Siege of Centauri [Review]

By Thunderheavyarm

We recently received an advanced copy of Siege of Centauri, developed and published by Stardock Entertainment. In the not too distant future, Earth has spread out among our solar system and have sent the first colonist to Proxima Centauri. Not long after the colony is established, the planet sends out an immediate call for aid and goes silent. In response, Earth sends a ship to investigate the colony and ensure the safety of Earth. Armed with a futuristic device capable of quickly constructing a wide variety of turrets, you will learn about this new alien enemy and what they intend for the humans of Centauri.

Gameplay

A true blast fromthe past of flash games, Siege is a tower defense game with a littlebit of RTS mixed in. Build towers to defend your base with a widevariety of abilities to survive. It’s a simple enough conceptThere’s not much more to it without delving into how each turretworks and what it’s especially effective against, something thatthe game explains fairly well as you unlock them.

There’s currently three game modes that players can play through: a campaign where you investigate the main story and uncover the secrets of the alien invaders of Centauri, a more classic style of play where you can choose a map and fight against an endless array of enemies that get progressively stronger, and a scenario builder where you can build a map, fill it with enemies and have other players try to beat it. As there weren’t any scenarios up, given that it was in limited access, I chose to play through the campaign, since endless was something I was already familiar with through flash games.

I found the campaigninteresting if a little simplistic in what it was attempting. Humansexpand beyond their capabilities, meet a mysterious alien race thatbegins to slap them around because no one thinks to bring weapons,building up to a big showdown with a boss creature running yourgauntlet of death. In between each mission you’re treated to alittle log of the three characters that are on the ship, the captain,science officer and AI of current events that are happening onCentauri. I wish there was more too it than that, but honestly ifthere was anymore they’d have to drop the tower defense aspect andjust make it a standard RTS.

Review

All in all it’s a pretty fun game that I feel is well worth the price for the graphics and the gameplay. A simple design with a simple and rich story that’s I found appealing as something that’s easy to jump in and start playing. While it doesn’t have a lot of variety to it, that’s part of the appeal for anyone that’s an old hand at tower defense games, but wanted something with more than just some random path maps. It’s currently available on Steam, if anyone is interested in a tower defense game with a good story behind it.

Until next time!