Space Siege [PC]

Expectations are tricky, particularly when a developer takes a proven game concept to a new setting. We didn't want to presume too much about this "dungeon crawl in space" approach to Space Siege but many of us here at IGN are fans of the original Dungeon Siege and were cautiously hopeful about Gas Powered Games' new action RPG. While Space Siege definitely delivers the superficial experience of a classic dungeon crawl, it fails to provide the player with enough meaningful choices or variety to make it worthwhile.

The story is full of stock sci-fi elements that aren't surprising by themselves and aren't used with any great effect. The game begins with the player hunting down stowaway aliens on board a massive spaceship and then runs through many of the standard twists and predictable turns. There are a few surprises here, but your emotional involvement with the story is never enough to give them any great meaning. It's simply enough to know where your objective is and that you have to shoot every alien, robot or cybernetic soldier you meet along the way. The few characters you meet are generally interesting but aren't really given enough to do to get you from one chapter to the next.

Getting from A to B is fairly straightforward. The sequence of objectives and the basic layout of the levels don't allow for any real variety or flexibility in the way you approach the game. There are definitely plenty of instances where you can choose whether to go left or right, but the choice ends up the same in the end. The only real challenge is in trying to determine whether or not the objectives that show up on your mini map are above or below the level you're on. At the very least it would be helpful to see where the elevators are.

Space Siege bills itself as an action RPG but the developers have cautioned that it leans more towards action than RPG. The combat mechanics are functional if not particularly inventive. The player simply points and clicks the mouse to move and shoot, and uses the number keys to launch the occasional special attack. We'd have loved to see a WASD-style movement system like we saw in Shadowgrounds, because using the mouse pointer to control movement and shooting makes it impossible to do both at the same time. It's not usually a problem but in the bigger firefights it can be a real liability that you can't move while shooting.

There is a dodge function in the game, but it really doesn't work. There's no option to dodge to the side or the rear, so anytime you dodge, you roll forward towards your enemy. This presents two big problems. First, it puts you closer to the enemy and gives you less time to dodge their next attack. Second, since you're dodging right along the enemy's line of fire, you'll likely pop up from your roll only to be shot in the face.

On the plus side, there are some tactical elements you can use to make the fights a bit more interesting. As in any large space ship there are hundreds of explosive red barrels and crates scattered in every area and you can use these to create some interesting surprises if you can get your enemies to walk by them. You can also use your engineering skills to lay booby traps or drop turrets in front of your enemies. Since none of the enemies do anything more sophisticated than running straight at you, you can usually be sure that they'll hit the traps you place.

Your greatest tactical asset is HR-V, pronounced "Harvey", a combat robot that you can outfit with a couple of different weapons. HR-V basically follows you around and shoots at whatever happens to be in its field of vision. While it doesn't have as much personality or charm as the pack mule from the original Dungeon Siege, it's definitely useful to have an extra pair of guns when dealing with large groups. Though HR-V follows you around and engages in combat automatically, you can also give it specific move and fire orders. The movements orders are sometimes useful, but for the most part the game doesn't give you enough breathing room to hand select HR-V's targets.