It’s been awhile since since a Dungeon Siege title hit the scene. This one marks the franchise’s first foray into the console market, and Obsidian Entertainment has taken the helm for this transition over from original developer Gas Powered Games (with Square Enix taking over publishing duties from Microsoft Game Studios). If that makes fans of the PC series wince, I’m here to tell you that while Dungeon Siege III preserves much of the concepts of its forebears, I couldn’t shake how strikingly similar the game “feels” to X-men Legends and its successors, only with fewer playable characters and more equipment tinkering. That’s not a negative criticism at all – I loved those games – and it’s certainly a well-executed, solid, basic, co-op centric dungeon crawler that will satisfy you if you’re having a major craving for isometric swords and sorcery. But otherwise, I find myself balking at the idea of dropping a full $60 on it.

I’m sure Diablo fans would disagree, but the console controller is pretty well suited for this style of game. Tap X (PS3)/A (360) for the basic melee combo attacks, and special abilities are mapped to the other three face buttons. Holding the right trigger while hitting those buttons unleashes an “empowered” version of your special moves. Holding the left trigger blocks, and while mitigating damage that way eats up your “focus” (the game’s mana), it also enables certain defensive moves like a heal-over-time. Each character comes equipped with two “stances,” and switching stances also switches your basic melee combo and your special moves. For instance, the warrior character switches from his tank-like sword and shield to his melee crowd control two-hander, and trades stun abilities for higher damage.

The four playable characters – an armored knight, a demi-goddess fire mage, a crowd-controlling wizard, and a ranged-DPS gunslinger – all allow for significant customization through abilities-tweaking and equipment to keep any stats-monger happy. Interestingly, the activated abilities aren’t leveled up by the usual talent trees, per se. Each ability allows for a five points worth of customization, broken down between two options. For instance, the fire mage’s self-heal can be granted a percentage boost per point to healing, or a percentage boost to her damage per point while the heal is in effect, but you can’t spend more than five total points modifying the move.

As one of the last survivors of the defunct 10th Legion, it’s your job to rally your comrades into an army once more and win the hearts and minds of the citizens from the conquering usurper Jeyne Kassynder. Although “Jeyne Kassynder” is a great name shout vengefully as you reach skyward with clenched fists, the reason I’m bringing up the storyline is that the game periodically puts you into conversations with branching outcomes based on your responses. There’s nothing too earth-shattering in terms of effects on plot development, but if you keep in mind certain things about characters and events, you can pick your way successfully through a dialogue and be rewarded with some minor stat boosts. It’s an amusing change-up to the action, and it gives you another reason to care about the story.

I should also mention that the visuals are decent enough, if somewhat bland. There are no major issues with jagged lines and textures, but a few details (particularly fire effects) are starkly two-dimensional in a three-dimensional world. The voice acting isn’t exactly standout either, but won’t leave you rolling your eyes and cringing. I guess these observations are a good way to sum up the game in general – competent, but neither standout or revolutionary.  Dungeon Siege III typifies this genre of game in a way that is somewhat both of a credit to it and a drawback. If you’re enthusiastically in the market for a new four-player action-RPG dungeon crawler to sink your teeth into, then this is your game. Otherwise, it’s probably not going to blow you away and is nothing to write home about. It hits shelves Tuesday for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.