| Starsiege | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Dynamix |
| Publisher(s) | Dynamix |
| Designer(s) | Sierra |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | March 24, 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Vehicle simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen(T) |
| Media/distribution | Compact Disc |
| System requirements
Pentium 166 w/ Glide or OpenGL compatible 3D accelerator, 32mb RAM |
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Starsiege is a mecha-style vehicle simulation game developed by Dynamix and released in 1999. Starsiege is set in the Metaltech/Earthsiege universe, which contains its predecessors Earthsiege (1994), Battledrome (1995), and Earthsiege 2 (1995), as well as action game Hunter Hunted (1996), strategy games Mission Force: Cyberstorm (1997) and Cyberstorm 2: Corporate Wars (1998), and first-person shooters Starsiege: Tribes (1998), Tribes 2 (2001), Tribes: Vengeance (2004) and Tribes: Ascend (2012). Starsiege is the end of the Earthsiege series and the beginning of the Tribes series.
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In this time, humanity is nominally united in an Empire, led from Earth by the Immortal Emperor Solomon Petresun. Petresun's policy is the defence of Earth at all costs. While Earth is prosperous and well protected, the colonies on Luna, Mars, and Venus suffer from increasingly harsh regulations and production quotas.
The combat units of the Empire are represented by the Imperial Police and the Imperial Knights. The former paramilitary group is responsible for maintaining order in the colonies. The Knights, led by Grand Master Caanon Weathers, are the military's elite and are provided with the best pilots and equipment; naturally they are based on Earth. The Knights have customized versions of the standard HERCs.
The inequality between the colonies and Earth foments rebellion. In 2802 there are two guerilla movements on Mars, the Free Martian Alliance (FMA) and the Martian Liberation Front (MLF). The FMA concentrates on destroying and capturing Imperial infrastructure and supplies. The MLF focuses on killing Imperial personnel and sympathizers. Both groups operate from underground bases and make do with modified mining HERCs and tanks. The rebels partially offset their disadvantages with superior weapons taken from the alien "Tharsis Cache"; an underground stockpile of alien technology discovered by rebels while digging new tunnels. Eventually the rebellion becomes too great for the police to contain and the Knights are deployed to Mars to crush the insurrection.
The Cybrids are a race of sentient robots responsible for the first Earthsiege. They are led by the first Cybrid, Prometheus, who is revered with god-like status. The Cybrids established themselves in the outer solar system after being defeated two centuries before during the first Earthsiege. Since then they have built up their strength for another bid to destroy humanity and claim Earth for their own. Like the Martian rebels, the Cybrids discover their own cache of alien weapons and adapt it to use, but their cache is inferior to the Tharsis Cache.
Notable Cybrid units include the elite Platinum Guard - those closest to Prometheus - and the heretical Metagen. The former have access to customized HERC designs. During the Cybrid campaign, the player is ordered to destroy Metagen units. They are little mentioned in the human campaign; in the final mission Cybrids supposedly guarding Prometheus abandon their posts and refuse to fire on humans for "unknown reasons."
As a simulation, Starsiege offers players the ability to pilot a wide variety of massive bipedal war machines known as HERCULANs (Humaniform-Emulation Roboticized Combat Unit with Leg-Articulated Navigation) (or 'HERCs' for short), as well as several tanks. Set in 2829, Starsiege contains an array of advanced technology, and numerous upgrades are available for each vehicle. Starsiege takes place across a number of planets and moons in the solar system, offering a range of different locations throughout the game and in multiplayer battles, including Earth, Titan, Luna, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. There are two campaigns, Human and Cybrid. The human campaign places the player as a member of the Free Martian Alliance.
Gameplay in Starsiege revolves around mechanized combat - piloting HERCs and tanks in combat against opposing vehicles. Both types of vehicles can be controlled via any combination of keyboard, joystick, or mouse. Every vehicle has a unique performance, though this can be modified somewhat through customization of parts. Customizing the player's vehicle is an important element of gameplay, particularly in multiplayer - a proper balance between all of the components is necessary to assure the player a reasonable chance of success.
Multiplayer gameplay includes classic modes deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag.
Starsiege received moderately good critical reception. IGN awarded 7.7 out of 10, highlighting the well presented package and cutscenes, graphically impressive (whilst sparse) landscapes, intuitive controls and the longevity of the multiplayer mode. The minimal sound effects were criticised, with muddled voice-overs, and some of human HERC models were felt to be a bit bland and generic.[1]
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