Death by Fruit proves successful

By William Barker

The fight for the rotting steps of Cromulence continues...

A long time ago, in a place called Aranna, there lived a race of very intelligent magic-wielding humanoids, the Utraeans.

These Utraean chaps had a keen wit, they did, so much so that they had invented a juicer that doubled as a chainsaw, nicknamed Death by Fruit.

This science-addicted race became so advanced with its knowledge of all things in existence, that a time came when they decided that toiling in mines, baking bread and flushing the toilet were tasks too trivial for their massively oversized intellects.

To cut a long story not much shorter, the Utraeans used their mastery of magic and science to create a batch of super hybrid animals to do their menial tasks, but these genetically manipulated beasts turned out to be a clever - and deadly - pack of bloodthirsty flesh eaters, and so the Utraeans and much of their civilisation were promptly wiped out by their own creations.

This is where you come in. As the child of a pair of adventurers who had happened across the long-forgotten island of Utrae, one of your objectives is to find out what happened to mom and pop (hint: They're dead, they're all DEAD), and perhaps help others on your long journey.

It’s kind of cool to explore this new island kingdom where a lost civilisation once lived, (a la Atlantis) discovering what happened and when through a series of discarded journals, which hint at the continued genetic manipulation of the natural fauna and eventually the downfall of of a once-benevolent civilisation.

At times it becomes really atmospheric, and then at others the oomph disappears. Perhaps if there was more of a back story to the main character, leading to a deeper understanding of why you must destroy so many hybrid mutant freakazoids, the intrigue wouldn’t be so up and down. As it stands though, the story is still compelling enough to provoke further play.

Far from the original setting in the Kingdom of Ehb, the game plays pretty much like a carbon copy of Dungeon Siege, only in the wild lands of Aranna.

A minotaur takes on our heroes, but their trusty Tragg will gore it to death

But in addition to a new tile set, Legends of Aranna is very much like what the Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction expansion did for its parent game, providing a richer, more absorbing universe in which to interact, with cooler weapons and items and a few timesaving features to boot.

There’s the new character race, in the form of the nine-foot-tall half-giants, a new pack animal (the Tragg) that fights with you and looks like an agro kangaroo, plus new monsters to bash on the head and plenty of new levels to explore.

Furthermore, while gameplay is very similar to that of the original game, there are a number of interesting tweaks that enhance the fun dramatically, and now that backpacks have been added players can store more inventory (hello Lord of Destruction).

Other features new to the game include things such as spells, new weapons, items and my favourite - the sets. The latter may consist of a magical bow, boots, skull cap and gloves, that when combined give you crazy character/damage/armour bonuses (hello Lord of Destruction).

One of the cooler new weapons is the goblin napalm gun, and there’s also a new method of travel available in Utrae - the displacers. Simply put, these ancient stone structures are interconnected portals scattered through the lands, offering almost-instantaneous travel from one area to another.

They also come in mighty handy when you’re miles away in a Droc dungeon, surrounding by preachy Scientologists (as opposed to the less intimidating Death Drocs) and need to head back to town to top up on weapons and potions.

For those who haven’t played Dungeon Siege before, think of it as an action RPG with the emphasis on spilling blood. While you will start off with just the one character, you will add members to your party over time (for a maximum of 8 members) and, generally speaking, it’s the kind of a game that requires little input from the player.

Sure, you’ll have to click hither and thither to walk around, smash open crates, pull a lever or pick up some booty, but a lot of the time your on-screen killing will happen automatically. If a baddy gets too close, you’re player/s will attack automatically, though they can be set to stand ground, defend and fight back, not dissimilar to a strategy game.

The Herculean spider just wanted a friend...

At times there is a need to single out a particularly nasty monster, which will usually relinquish some special item or a big wad of cash, but on the whole it feels more like you’re baby-sitting a hardy pack of warriors, rather than intricately strategising the attack patterns of your stalwart heroes.

To some, this may not sit well, but I actually quite enjoy the semi-detached mode of play. You still have to choose weapons and spells and your still get to explore the lands and search for secret grottos and stuff.

Levelling up your characters is simple as well - the more you use any specific weapons or spells, the more you’ll excel in that department, which is a nicely progressive and somewhat different way of developing your unique character. Investing time in shaping your on-screen avatar is a compelling, perhaps even addictive, pastime.

If you have a player that constantly uses melee weapons, he/she will gain better proficiency with said weapons and also increase in strength, usually required to wield heavy weapons and armour.

Use bows and dexterity rises, decreasing you AC and improving bow skills, while spell casters will see their intelligence increase, which I believe aids in mana regeneration and the ability to cast hard-core spells.

The end bosses were always pretty cool in the original DS game, and Legends of Aranna delivers the goods yet again, with big, ugly, multifaceted doomsday bosses making for a solid challenge.

And speaking of challenges, the game does feel somewhat relaxed on the medium difficulty, which is probably better suited to Dungeon Siege newcomers. Veterans will want to check out the game on the hard difficulty, as it does tend to get a bit repetitive when you never die and hardly have to use mana and health potions on the lower levels.

There’s a solid multiplayer feature on offer for those who get into LAN parties or have a broadband Internet connection, and there’s a huge DS community out there creating new mods and levels, and it is quite cool to go on a bloodletting adventure with seven other strangers.

According to the instruction manual, the Droc (left) feed on "pond algae and plankton," hence their gentile appearance

Other features new the DS universe include the transformation spells, which look awesome, essentially transforming your character into a beast or entity with supreme hit points and awesome melee damage.

While it’s cool to transform yourself into a powerful rock beast, particularly for close combat-shy magic casters, there’s lots of cool summoning spells too, with Ursae the zombie bear a favourite, while the summoned Barkrunner will bring a smile to the faces of Lord of the Rings fans, reminiscent of the treelike Ents.

While the game hasn’t been overhauled visually, which is a shame considering it’s been more than 18 months between drinks, it still manages to immerse you into the fantasy universe with a bit of charm.

The Aranna expansion brings with it luscious new environs to explore, including humid jungles, sandy beaches, tall mountains and plenty of dungeons too.

The attention to detail is surprisingly good for a polygon based RPG, and zooming in on enemies during combat highlights the scalability of the game engine. Particle effects are cleverly used on spells and magical weapons (particularly the new orb spells), and the added luminosity combines for a pleasing effect, particularly once you’ve found and equipped a fire-imbued melee weapon, for instance.

The polygon-based character and monster models aren't made of super-high numbers, but most of the action is viewed from afar, and the effect is pleasing, even by today's bump-mapped standards.

The lighting effects are of a uniformly high standard, assuming you're not using a Voodoo 3, and add a magical feel to the game, an enchanted vibe if you like. And if you decide to fiddle with the intuitive floating camera (zooming in), you'll see all sorts of blood and ichor spurting from the grievous wounds you inflict upon your hapless foes.

While Legends of Aranna may not be the most original action-RPG game on the shelves, it does a brilliant job at immersing players in the lore of the Dungeon Siege world, and for the price you get an impressive deal with the original Dungeon Siege game included.

With amazing spells, interesting and interweaving quests, massive bosses, landscapes that really feel alive, inhabited by good and bad, smart and stupid, big and small creatures alike - plus plenty of traditional fantasy accompaniments - the game does a great job of dropping you in a convincing fantasy world and is an altogether impressive expansion pack.

While the gameplay can sometimes get tedious due to the incessant combat, the low system requirements and smooth frame rate help alleviate this and, all things considered, it’s a great way to spend a few months in front the PC, and is easily worth the price of admission.

Game: Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna
System: PC
Players: 1-multi
Online: Yes
Developer: Mad Doc Software
Distributor: Microsoft

Rating: 80%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna is on the shelves now.