''Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony'' is a

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

for

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

developed by

SuperVillain Studios SuperVillain Studios is an American video game development company that develops for the Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Portable. Company profile SuperVillain Studios (SVS) was f ...

and published by 2K in the U.S. in 2006, and by

Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns three major Imprint (trade name), publishing labels, Rockstar Games, Zynga and 2K ...

in the

PAL region Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25& ...

in 2007.

Gameplay

Instead of using the

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

like in the original ''

Dungeon Siege ''Dungeon Siege'' is an action role-playing game developed by Gas Powered Games and published by Microsoft in April 2002 for Microsoft Windows and the following year by Destineer for Mac OS X. Set in the pseudo-medieval kingdom of Ehb, the high ...

'' games, the player directly controls the character with the

analog stick An analog stick (analogue stick in British English), also known as a control stick, thumbstick or joystick, is an input method designed for video games that translates thumb movement into directional control. It consists of a protruding stick mo ...

. There are three characters to choose from, customizable as they level up. Players can also choose a partner, making a party of a maximum of two characters, but the partner can be changed (ranged, magic, melee). A friend can join in ad-hoc wireless play between two

consoles, forming a party of up to four characters (two characters and two followers). Enemies are much more scattered throughout the map rather than having several enemies in one screen at the same time like in ''

Dungeon Siege II ''Dungeon Siege II'' is an action role-playing video game, the sequel to 2002's ''Dungeon Siege''. It was developed by Gas Powered Games and released in 2005. The story is a continuation of the ''Dungeon Siege'' storyline. An expansion '' Broke ...

''. Players can unlock exclusive items using codes provided in '' Dungeon Siege II: Broken World''.

Plot

''Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony'' picks up where ''Dungeon Siege II'' left off: after the second cataclysm altered the world of Aranna. A new threat appears out of nowhere, and the player has to choose one of three characters to oppose it. Wild monsters attack elves and humans, with the one behind this menace being known as the Black Druid. The player has to face many different creatures before the Black Druid is located and killed. It turns out that the true enemy are Vagar, a race of corrupted beings of whom the Black Druid was a member. They serve their mistress, Malith, once a leader of Agallan giants, now a fallen creature who takes its powers from the Throne of Agony. The hero has to defeat Vagar, find the Agallan giants, and ultimately defeat Malith. Finally, the player has to decide what to do with the Throne of Agony, a sentient throne of darkness, as it can either be used or destroyed.

Development

A console based ''Dungeon Siege'' game was planned by

Gas Powered Games Wargaming Seattle, formerly known as Gas Powered Games, was a video game developer located in Redmond, Washington. The development studio was started in May 1998 by Chris Taylor (game designer), Chris Taylor and several other ex-Cavedog Entertain ...

since 2003. The project named ''Dungeon Siege X'' was originally planned for

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

and expected release simultaneously with ''

''. The project slowed down and was eventually canceled. In 2006, Gas Powered ended the publishing rights with

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...

and signed with

2K Games 2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company was founded as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports sub-labels. The nascent label incorporated several developme ...

. The project was resurrected by 2K and finally announced for PSP alongside '' Dungeon Siege II: Broken World'' expansion for PC. It was developed by

Reception

The game received above-average reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{Dungeon Siege series 2006 video games 2K games Action role-playing video games Dungeon Siege Fantasy video games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Portable-only games SuperVillain Studios games Take-Two Interactive games Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists