Space Siege Preview

GamesRadar has hammered out another preview of Gas Powered Games’ Space Siege, this time based on a preview build provided by SEGA.

True to its Dungeon Siege roots, Space Siege soon had me climbing the skill tree, leveling up my firepower and unlocking new ordinance, such as incendiary ammunition. Each kill rewarded me with pieces of junk – or rather, one man’s junk, but another man’s currency for upgrading weapons and armor or crafting medkits and grenades. I devoted most of my resources to enhancing offensive abilities, with my defense strategy revolving around well-timed use of the dodge key to dive out of the way of incoming projectiles.

Hindsight says that wasn’t the best idea because I soon graduated from the weaker Kerak to the bigger, meaner Veteran Hunters, who surprised me by standing up again after being hit with a blast of fire ammo and then smacked down with a magnablade attack. Not coincidentally, this is also where I first experienced the BioShock-style resurrection system: I respawned in the nearest medical device at full health, but the damage I’d inflicted on the enemy was still in effect, leading me to believe that Gas Powered is going for a casual experience that doesn’t frustrate gamers with overly tough enemies. Fortunately (from a keeping-us-alive perspective), I stumbled upon the disassembled parts of an HRV robot. After a little tinkering, a fully upgradable (Harvey) sidekick bot was up and running, watching my back with machine guns that I later upgraded to napalm throwers.