When the original Dungeon Siege game was developed by Gas Powered Games and released in 2002, it instantly became a hit.  While many of us passed it off as a Diablo rip-off at first, it quickly proved itself as a separate, unique game in its own right to anyone who gave it a playing chance.  Half an hour with the demo was enough to sell the game to any player, even die-hard Diablo fans who are, even now, probably still scouring the game and Battle.net for yet another rare Stone of Jordan.  Gas Powered Games quickly followed up with a sequel in 2005: Dungeon Siege II, whose storyline picks up about 700 years after the story in the original game.  The new game implemented an upgraded version of the original Dungeon Siege engine and gameplay took a few noticeable turns.  In the original Dungeon Siege, a lot of interaction with the world (such as attacking an enemy) was semi-automated.  In the sequel, more user input is required which makes gameplay even more reminiscent of games in the Diablo series.  The sequel, like its predecessor, was again wildly popular.  In late 2006, Gas Powered Games released an expansion pack called Dungeon Siege II: Broken World.

Dungeon Siege II: Broken World  includes several upgrades to the full Dungeon Siege II  game, including an entire new campaign (the equivalent of an Act in Diablo), a recipe crafting system, Dwarves as playable characters, and some new hybrid classes.

Story 6/10

Broken World  is certainly lacking in one of the premiere features of Dungeon Siege.  The series has thus far featured a strong storyline without too many cliched characters and enemies, but unfortunately the expansion pack drops the ball here.

The events in Broken World begin immediately after the end of Dungeon Siege II, so players of the original game will quickly pick up on what's happening.  Unfortunately, the story is overly typical: a dark magician begins to seize power and you are charged with stopping his tyrannical reign.

The campaign in the expansion only lasts 10 hours at best; faster players can get through it even quicker (at least it's longer than Half-Life 2: Episode One)