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Posted by: Tanegar Sep 13 2010, 08:48 AM

Space Siege is, as you may have guessed, another action RPG from Gas Powered Games, makers of the Dungeon Siege games (among others). Its score on Metacritic is 60/100, and I have to say that feels about right. It has few glaring deficiencies, but neither does it particularly excel. The dialogue is awful in places, but the voice acting is convincing, and I'm pretty sure I http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitlews9vjxau4x1j David Hayter in a supporting role. Holy crap, Snake is a starship technician now?! The in-game map deserves special mention for being mind-bogglingly useless. The levels invariably have a significant vertical component, but the 2D map completely fails to indicate this in any comprehensible manner. On the upside (maybe?) the levels are extremely linear, so as long as you keep moving forward it's hard to miss anything.

Space Siege is surprisingly Shadowrun-like in one particular: as you progress, you have the option of installing cyberware into your body. Doing so decreases your "Humanity" stat. I'm not sure what this accomplishes, however; even with all the upgrades, you can't get less than 5% Humanity, so it's not like you're ever forced to choose between implants. I think the ending changes depending on how much Humanity you have left, but I've only seen the full-cyber ending. In any event, cyberware offers so many advantages (and certain implants are required to use the two best weapons in the game), that I really can't see why you wouldn't take the implants.

The plot borrows shamelessly from System Shock 2, to the point that if you've played that game, Space Siege will hold no surprises for you. Pity the gameplay isn't up to System Shock 2's standard.

Bottom line: If you're looking for a Diablolike in a sci-fi setting, Space Siege is worth the $5.10 it's currently going for on Steam. Otherwise, don't bother.

Posted by: hobgoblin Sep 13 2010, 11:16 AM

iirc, all space siege endings can be found on youtube.

Posted by: Karoline Sep 13 2010, 11:21 AM

Yeah, space siege was a game I could never really get into, not because it was particularly bad, but just because it wasn't particularly good either.

The ending is the only thing affected by your humanity, which makes it a fairly lame mechanic. Would have been cool if there were EMP wielding enemies as the game progressed who did massive damage if you had tons of implants and no damage if you didn't have any, or at least some kind of tiny reward besides the ending for going the harder path. I mean heck, bioshock provides a very compelling reason to go 'good' over 'evil' in the form of gifts.

So overall, have to agree with your assessment, it's a game that simply falls short, but if it is the genre that you're into, could be worth the $5 to kick around for a bit.

Posted by: Dumori Sep 13 2010, 01:39 PM

QUOTE (Karoline @ Sep 13 2010, 12:21 PM)

Posted by: Karoline Sep 13 2010, 01:44 PM

QUOTE (Dumori @ Sep 13 2010, 09:39 AM)

Posted by: nemafow Sep 14 2010, 12:58 AM

I have a habit of buying super cheap games from Steam, I have to stop, they all account up to buying full blown expensive games very regularly

Posted by: Karoline Sep 15 2010, 04:20 AM

QUOTE (nemafow @ Sep 13 2010, 08:58 PM)

I have a habit of buying super cheap games from Steam, I have to stop, they all account up to buying full blown expensive games very regularly

Posted by: nemafow Sep 15 2010, 04:34 AM

Heh yes I saw that, I hid my wallet.

Posted by: Tanegar Sep 15 2010, 06:07 AM

QUOTE (Karoline @ Sep 14 2010, 11:20 PM)

Posted by: Dumori Sep 15 2010, 06:13 PM

I broung the start wasr pack ages ago. The force unleashed is the only one not in the pack at the time.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Sep 19 2010, 12:07 AM

I just tried it today. It's boring and hell and lets my mind get depressed as I play it due to being boring.