Custom PC - UK (2020-07)

B

esiegeallowsyoutobecomethemedieval

equivalentofBacktotheFuture’sEmmett

BrownorFuturama’sProfessorFarnsworth.It’s

a sandboxinwhichyoubuildyourownsiegeenginesand

laywastetoenemyfortifications,althoughhalfthefunis

watchingyourwackycontraptionslaywastetothemselves.

Thecampaignseesyoutaskedwithconqueringfourfantasy

kingdomsonindividualislands.Theseislandsaredivided

intoroughlya dozenindividualchallengesthatrequireyou

tobuildmachinestosolvethem.

Eachchallengehastwodistinctphases.Thefirstis the

constructionphase.Startingoutfroma singlemetalblock,

youusethemousetohammerouta basicwoodenframe

thatformstheskeletonofyoursiegeengine,beforeadding

wheels, weapons and other items such as armour plates.

Once your masterpiece is complete, you press the Play

button to enter the action phase, controlling your new-

fangled death machine with keyboard controls that can be

adjusted for each of your inventions.

At this point, your siege engine while probably fall apart.

The crux of Besiege is its physics engine, which requires

you to consider the different forces weighing upon your

contraption.If a catapult’sammunitionis tooheavyforthe

arm,it mightsnapwithoutadditionalbracingsupport.If your

machineis front-loadedwithweapons,you’llneedtoadd

ballasttothereartostopit tippingover.

BesiegebearssomesimilaritiestoKerbalSpaceProgram,

butit’smoreimmediateandaccessiblethanSquad’s

interplanetaryepic.Eachmissionis shortandsweet,with

mostchallengestakingbetweena fewminutesandhalf

anhourtocomplete.Yourobjectivesarealwaysclear,and

youdon’thavetoworryaboutsubsidiaryconcernssuchas

fundingorresourcemanagement.

It’sbeautifullypresentedtoo.Theartstylebrilliantly

conveystheminiature-esque structureofthegame,

presentingeachchallengeasa littledioramawhereonly

the key details are sketched out. Meanwhile, the slapstick

humour is enhanced by little animations and sound effects,

such as the daft parp of a herald’s horn.

While the title implies that you’ll mainly be building

catapults, you’ll also need to construct cranes, tanks and

even flying machines across the campaign. Sometimes the

mission parameters can be overly specific, however. The

bounding box that limits your building space can sometimes

feel arbitrary, while any mission that requires you to build a

flying machine can be frustrating, as they’re difficult to build

so they’re functional, but also hard to control in the air.

Despite these issues, Besiege offers hours of sandbox

fun. Once you’re done with the campaign, the level editor

enables you to construct your own challenges, while the

multiplayer mode sees players pitting machines against

other players in what’s basically pre-industrial Robot Wars.

Not bad for a game that costs a smidge over a tenner.

RICK LANE

/VERDICT

Accessible,

creative and

often hilarious,

Besiege

smashed through

our artery walls

and seized our

stonyhearts.

OVERALL SCORE

85 %

Besiege/ £ 11.99 inc VAT

DEVELOPER Spiderling Studios/ PUBLISHER Spiderling Studios

BESIEGE

+^ Powerful and

accessible

construction tools

+^ Substantial and

varied campaign

mode

+^ Wonderful art style

BEWARE

(^) - Some overly
restrictive missions

-^ Flying machines
tough to build
and control

cc

uu

sstommPP

CC

A

P

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