Game review
Dungeon Siege
6.5 / 10
- Developer
- Gas Powered Games
- Publisher
- Square Enix
- Released
- 5 April 2002
- Platforms
- Windows
- Genre
- RPG
- Monetisation
- One-time purchase
- Players
- Listed as multiplayer, but disabled by default on the Steam release
The short version
Dungeon Siege is Gas Powered Games' hack-and-slash ARPG, originally released in 2002 and published on Steam by Square Enix from 2011. It sits at 80% positive ("Very Positive") across 2,451 English-language Steam reviews, holding strong at 88% across the most recent 100 reviews sampled. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews alongside the 100 most recent English reviews.
Reviewers marking the game down almost universally describe loving the original game and objecting specifically to what this Steam release is missing rather than the game's actual design. Multiplayer, present in the original 2002 release, is disabled by default and appears as a complaint in 23 of the 100 negative reviews read — some reviewers note it can be re-enabled with an undocumented launch option, others report it simply doesn't work. More severe: this review found 13 of the 100 negative reviews describing the game's ending cutscene as missing entirely. "After I kill the final boss Gom, it just go to the main menu instead of the ending and the credit roll," reads one representative review. A third specific, well-corroborated complaint concerns the Legends of Aranna expansion, absent from this Steam release entirely and referenced in 10 of the 100 negative reviews read. This review found the complaint pattern remarkably consistent across a decade, from 2015 through 2026 — a persistent product-completeness problem rather than a settled, historical one.
Biggest strengths
- The core hack-and-slash gameplay and unique skill-through-use levelling system draw genuine, consistent praise from reviewers who call it one of the best ARPGs of its era
- A vast, ambitious game world for its time that reviewers who played it as children specifically credit as formative
- Currently available at a steep 86% discount, making it an easy, low-risk purchase for curious newcomers despite its content gaps
Biggest weaknesses
- Multiplayer, present in the original 2002 release, is disabled by default on this Steam version, appearing as a complaint in 23 of the 100 negative reviews read
- This review found a severe, specific complaint in 13 of the 100 negative reviews read: the game's ending cutscene is missing entirely, with the game returning to the main menu after the final boss instead
- The Legends of Aranna expansion, part of the original game's content, is absent from this Steam release, referenced in 10 of the 100 negative reviews read
Who it's for: Classic ARPG fans nostalgic for the original 2002 Dungeon Siege — go in aware this specific Steam release is missing real content, and research current workarounds for multiplayer and the ending before buying if those matter to you.
Our recommendation: A genuine hack-and-slash classic at its core, but this specific storefront release is demonstrably incomplete relative to the original game — check current workaround guides before buying if you want the full experience.
6.5 / 10
Introduction
Dungeon Siege is Gas Powered Games' hack-and-slash ARPG, originally released in 2002 and later published on Steam by Square Enix. It follows a farmer drawn into an epic conflict, building a customisable party through a skill-through-use levelling system across a seamless, uninterrupted game world. It sits at 80% positive ("Very Positive") across 2,451 English-language Steam reviews. This review read the 100 most-helpful negative reviews of 479 total, plus a sample of the 100 most recent English reviews.
Reviewers love the game, and object to what's missing
What separates this review's negative sample from most others covered this session is that reviewers marking the game down almost never criticise the actual design — they object to specific, checkable content absent from this particular release. Multiplayer, a real feature of the original 2002 release, is disabled by default here, appearing as a complaint in 23 of the 100 negative reviews read. "I was extremely disgusted to find that the version available on Steam has for some reason had all multiplayer components removed. WHY? Don't buy," reads one 2024 review from a reviewer who plays with their spouse.
A missing ending, and a missing expansion
More severe still, this review found 13 of the 100 negative reviews describing the game's actual ending as absent. "After I kill the final boss Gom, it just go to the main menu instead of the ending and the credit roll," reads a representative 2020 review. A third specific complaint concerns the Legends of Aranna expansion, part of the original game's content but absent from this Steam release entirely — referenced in 10 of the 100 negative reviews read. "The DLC is missing (Legends of Aranna), Multiplayer is 'DISABLED' (although this can be bypassed with a launch option: 'zonematch=true'), very prone to crashing," reads a detailed December 2025 review, itemising the gaps directly. This review checked whether this pattern was a launch-era complaint that faded and found the opposite — it recurs with remarkably consistent frequency from 2015 through 2026.
Verdict
Dungeon Siege's core hack-and-slash design remains, by wide consensus even among reviewers marking it down, a genuine early-2000s ARPG classic. What holds this specific release back isn't the game Gas Powered Games made — it's a real, well-documented gap between that game and what Square Enix's Steam storefront currently sells, missing multiplayer, an ending cutscene, and an entire expansion that were part of the original release. Worth it at its steep discount for the core campaign alone, but research current community workarounds first if multiplayer or a complete story matter to you.
Pros and cons
Pros
- The core hack-and-slash gameplay and unique skill-through-use levelling system draw genuine, consistent praise from reviewers who call it one of the best ARPGs of its era
- A vast, ambitious game world for its time that reviewers who played it as children specifically credit as formative
- Currently available at a steep 86% discount, making it an easy, low-risk purchase for curious newcomers despite its content gaps
- Community-documented workarounds exist for some of the missing content, including a launch option some reviewers report restores multiplayer functionality
Cons
- Multiplayer, present in the original 2002 release, is disabled by default on this Steam version, appearing as a complaint in 23 of the 100 negative reviews read
- This review found a severe, specific complaint in 13 of the 100 negative reviews read: the game's ending cutscene is missing entirely, with the game returning to the main menu after the final boss instead
- The Legends of Aranna expansion, part of the original game's content, is absent from this Steam release, referenced in 10 of the 100 negative reviews read
- This review found the missing-content complaint pattern consistent across a full decade, from 2015 through 2026, indicating an unresolved rather than historical problem
Screenshots
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Dungeon SiegeImage: Square Enix via Steam -
Dungeon SiegeImage: Square Enix via Steam -
Dungeon SiegeImage: Square Enix via Steam -
How the review scores each part of the gameWanderer Editorial -
The essentials at a glanceWanderer Editorial -
The short versionWanderer Editorial