Under Siege

Under Siege is a real-time strategy game exclusive to the PlayStation Network. Produced by Portuguese developer Seed Studios, Under Siege is a kind of strategy title in which the tactical organization and objectives are more important than resource management and constructing troops. As usual, you can find different factions, each with their strengths and weaknesses, and each one can be improved through a series of upgrades available with your constant success on the battlefield. At first glance, Under Siege seems to be a mix between Age of Empires, StarCraft, Demigod, DotA and League of Legends, but it’s less complicated than expected.

There are many genres within video games. And unlike what one would imagine, many of them managed to make the leap from the PC to consoles, losing very little by the way, and improving what had been done previously. One of the few genres that could bridge the gap with little distinction for the consoles was the strategy genre, because the use of a mouse and keyboard cannot be emulated by a console. Thus, many experiences were positive, but they have never achieved excellence.

Being an RTS, the Lethal Weapon action is primarily viewed from a higher view, through which we can control our characters in real time, fighting and exploring the maps, which conceals a number of bonuses you can collect. It is possible to approach the camera from the ground and wheel it around the action, which allows you to view the surrounding area.

To build your army, you will have to organize several different classes depending on the ranks. Before each fight, you can put each of your classes available to hire more soldiers and evolve each group, through the money accumulated throughout the adventure. The strategy and preparation are essential and need to be good measures, because this is not an easy game that takes you by the hand throughout.

The game’s commands have been simplified to fit in the Dualshock 3 controller, and in fact, everything works quite well. You can select a unit or more with the push of a button, move them, attack, or even decide the position in the battlefield. Of course it is possible to define more elaborate strategies, and there are several inherent skills for each class, cure, or draw the attention of enemies, but none of this is difficult to internalize, and quickly can be learned in just a few hours of play. Under Siege’s story mode still lasts a few hours, a plot involving three military and political figures: Eirik, Kari and Aesgir, which takes the game to show us several different scenarios, and other characters. Outside the story mode, the player can dive into the creation and online modes.

Under Siege includes a large number of tools to create scenarios to your liking, starting with the formation / deformation of the ground, implementation of nature elements, partners, enemies and even the way each character will react to what is happening on the screen. The best of it is that you can share your maps with other players via Online mode. In this mode you can compete against other players from around the world through a cooperative or competitive mode for up to two players. You can also play with a friend and try the co-operative scenarios. In my time with the game the online behaved in a very positive way, with little or no connection problems.

Regarding the visual level, Under Siege is above average. The scenario is beautiful and well done although not highly detailed, and the units are virtual copies of each other, thus not offering a greater charisma to the soldiers. Where the game excels though, is through its art style. The lines of dialogue are accompanied by drawings of the characters, which are quite appealing, as well as images that appear in the loading screens. In terms of sound, the work is nicely done with good music tracks. There are only a few of them, but fortunately they can always use the ones that are lodged in your console. One problem with the sound however, is the lack of voices in virtually all game situations. It is understandable that it is difficult to give voice to all the characters, but at least the history dialogue should have been the target of this care.

In addition to the game’s strong points, you can also add a Youtube video with interaction and image sharing with Facebook. Of course we could not finish without mentioning the inclusion of the Playstation Move, but this is not the ideal controller to use at all. Between the classic DualShock 3 and the Move, I prefer to use the Dualshock. Anyway, if you insist on using the Move, it can be a decent option as well.

Under Siege doesn't redefine the RTS formula or proof that this type of game can have a future on consoles, but it's still a pretty good game that should be experienced, even for those who are not fans of the genre. In short, Under Siege is a solid approach in the right direction, and if all goes well, maybe in the next game the company gives a solid step towards the level of excellence.

Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed