|
Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony (PSP) | 
| From: Take 2 Interactive
Category: Video Games
New (6) Used (5) from £6.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 5771
Platform: Sony Psp
Rating: To Be Announced
Media: Video Game
Age: 11 - 18 years
Operating System: Sony PSP
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.6
MPN: 5026555280327
EAN: 5026555280327
ASIN: B000KJOQTM
Release Date: February 2, 2007
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 D-Siege December 15, 2007
Nice fighting game to keep you busy. The PSP does well to get all of this onto the small console, but, it can get a bit repetative.
The comments about loading times are very valid. It gets so frustrating when visiting the village / viewing the map / or teleporting from one place to another. Way too long!
The first half of the game is good as you progress up the experience ladder and gather better weapons and train up your companion. Later on as you work out how to kill the monsters, you quickly beat the system and then the boredom can set in.
Make it more challenging and cut down the loading times and you're onto a winner.
I WILL buy the version 2 as I enjoyed this one. Just hope they've taken on board all the above criticisms.
Nevertheless, buy it 2nd hand and have a good battle.
 A template for how PSP games should be done! November 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This game is exemplary of how a PSP RPG should be written. Yes, loading times are long and occasionally frustrating, but the game has SO MUCH content that I would surmise the loading times are due to the game content being compressed on to the UMD.
It's important to note that this is not a game in the tradition of the great PC RPGs such as the Baldur's Gate series - Throne of Agony is squarely aimed at players who enjoy games such as the Diablo series. There is a lengthy story about betrayal and redemption, but it takes a firmly second seat to character development and upgrades. If you enjoy wading through seas of hapless enemies with your character leaving nothing but mountains of skulls in their wake, then this game is very definitely for you!
The enemy difficulty system is pretty well arranged, with the challenge posed by enemies being based on your character's level, so for the most part the game never becomes totally effortless. There's a vast number of weapons armour & other items to be collected, bought & sold as your character progresses and part of the joy of this game is squeezing every last drop of capability from the items weapons and armour you carry.
Character development also requires careful thought. Each of the three basic character types has a large number of skills that can be upgraded, but there aren't enough skill points to max out all the skills, so balancing which skills to use & upgrade is a challenge all in itself. At two stages in your character's development there are opportunities to pick veteran and later legendary character classes. These choices reflect your playing style and provide further powerful skills to use. These class choices cannot be undone, thus requiring further careful thought. Each character has in total 8 different advanced classes to pick from.
The graphics of the game are excellent - far better than many other PSP games. Textures are for the most part detailed and help bring the very varied environments to life. Weapon and spell effects are generally very colourful, but never to the point that you can't see where your character is or what he/she is doing. The frame rate remains silky smooth apart from one or two particularly combat-heavy areas, and it never gets to a point that detracts from game play.
The sound is excellent, with weapons and hits all having meaty sound effects. Ambient sound effects are also very well done and help to provide atmosphere to the various areas of the game. Likewise the music score is varied and very professionally done - the music varies with what your character is doing: entering combat starts some of the more dramatic tracks, whereas entering certain "safe" areas provides more sedate themes.
The game has excellent re-play value - once you finish the main campaign you have the option of starting again at a higher difficulty level, the incentive being much greater experience and certain hugely powerful items not available in the first play-through. Or, you can start again with another of the three basic character types.
Lastly, each basic character has a two initial allies to choose from. These allies level-up with the player and the player can pick which of their particular skills to upgrade. Unlike some other games the allies in Throne of Agony are for the most part actually useful, complementing your character's play style. During the game you generally pick up another 3-4 allies, giving you a wide choice of which one to use in any given situation.
In general, this game takes quite a long time to get through, providing great value for money. I have a load of good PSP games but this one has had me hooked for the best part of a month. If you've played the Dungeon Siege series of games on the PC, then you'll find the same high quality of presentation and game play here. If you're new to the series, this is an excellent place to start. There's even a crossover between Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World and this game that helps in both if you own both.
All in all, this is a superb game, and fully deserves 5 stars. If you like "hack & slash" RPGs that have detailed, complex character upgrades and a plethora of equipment to find & use, buy this game, you won't be disappointed.
Not bad, even if you're not into RPGs September 28, 2007
In the first Dungeon Siege game to grace the Sony PSP, the "Throne of Agony" in the subtitle doesn't refer to a spell on the toilet after a heavy night out and a spicy kebab or three from Rusholme's curry mile...
Made in isometric 3D, Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony is very much a combination between an RPG and a game where you run about and hack-and-slash the baddies. I'm not keen on RPGs at all, so that doesn't help in its favour from me, but it may be of interest to those who are, although aren't those supposed to have turn-based combat? When it comes to this title, it tends to be a case of whoever strikes first and longest in battle is the one who survives.
You can choose between going for a single or a multiplayer game, the latter featuring a cooperative campaign which allows you to play with a friend and each player can bring a pet or companion, adding up to a four party experience. Also, battle arenas allow a concise, fun party experience for players who don't have time for a full campaign.
However, I went for the single player option, in which you pick a character and then a follower, so as I had gone for a strong character to fight with, I picked a follower that was good at magic. Note that as followers die, new ones can be summoned.
I started off in Savage Woods, then onto The Broken Woods - which contains sections such as the Weeping Forest, the Scorched Hamlet plus the Shrine of Life, in which to recite incantations (no, not 'Catchaphya'!) of one kind or another and a teleporter.
As you progress, you can collect money and potions to boost health and mana as you go, as well as items like a Lightweight Patchwork Cloak that helps add armour and also boosts your attack and move speeds once equipped.
I also came across a weird character called Scuttles, in a small cave, who sounded exactly like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Coincidence? He wanted me to get him some fish-bits, and started singing "fish-bits" in the same way as the "fish-heads" song :)
In addition, I met a guy called Klars who was offering to swap me one of his stone tablets for a special code from a previous game in the series, Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World or alternate ancient tablets.
In Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony, the graphics are good, but a little bit simplistic at times given the isometric element and the sound is atmospheric in setting the scene.
Very slow to get back to the main menu to re-load in a previously saved game Plus, saving and then going back to a level by loading it in, results in you being put at the place where you initially entered the level, and not where you were when you saved (if that makes sense), so that's rather disconcerting. At first I wondered, when I die why am I not just given the option to load in the last saved game rather than restarting the whole level, thinking that that just saved the entry point at the level and since they can get very difficult at times you want to save the point after you've offed some of the baddies, not before all that, but I soon realised that when you load your game back in, you don't have to kill them all over again, so that's sort of a blessing.
Overall, and this is probably why I don't really go for RPG adventures, this one is fun for a while but soon gets very repetitive as you kill the same kind of beasts, collect gold, upgrade your weapons and armour, etc.
Graphics: 6/10
Sound: 7/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall: 6/10
 Hack and slash with a twist May 28, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Once you get past the long load time for this game its great fun. Some of the quests can be lame to the extreme and it gets confusing on occasion but overall a game with a twist. Yes you hacked and slashed but you also got to think occasionally. I really enjoyed myself navigating the boat. I love hack and slash and rate this as the best so far on the psp, although saying that I have not played 300 yet.
Fun, but frustrating! May 1, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Overall this is a good looking fun game, that keeps you playing for hours. The graphics are good, the fighting is satisfyingly fast and it has great atmospheric sound track. As you make your way through the game your character improves there skill, untill such a point where i felt the fighting didn't prove challenging any more. Don't get me wrong i love running roung kicking ass, but wheres the challenge. The game is toughest near the begining where you are weaker. Once you have played through the game, you get a option to play are harder skill setting, and things improve.
I felt though that all to soon the game ended just as the story was getting in to its stride.
Now I come to the major flaw with the game! The load time. It just took to long, even to look at the world map took a couple of minutes to load and the map didn't seem that detailed to need it. You spend half of the time playing this game waiting for it to load. Its extremely frustrating. If this game never had the long load time I would have given it 4 stars, but because of the load time it spoiled some of the fun for me.
|
|
|
| |
