Dungeon Siege 3 - Previews @ NowGamer, GamesRadar

A couple of new Dungeon Siege 3 previews. First, NowGamer:

Stances grant special unlockable attacks that rank up – we chose Shield bash, which stunned opponents, and a Charging Dash, which cut through swathes of enemies, tossing them into the air. These are driven by your Will, which like your heath is replenished by pick-ups, bringing a real tactical edge to play.

Thanks to this hands on approach there’s a real sense of engagement in Dungeon Siege III’s combat, augmented by your ability to attack, block and roll – here your quick reflexes are often as important as your armour class.

A similarly dynamic approach surrounds narrative with Mass Effect/Dragon Age-style conversation trees as you talk to quest givers and confront enemies. Your choices alter narrative, and the fully voiced presentation is far more engaging than the usual crawler fare.

...and GamesRadar:

With names like “Determined Shatter Gun of Shrapnel” and “Carbine of Life-Stealing,” it wasn’t easy narrowing down which three weapons to equip, however, RPG-style stats like agility, will, block and attack made the decision a bit easier. In addition to crunching those numbers to determine which hand-cannons offered the best bang for the buck, some guns also sport chaos stats; we found ourselves relying heavily on the aptly named Shocking Double Barrel because its chaos perk held the promise of occasionally giving our enemies an electric jolt as well as a body full of bullets – watching blue bolts course through enemies while they wonder if you’ll finish them with a headshot is pretty satisfying.

Adding more depth to our arsenal – and blood to the battlefield – is DSIII’s use of abilities and proficiencies, which you access as you level-up. Abilities allow you to select items that further complement your attacks. As Katarina, for example, we were granted Heart-Seeking Shot, as its name suggests, this ability stands a chance of scoring a critical shot. Proficiencies inject additional elements of danger into abilities; we chose to load our points into one called Magic Bullet, a proficiency that increases the chances of those heart-breaking bullets ricocheting into other potential victims. If all that’s not RPG-ish enough for you, talents are also unlocked as you level. In Katarina’s case, we decided to split these into offensive and defensive disciplines, choosing one that steadied our aim and another that healed her quicker.