Dungeon Siege III - Katarina

Katarina is quick and easy to control. Each character has two stances; in Katarina's case, she can switch from a rifle to a shotgun-pistol dual wield combination. The playthrough starts in the open air, battling some particularly gruesome giant spiders, though slowly and at distance as it's a fragile pairing at hand; both Katarina and Anjali seem to be damage dealers, though Anjali has better survivability in her human form. Katarina's attacks work well at range, but excessive use of her knockback special attack and dodge is required to stay alive. 

There's also a range of special attacks, buffs and debuffs for each character, much like Borderlands; for example, at recruit level Katarina can debuff enemies with her shotgun, or heal herself, and each attack can also be empowered, which produces some bonus effects. As Feargus puts it, "It's not like you have to be Ninja Gaiden to be successful - but you do have to be using all your abilities in combat."


As you'd expect from an RPG it comes with a fleshed out levelling system, but where it differs from some other action RPGs is that the world is open and can be revisited, even if its plot is linear. Having defeated the spiders, we wander off in the wrong direction but a quick press of the d-pad brings up a Fable-like breadcrumb trail that sets us back on the right path. 

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