Rock, Paper, Shotgun

This? Right here? This is how it should be done. A whole ten days (and eight hours) ahead of Dungeon Siege 3′s release, Square Enix and Obsidian have put out a demo on the game’s Steam page. BOOM! That was the sound of assorted expectations being blown out of the water.

It’s especially handy seeing as it’s only in playing DS3 that you learn just how much they’ve changed the Dungeon Siege formula into something slower, with a greater emphasis on decisions, action and co-op play, and less of an emphasis on loot, donkeys and scenery. The demo contains “a small taste of Dungeon Siege III’s single-player and 2-person local co-op modes
(co-op requires two controllers)”, but I’ll be able to get more specific in about 1.5 gigabytes’ time.

There’s a new trailer for arcade hack’n'slash RPG Dungeon Siege III, featuring footage of the game’s four player co-op mode. Tell you what, as much as a deviation from Dungeon Siege 1 and 2 as this is, with four characters explosively disassembling monsters on the same screen and with the camera tilted just so, it finally starts to look like a Dungeon Siege game. How about that! Come see what I mean.

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That’s right! Because the latest trailer for Dungeon Siege 3 introduces both a sexy lady and guns to the upcoming action RPG in a single playable character, and about time too. I for one have had it with the video game industry neglecting the public’s palpable hunger for both firearms and optimistic takes on the female form. The games industry will never know the loss they suffered when development of my own game, Boobgun, was ended due to financial inconsistencies, but this is at least a step in the right direction. You can watch the trailer right after the jump, and thanks to VG247 for the tipoff. No, really, VG247. I mean it. Thanks.

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This week Quinns managed to get some hands-on time with Dungeon Siege III, leaving the poor boy equal parts confused and excited. He quickly hunted down the only other RPS contributor to have played DS3 – one Richard Cobbett – for a chat. Their ruminations on combat, consolisation, breasts and coca-cola follow, and at some point or other they talk about the game, too.
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It’s hard not to feel at least slightly :( when a series that began on PC apparently gives this old platform short thrift. Such was the case in December, when it appeared Fallout: New Vegas’ DLC Dead Money had been greedily exclusivorised by the dark beast that is the Three Hundred And Sixtieth Xbox. Fortunately, such punishment of the faithful was only temporary.

Gentlethings, further post-apocalyptic adventuring awaits us after all. In which case, I shall rescind my earlier :( and replace it with a :)
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Dungeon Siege III or, to use its full title, Dungeon Siege III: The Battle of Lens F’lare has had its release dates confirmed. It’ll be arriving in Europe on May 27th and North America on May 31st, and Americans can also browse their choice of pre-order bonuses here. A summer release, then. I can see us now- windows open, trousers off, a glass of something ice-cold, calorific and toxic-coloured in our free hand and… wait. Dungeon Siege III is an action game, isn’t it? It’ll require two hands to play! Failed. In mourning I’ve posted the original Dungeon Siege theme after the jump. Bet you’ll find it more stirring than you expect.
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RPS Best Friend For Life Richard Cobbett went freelance last week, abandoning his “Ma-gasine” (which I gather is like an overweight pamphlet) to live off nothing but his charm, wit and contacts. As we’d hate to see Richard starve, we offered him the chance to go and play the latest build of Dungeon Siege III for us. Has this franchise been changed for the console-devices after all? The truth follows.
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Via io9, a bittersweet cocktail of previously-seen and freshly-revealed concept art casting light on what direction Obsidian’s sadly cancelled Aliens RPG was going in. That direction being “massive, ‘orrible new variants of Old Man Xenomorph.” Take a look at what Aliens: Crucible might have been below.
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Obsidian’s high-selling (five million in its first month, they say) Fallout 3 expandosequel New Vegas might be somewhat, ah, divisive, but it’s certainly got plenty of earnestly enthusiastic fans. And they will certainly be glad to hear that a megapatch landed yesterday, purporting to finally fix up a ton of the RPG’s infamous bugs. It doesn’t look like this is going to be a KOTOR 2 situation, thankfully – Obsidian/Bethesda seem pretty keen to get this slightly battered watch ticking properly again.
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Obsidian’s pseudo-sequel to Bethesda’s Fallout 3 hits the UK tomorrow, arriving amid a raft of positive reviews. But I see you there, perched atop that blasted rock, canteen in hand, waiting for the official RPS review. That wait is over. Here’s Wot I Think of New Vegas.

There’s a distant sound that can be heard throughout your time with New Vegas. Quieter than the cheery 1930s pop hits that warble from your radio, quieter even than the chirps of night-time insects, or the long gasps of wind blowing across the wasteland. It is the sound of Obsidian phoning this game in. I’m talking long distance, reversed charges, not-giving-a-fuck.
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That was fast! The New Vegas edition of the Fallout 3 “G.E.C.K.” mod tools has been released, and even boasts a new, improved tool for editing dialogue with “built-in support for low-intelligence dialogue options”. Modders? Get modding. Everybody else? Enjoy the incredibly disturbing video of a New Vegas bug I’ve left beneath the jump. I’ll be happy when we’re playing games that are meant to behave like that.

My own experience of New Vegas has become a lot more stable after my outburst yesterday. Seems I had a run of bad luck, compounded by the game not telling me about several different and VERY IMPORTANT controls. Hopefully I’ll have my review up by tomorrow afternoon.

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