Obsidian to develop Dungeon Siege 3?

[GhanBuriGhan]

This seems to be all over the web:

http://www.actiontrip.com/rei/comments_news.phtml?id=060710_6

If it's true - Uh - no, I didn't see that one coming, either. Obsequelian is at it again…

[WorstUsernameEver]

It's pretty much confirmed, since the French PR is already out.
I hang out at the Obsidian's forums, and actually, signs of an possible Obsidian/Square Enix collaboration and a pretty much almost confirmed Gas Powered Games/Square Enix collaboration were already there.

Can't honestly say that I'm thrilled...

[Twotricks]

Interesting.

I was actually big fan of DS1 ( the only game you can play totally stoned or drunk...lol ) DS2 was pretty bad. And yea...Space Siege...well...

I really dont know what to make out of this one

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Now this is what I call my mental alarm siren turning on".

How would they be able to produce a mindless hack&slay Action-RPG game ??? By Obsidian ??? I thought they did rather other kinds of RPGs ???

[dteowner]

That would be interesting. I played the hell out of DS2. Obsidian would probably do good things with a formula that largely "worked" for me.

[Avantenor]

neogaf has a press release and some concept arts

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=397483

[Davion]

Eventhough I found Dungeon Siege 2 to be quite enjoyable, it disencouraged multi-classing abit too much if you ask me. I hope that Obsidian manages to improve on this.

[Turjan]

Now this is what I call my mental alarm siren turning on".

How would they be able to produce a mindless hack&slay Action-RPG game ??? By Obsidian ??? I thought they did rather other kinds of RPGs ???
Yes, but they get bad ratings from the game journals for their other kinds of RPGs. Which means they don't really have much of a reputation left to fight for and can pursue avenues that promise a better return of investment.

[JemyM]

Interesting that Twotricks enjoyed DS1 but not DS2. DS2 was everything I wanted DS1 to be and I consider it one of those gems people skipped because they got ticked off by DS1.

[Ergonpandilus]

I have to say, that I didn't see it coming either.

Well the series is already crappy, only good for the engine for Ultima remakes, so Obsidian won't be able to ruin it. :) I'm just wondering what they are really going to do with the "franchise". Most likely simplified version of 2, focused for "mainstream"...

[DPB]

Now this is what I call my mental alarm siren turning on".

How would they be able to produce a mindless hack&slay Action-RPG game ??? By Obsidian ??? I thought they did rather other kinds of RPGs ???

I'm not sure how many of Obsidian's team had a hand in its development, but Black Isle's last game was Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, a hack and slash game. Icewind Dale I & II were mostly just combat too.

[Twotricks]

Interesting that Twotricks enjoyed DS1 but not DS2. DS2 was everything I wanted DS1 to be and I consider it one of those gems people skipped because they got ticked off by DS1.

Its strange I agree.

I fell in love with game engine that was (in that time) quite awesome. And really great level design.

The game was mindless. I agree.

But when DS2 came out. All the beauty was gone. The game itself was better but it failed to enchant me like the first one...

Go figure ?

[Ergonpandilus]

http://i45.tinypic.com/15mguac.jpg

Reminds me of Icewind Dale 1. :)

[Rills]

I enjoyed DS1 and DS2. Though I much prefer an RPG of the calibar of Gothic, Baldur's Gate, etc. the DS offerings were fun and I enjoyed the graphics.

And let me be a full fledged infidel by stating I thought they were much better than Diablo II. There, I said it!

[Turjan]

Interesting that Twotricks enjoyed DS1 but not DS2. DS2 was everything I wanted DS1 to be and I consider it one of those gems people skipped because they got ticked off by DS1.
Good call. I skipped DS2 because I didn't really like DS1. I actually liked the demo pretty much - good atmosphere and quite interesting locations, great music. Sadly, the game after the demo got so boring I hardly remember any details.

[DArtagnan]

DS2 was better in every way, except it looked pretty bad at the time of release, and the voice acting was questionable.

That said, the character system was still shallow and had extremely linear development paths. It didn't look like that at first glance, but you end up with a very predictable build with little or no reason to diversify.

If they fix that, and shine the visuals up a bit - I'm gonna enjoy myself greatly.

That said, this is Obsidian - and polishing up games is not something I'm going to hold my breath for, when they're involved ;)

However, they typically do well with game mechanics, so I'm bound to get excited by this.

But what worries me, is that this is the second game I've heard about - that simply doesn't fit with what Obsidian is good at. First a mainstream-appeal stealth shooter, and now a mainstream-appeal Diablo clone?

I wonder what they're doing over there.

[WorstUsernameEver]

But what worries me, is that this is the second game I've heard about - that simply doesn't fit with what Obsidian is good at. First a mainstream-appeal stealth shooter, and now a mainstream-appeal Diablo clone?

I wonder what they're doing over there.

Probably just what every other company does, taking projects that they find good to work on, both from a financial point of view as well as the possibility of expanding elements etc.

I don't know, as I already said, I'm not holding my breath for this project but the team they've working on it is pretty strong, so there is still the possibility that facts will contradict me.

Either way, with Fallout : New Vegas, and Dungeon Siege III in the works, they at least will survive as a gaming company after the failure (from a sales/recepetion point of view, I still haven't played the game) of Alpha Protocol.

[DArtagnan]

Probably just what every other company does, taking projects that they find good to work on, both from a financial point of view as well as the possibility of expanding elements etc.

Yeah, I fear the financial aspect is the primary reason.

[Twotricks]

Probably just what every other company does, taking projects that they find good to work on, both from a financial point of view as well as the possibility of expanding elements etc.

I don't know, as I already said, I'm not holding my breath for this project but the team they've working on it is pretty strong, so there is still the possibility that facts will contradict me.

Either way, with Fallout : New Vegas, and Dungeon Siege III in the works, they at least will survive as a gaming company after the failure (from a sales/recepetion point of view, I still haven't played the game) of Alpha Protocol.

Alpha Protocol is actually very good.
And its still marked as second popular on gamespot. So maybe there is still some hope for them earning some buck ?

I am really bummed they canceled Alien RPG. That one would surely rock.

[WorstUsernameEver]

Alpha Protocol is actually very good.
And its still marked as second popular on gamespot. So maybe there is still some hope for them earning some buck ?

Not arguing if it's good or not, just that for now, it seems is not selling as well as Obsidian/SEGA hoped, or at least, that's my impression.

It's more of a publishing deals problem I figure, considering that Obsidian has already earn their bucks with the game (considering the tremendously painful dev cycle and the quite strict clauses when it comes to royalties, I doubt they'll get any).

By the way.. still feels strange talking about this game.

[Maylander]

Well, we do not know the sales targets, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not selling as well as they aimed for. Still, it's also out on consoles (unlike their previous game NWN2 and its expansion packs), so maybe the additional console sales will save the day.

[crpgnut]

I really enjoyed DS2. I wish the U6P was on this engine instead of DS1. Lazarus was a mess, so I really don't have any desire to try U6P on such an old engine. I'll definitely keep an eye on DS3 though.

[Turjan]

Lazarus was a mess...
Then you must have played a different Lazarus than I did. Mine was a very enjoyable game, pretty far up in my list of favorites :).

[JDR13]

I don't think sales of Alpha Protocol are going to make or break Obsidian, I think FO:New Vegas is going to be more important to them in that regard.

Regarding DS3, I'll try it out of curiosity, but I'm hoping it's more than just another hack&slash dungeon romp.