Besiege
Developer(s)Spiderling Studios
Publisher(s)Spiderling Studios
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • Linux, Mac, Windows
  • 18 February 2020
  • Xbox One, Series X/S
  • 10 February 2022
Genre(s)Sandbox
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer (PC)

Besiege is a vehicle-building sandbox video game based around medieval siege engines, developed and published by Spiderling Studios. The game was released for Windows, macOS and Linux in February 2020, which followed a five-year long early access phase. A console version for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S was released in February 2022. The game has received widespread praise, citing the wide range of experimentation available to players.

Overview

Besiege allows the player to build various vehicles and contraptions within an outlandish medieval fantasy setting with few limitations beyond a player's own skill and creativity. Basic components include wooden blocks and wheels, with further options including complex mechanical components, cannons, bombs, or hot-air balloons. Later updates would also introduce components such as timers, logic gates, or proximity detectors to automatically simulate player inputs. In addition to an open-ended sandbox mode, the game features a single-player campaign with a total of 54 levels spread over four themed islands; Each level features a unique environment and objective, ranging from puzzles based around manipulating magical artifacts to combat encounters requiring the player to defeat enemies or destroy buildings.[1]

An update in December 2017 added a level editor and multiplayer capabilities, such as pitting the vehicle creations against each other, or other players attempting to knock down a castle created by another.[2] With these additions, players developed systems to run tournaments similar to the television show BattleBots, pitting their Besiege creations in one-on-one matches with others to try to take the other out.[3]

The game was first released for Linux, OS X and Windows via early access on 28 January 2015 before officially releasing on 18 February 2020.[4] A console version is set to be released for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on 10 February 2022. It features reworked user interface, photo mode, and a different Workshop for sharing user creations. However, it does not have the multiplayer or level editor functionality of the PC version.[5]

Reception

Marsh Davies of Rock, Paper, Shotgun praised an early version of the game, comparing its "bouncily caricatured" science to a 12th-century version of Kerbal Space Program. Davies also praised the game's stylized graphics and sound.[6]

Another Rock Paper Shotgun article by Jay Castello which is a released-version review published on March 2, 2020. Jay Castello admired the game varieties that kept her engaging and trying to construct the new better siege engines. Although there was some lack of guidance that was mentioned in the article, the game has had a strong community support with mods, guides, tricks created by people who have a very good handle on besiege construction tools since the game was released early-access in 2015.[7]

On the date September 22, 2022, Besiege has Overwhelmingly Positive all reviews on steam with 95% positive reviews from 39,871 reviews, and Very Positive recent reviews with 93% positive reviews from 171 reviews.[8]

Worth a Buy (Game review YouTuber) published his Besiege (early access) video review on January 23, 2015, after he had played the game for 1 hour. He mentioned that the game caught his eye with its look and cheap price of $6. The game building mechanic is fun with lots of crazy weapons to equip and experiment with. Worth a Buy summarizes that this game is fun, cheap, and really worth a buy.[9]

PC Gamer article by Rick Lane gave the game 85 out of 100 and said: "Besiege lets you build siege weapons in a medieval fantasy realm. It contains four kingdoms, with each kingdom having many levels in it. The level is nicely crafted, with objectives for you to do in order to pass the level. Each level is designed to make you come up with a new mechanic with different tasks for you to do. You will be given a building area at the start of the level. Besiege provides a toolkit that's easier to understand compared to Kerbal Space Program, but lacks a good tutorial to guide the beginners. The toolkit contains a lot of objects for you to use and work with. You can build from cranes to flying machines with it. Besiege allows you to adjust individual object parameters such as power, speed and even binding it to do certain actions."[10]

References

  1. ↑ Noordin, Shaun A. (23 February 2015). "Besiege: Engineering madness". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  2. ↑ Horti, Samuel (10 December 2017). "Medieval destruction sandbox Besiege adds multiplayer and level editor". PC Gamer. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Davenport, James (21 February 2020). "BattleBots is alive and deadly in Besiege's internet fight clubs". PC Gamer. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  4. ↑ Bailey, Dustin (13 February 2020). "Besiege finally goes 1.0 in February, after five years of Early Access". PCGamesN. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  5. ↑ MarcoAM (24 January 2022). "Besiege Console will be entering Xbox's Game Preview program on the 10th of February, and will be available on Xbox One, Series X|S and Xbox GamePass!". Mod DB. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Davies, Marsh (9 February 2015). "Premature Evaluation: Besiege". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Jay Castello". Jay Castello. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Besiege on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  9. ↑ Besiege Review (Early Access) - Worth a Buy?, retrieved 17 October 2022
  10. ↑ Lane, Rick (25 February 2020). "Besiege review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
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