Space Siege Preview

Rock, Paper, Shotgun brings us their take on Space Siege, after checking out Gas Powered Games’ sci-fi action RPG firsthand at this year’s CES.

I suspect GPG are aware that, if they are to become a developer of legend, they do need to try their hand at complex, branching storytelling as well as at classical mechanics and interface design. And properly, as opposed to Supreme Commander’s perfunctory and tiresome talking-head mission briefings, or the fantasy saga archetypes draped so loosely around the Dungeon Siege games. Space Siege is the first time a GPG game isn’t just about you versus the machine (or a machine-like online opponent), but also about you versus your own conscience.

In including moral dilemmas and a fleshed-out, single central character, Space Siege is a bold, even risky departure for Chris Taylor and co, who until now have favoured games played out on a sometimes large and always impersonal stage. It’s a significant change in methodology: the tin man is about to get his heart. If Taylor’s big talk about this sci-fi RPG holds true, perhaps this could be GPG’s Bioshock as in, the game that transforms a respected developer into a revered one.

In the event that it doesn’t, and this turns out to be just a reskinned Dungeon Siege, let’s just be thankful we’re getting a major RPG that isn’t, for once, spawned from any of the Bioware/Obisidian/Bethesda tri-loins. After all the speculation that Oblivion would lead to a roleplaying resurgence, last year ended up being miserably quiet on that front. Sure, a fair few people loved the Witcher and the Neverwinter Nights 2 addon, but both were largely preaching to the converted. A chummy, broadly accessible RPG like Space Siege could do this neglected genre a lot of favours.