Pathfinding is often a problem in RTS games and unfortunately Besieger
suffers from this shortcoming as well. In fact, the pathfinding in Besieger is
decidedly worse than it is in most poor RTS games. Not only is it impossible to
keep groups together over even the shortest distances, half the group invariably
decides to take a completely different route than everybody else. I don’t even
want to get into the myriad of problems encountered when trying to get your
group through a gap. The ironic thing is that the game provides a formation
button that is supposed to keep groups together and moving at the pace of the
slowest units, but as far as I could tell the button had little or no effect. It
didn’t even seem to affect the group’s speed as slower units still lagged while
faster ones sprinted ahead. Needless to say this makes babysitting your groups a
necessity as you move them along in little steps and hops and lasso in any
stragglers. Also needless to say this really dampens your enjoyment of the game.
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| A bustling base. |
The game’s AI issues extend beyond pathfinding, as the computer-controlled
enemy is not very intelligent. The computer simply follows the same strategy
each time out: build a small group of units, send them straight at the enemy,
keep pressing on until the group is destroyed, build a new group and repeat.
There are no surprises and you won’t have to make strategic adjustment as the
game progresses. You just need to have the defenses in place to stop the
computer’s anemic “nuisance” attacks as you go about readying your army to win
the war.
In addition to the AI issues there are also some play-balance problems,
primarily in the area of the game’s heroes. The heroes in Besieger are strong
leader units with the ability to get stronger as they level up in experience and
that provide bonuses to nearby friendly units. Heroes are a bit hard to control
as they tend to be too aggressive and lead the charge into battle. With the
aforementioned pathfinding issues, this often means that they jump into the fray
before their back-up can catch up. When the heroes are low level this can mean a
lot of hero deaths, which will instantly end our game when playing the campaign
scenarios. Once they reach higher levels, though, you have the opposite problem.
They become so strong that they are essentially unstoppable super-units. While
powerful high-level units may seem like a welcome addition to any army, it takes
some of the fun out of the game when the challenge is removed.
Overall you can file Besieger in the “good ideas, poor execution” category.
An RTS game that forces you into a defend and siege strategy as opposed to
relying on a unit rushing clickfest approach has a lot of potential for some
novel and interesting gameplay. However, Besieger suffers from many of the same
problems that plague other RTS also-rans and in the end joins the ranks of the
mediocre.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
60%. In Besieger, a different approach to RTS strategy is defeated by
poor execution and dismal AI.
System Requirements: Pentium III 1.0 GHz; 256 MB RAM;
32 MB
Video RAM; 8x CD-ROM; 1.5 GB Hard Drive
Space; Mouse.
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