"The siege on boredom is lackluster."

Introduction - Gas Powered Games has produced some monolithic hits in its time. Dungeon Siege 2 still persists as a LAN party game of choice for many. So the bar has been set fairly high. The pieces are all there for a great game. Space is always an interesting setting. Aliens are timeless foes. And who doesn't love the concept of the literal emotionless killing machine? But the game falls flat on its face. A title like this may have been acceptable a few years ago, but with recent marvels of gaming Space Siege just can't hack it.

Gameplay - Disappointing. Advancement is wholly unremarkable. The weapons don't feel like the powerhouses they should. The enemies don't react to being shot at all, so a lot of the visceral enjoyment of blasting away is gone. Sad, because it could have done a lot to save the game. Grenades and mines feel and look like firecrackers, and combat reminds one of water fights as children, standing there shooting each other ineffectively with small plastic toys. Furthermore, the inability of a player to directly target and shoot destructible objects like boxes is a heinous offense. These containers must be damaged by explosions, or by fire directed at targets behind them. Drones and traps are as boring as the rest of the weapons, with the minor exception of the gravity trap, which allows players to suck in monsters in a radius of the trap, then pummel them with grenades or other area-of-effect attacks. The execution of such a tactic is difficult, as the range of the trap is paltry.

The game boasts two skill trees, Combat and Engineering. The obvious is the attempt at making the player make a choice between the two trees, as you are unable to reach the bottom of both trees. The problem is that all skills and buffs feel lacking. The game plays like it was balanced on paper, but this does not always translate into a fun gaming experience.

Story - The story is disappointing. I enjoyed other games in the sci-fi shooter realm better, like Alien Syndrome. The pacing is off, and proper exposition is non-existent. I almost want to recommend that anyone who gets this snap up a few friends and jump directly into multiplayer.

Graphics/Sound - The game *looks* great. The textures are smooth. Lighting is dim. Passable, but not remarkable in the age of dynamic and reactive lights. Enemy and player models are nice, but the cameras two angles make seeing them an exercise in futility. That is correct. The game sports an impressive *two* camera angles. One is your standard isometric view. The other is a "staring at the back of your head" style angle which is supposed to allow the player to see further, but the poor lighting situation usually makes this unreasonable.

Playtime/Replayability - The single player game is fairly short. I beat it in seventeen hours, and am running through multiplayer with friends, hoping for a better overall experience. Replayability is non-existent in single player.

Final Recommendation - Do not pay anything close to the MSRP of $49.99 for this game. I regret it. This would make a good $10 bargain bin title, something to waste a few hours on here and there with friends, but no more. This game is the black sheep of the GPG lineup.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/18/08

Game Release: Space Siege (US, 08/12/08)