Developed by Mad Doc Software (Gas Powered Games are busy working on Dungeon Siege II), Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna is stand alone expansion pack to Gas Powered Games's hit role-playing game. The game takes place in the same world as the original game and offers more of the same which made the original so popular along with a whole load of new features that are sure to please fans. Let's see what developers prepared for us.

The story is set only a generation after the events of the original game, so you will find some familiarity with the opening chapter of the story as you journey through a remote part of the Kingdom of Ehb. But things soon take a step into new territory when you are carried into a whole new land, the Island of the Utraeans. The game begins in a snowy town of Arhok, and you are the last in a long line of heroes who defended the town for centuries. Unfortunately, your parents disappeared on a mysterious adventure twenty years ago, and you are untested and unproven. This all changes, however, with the rising of an evil creature that thrives on darkness and has stolen a powerful artifact in an attempt to destroy the world...

Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna features a brand new campaign (along with the original Dungeon Siege campaign) complete with new spells (Diminution, Animal Rage, Zorkon's Bonecrusher, and the Orb of Fire), weapons and monsters, five new races (Droc, Hassat, Half Giants, Utraeans, Zaurask), new backpacks that increase the amount of items you can carry, improved control of your party (you can set up hot keys for each preferred weapon combination of your party, off-screen attack warning when a party member is under attack, etc.), ability to redistribute all the potions in your party and finally the Multiplayer Save system (every time you exit a multiplayer game, your journal state is saved).

In terms of gameplay, the expansion plays almost identical to its predecessor (review 92%). That means that you and your party members are still hacking away at monsters, picking up gold, manna, health and items. There are a few extras here to bring hard-core fans back, such as several new monsters and races. If I had to make one complaint about the game, it would be the level design, which is not quite as good as it was in the original game.

Overall, this is a great game. Not quite as awesome as the original when it came out, but it includes the original Dungeon Siege, plus you can play the original with all the new weapons and spells imported from the expansion. I'd say that $25 price tag isn't much for two games. If you like the original game, you will like this one because it's an extension of the first. If you never played the game, you should give it a try, especially when it comes with the original game. You can also try out this playable demo (254MB).

Minimum system requirements: Win98/ME/2k/XP (Win95 or WinNT are not supported), Pentium 333MHz or higher, 128MB RAM, DirectX 8.0 3D card with 8MB RAM, DirectX 8.0 sound card, 32x CDROM, 1.5GB free HDD space, 56k modem for multiplayer (1-4 players), broadband or LAN for 5+ players