Dungeon Siege II is an action RPG similar in style to classics such as Diablo. The main difference is the Dungeon Siege series puts emphasis on assembling a team of heroes to go questing instead of relying on one lone person to do all the work. In single player, party members are controlled by the computer, but the player may exert direct control over them whenever the need arises. Unlike the computer controlled players of the previous game, this time your party seems very clever. Archers will move to the correct vantage point to fire off their arrows. Additionally, players may control their temperaments, a feature that was sorely missing from the first game. While it's a pity that players can't set each party member's A.I. independently, they have the option to put the entire team on specific modes. Mirror mode means that all party members will only attack when the player attacks, and they will focus all their firepower on whatever the player is attacking, great for tough bosses. Rampage mode puts the A.I. on a free-for-all and is great for clearing a room full of lower level monsters.

To preserve game balancing, the number members you are allowed to have in a party has been limited. This limit is based on the character's level. Additionally, players will have to pay a large sum of gold in order to open up a new member slot. Unlike the first game, players will not be able amass a huge army that will auto-attack everything that comes near it. While the party A.I. appears to have gained some significant upgrades, it sometimes suffers from a lack of common sense, especially in more complex areas. When too many things are blocking a doorway or monsters stand atop a hill, some party members will stand around, staring out into space while their teammates fight for their lives. Occasionally, party members will get stuck on things like rocks and get left behind. Since not everyone moves at the same speed, it isn't uncommon for a player to overlook a missing someone until the next time s/he steps into a big fight.

The monster A.I. is very impressive. Be prepared for large-scale ambushes, and bosses who might be willing to chase you almost to the ends of the earth to destroy you. In our experience playing, we've seen small monsters fall back, regroup, and return to us in force. Each species has specific psychologies and tactics. For example, there is one species that lives only to guard treasure. Amid the fighting, we happened to look a chest, and doing so in front of the monster angered it, causing it to fight harder!

Dungeon Siege II's combat system is very straightforward. There are four different classes to choose from: Human, Dryad, Elf and Half-Giant. Each of these, except for the human, has specific skill sets that they have a tendency towards from the onset of the game. Humans have the benefit of being able being a blank slate and can specialize in anything. As in the previous games, players must choose to specialize in melee, ranged weapons, combat magic or nature magic. Increasing one's skill in any of these categories is easy. All you have to do is practice using it. Keep using a sword, and your proficiency in melee will increase. Vital stats like strength and endurance automatically increase simply by playing too. Attaining the next level will give you skill points to be spent across a number of different disciplines. If you want your fireballs to burn more, you'll want to put more points into fire spells, specifically. If you pick a specific combination of skills from the skill tree, you'll unlock special abilities. These abilities charge up as the player fights and have devastating effects when unleashed. Furthermore, these special abilities can be upgraded to do more damage, also through a specific combination of skill levels. Picking out skills can be a tricky process. The game urges players to specialize in specific skills, otherwise the character will end up as a weak jack-of-all-trades. This requires a great deal of planning before allotting skill points, because once the points are locked in, they are in for good.

Pets such as pack mules have always been an essential component of playing Dungeon Siege, and this sequel is no different. In fact, they take the concept of the pet to a whole new level. Players now have a wide selection of pets, ranging from standard pack mules (yes, they can attack) to elementals. Players have the option to feed their pets weapons, armor, spells, or whatever else they might have lying around in their inventory. As the pet consumes these items, it will grow and mature. The combination of these items will influence how it develops and what special powers it will gain. So, players are left with a decision: Should they go to town and sell items for gold or feed their pet? Although the pet cannot use items or wear armor, its development can make it an extremely powerful party member, sometimes outstripping the capabilities of other party members.

The graphics and sound found in DS2 are amazing, ranging from lush jungles to dry deserts. Screams echo inside caverns and ruins, and spells make huge crashing booms upon impact. The level sizes are very large and can be rotated. Despite these upgrades and plenty of hidden spots, it's difficult to overcome the linear design of the paths. Players can stray from the path every once in a while to clear out a cave or two, but can never truly leave it behind. However, the linear design seems to work in this case. Specific party members bring their specific skills with them. In order to fix a broken elevator, you need a sort of mechanic, but you won't find one until much later in the game. Didn't have enough skill points to blast that magically protected door open? Soon you will. Players can revisit old areas, repopulated with monsters, and pick up anything they could have missed out on. Having the linear design helps tremendously in this respect, and works well with multiplayer.

DS2's multiplayer element is excellent. If one can remember, one major complaint about the first game was that you could only use one character in multiplayer. This is no longer the case. Players can no import their entire party and go through the entire campaign with other players within three different modes. The first mode (Classic) allows for four players using only their primary characters. The second mode (Couples) allows for three players, each allowed tobring in one computer-controlled team member. Lastly, Party mode only allows for two players, but both can bring in two party members. Monster mob sizes don't appear to increase with the inclusion of additional players, so a good sized team has the potential to dominate, at least until they hit a difficult boss. Dropped items are reserved for players, but the same cannot be said for gold that falls out of broken barrels or opened chests. In these cases, it seems like the first person to hit the "grab all loot" button will always come out on top. Target assisting is also very nicely implemented. All a one has to do is click on the teammate's portrait, and they will automatically follow them and fire upon anything they have targeted.

In the traditional style of hack-'n-slash RPG, players should be prepared to do a LOT of clicking. This is especially true of DS2 which does not employ the Diablo 2 style of movement. You can't hold down the mouse button for continuous movement. So, if you need to cover a lot of ground, that makes for a lot of clicking. Running away and regrouping? More clicking. Using a ranged character and trying to maintain a good distance or vantage point? Click, click, click, click... Luckily, combat is streamlined. Holding down the right mouse button will continuously attack a target.

Dungeon Siege 2 has a great many hours worth of gameplay and side quests. The overall storyline has a slight been-there-done that feel, where you are trying to defeat an all-powerful warlord from destroying the world, all the while discovering secrets about your heritage, but that doesn't detract from the game nor its epic scope. Some of the voice acting may seem a little off, but luckily players have the choice to turn off the voice dialogue when they would prefer to stick strictly with text.

Overall, Dungeon Siege II is a vast improvement in just about every respect from the first game. This is a fantastic title for action RPG fans, and it provides a ton of gameplay. It's been a long while since an action RPG of this caliber and quality has come out, so there's no reason not to pick this game up now that it's here.