players will find themselves hacking and slashing across dry and desolate terrains, all of which are satisfyingly detailed. There won't be any surprises here, with all the monsters one would expect when the words "desert" and "tomb" are used in the same sentence. Still, everything remains very thematic and well-animated, even if the hundredth wave of sandy skeletons does overstay its welcome before the end.
In addition to a few hours' worth of tomb-raiding goodness, Treasures of the Sun also adds a few extra tidbits that weave their way into the main game. First up is the addition of "ultimate abilities", super-charged attacks or defenses players can activate by spending all their power orbs. Each player has their choice of three abilities, but only one can be carried at a time. Ostensibly this leads to a difficult decision to pick the perfect ability for the upcoming battle, but after a short time I found the "kill just about everything" attack was much better than the defensive or healing choices. Still, it was very satisfying to clear an entire room of mummies in a single blast.
Treasures of the sun also introduces an item enchantment system of sorts, but this tended to feel more like an afterthought than a necessary part of the game--other action RPGs have done much better. Rounding out the bag of goodies is an increased level cap and the ability to re-allocate character advancement points, for those who want to a slightly different flavor without restarting.
One additional change for the PC came in a patch sometime between my original review and this DLC--the ability to re-map the keyboard for a much more PC friendly experience. One of my bigger complaints with Dungeon Siege III, the remapping did improve my time in Ehb somewhat. Still not enough to keep me coming back for more, but if that was the only gripe a PC gamer had about the title, they might want to give it another look.
Dungeon Siege III: Treasures of the Sun is a very straightforward expansion--it simply offers more Dungeon Siege III for players to enjoy. It won't change any minds, so I can really only recommend this for those who truly liked the previous outing. It wasn't enough to drag me back in any sort of meaningful way, and I'm sure it'll be a faded memory in a few weeks
It's just more Dungeon Siege III, for better or worse.
Rating: 7 Average
* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.
About Author
I'm an old-school gamer, and have been at it ever since the days of the Atari 2600. I took a hiatus from the console world to focus on PC games after that, but I've come back into the fold with the PS2. I'm an RPG and strategy fan, and could probably live my gaming life off a diet of nothing else. I also have soft spot for those off-the-wall, independent-developer games, so I get to see more than my share of innovative (and often strange) titles.
Away from the computer, I'm an avid boardgamer, thoroughly enjoying the sound of dice clattering across a table. I also enjoy birdwatching and just mucking around in the Great Outdoors.
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