Hot 3D graphics meet dungeon melee in Dungeon Siege  Screenshot Gallery

Dungeon Siege
Developer: Gas Powered Games
Publisher: Microsoft

It's been a long time since I saw a RPG on the PC and said, "Wow, this looks great!"  But that's exactly what happened when I sat in on a demo of the new RPG Dungeon Siege from Gas Powered Games and designer Chris Taylor.   It seems that RPGs on the PC have always been relegated to having poor graphic engines, the requisite spider and skeleton monsters, and far too many stats for anyone but the die-hard D&D fan.  Dungeon Siege takes RPGs to the next level; it makes your dungeon crawl feel as exciting as a real-time strategy game and as visually engaging as a first person shooter. 

We first saw the game at Microsoft in March, and although it was still very early in development at E3, the improvement in just two months was remarkable.  The seamless loading of levels stands out (going from outdoor to indoor locations) and some of the visuals are jaw dropping, including one sequence where a huge fire-breathing dragon wakes up and whips his neck around the screen, red eyes raging and fire spewing from his mouth. 

This is one of the first dungeon crawl games that give a true sense of scale and scope whereas most other dungeon RPGs make you feel like you're walking through a prison because the walls are so tight.  By adding in the ability to control up to 10 characters in your party with an RTS-like interface, the best aspects of many genres are included.

There's no sense of the game's storyline yet and the interface is still yet to be developed, but based on pure potential and results thus far, Dungeon Siege gets a spot on our Best Of list.  It's scheduled for release in 2001.