Software Review: Lost in space

For a game that offers relatively little visual stimulation and plot variation, the background music is almost nonexistent, adding to the boredom.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Space Siege 88 248 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Space Siege 88 248
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Space Siege, a DVD-ROM in English by Gas Powered Games for Sega, distributed with a 28-page English-language manual by Hed Artzi, requires Windows XP and above and a 2.6 Ghz PC or better, for ages 12 and above, NIS 219. Rating: ** It's hard to believe that the same videogame studio - Gas Powered Games - that produced the stunning fantasy game Dungeon Siege seven years ago could have created an unsophisticated, ho-hum role-playing game like this. Space Siege is a different kettle of fish, and gamers will undoubtedly prefer to be back in the dungeon in the Kingdom of Ehb on the edge of the Plain of Tears. In most space-themed games, aliens attack Earth, forcing the human race to abandon their homes and board spaceships to establish a new colony on another planet or star. Here we go again... It's the late 22nd century. Of five spaceships, only the Armstrong (could this have been named after the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, or were the developers not even that sophisticated?) survives the onslaught of the Kerak aliens. The Kerak, who look like crabs, monsters and humanoid robots, send an "attack pod" to the Armstrong's hull and manage to infiltrate the ship like a parasite on an animal's back - endangering 20,000 humans. Seth Walker, a combat engineer, is the hero, and the fate of humanity is in his hands. Players will need a limber index finger to maneuver him through the monotonous industrialized environments and constantly shoot a variety of weapons at the aliens. Try to avoid exposing Seth to radiation and keep your eye on his health meter. But you don't have to avoid "friendly fire" against your own friends and allies, as the game allows you to blow up only the enemy. Space Siege, which can also be played in multiplayer mode, shows no blood streaming from the multitudes that are killed, as the recommended minimum age is 12. However, nearly everyone says "Damn!" from time to time. Seth dies quite easily, but he is always reincarnated just a little bit before the point where you lost him. For a game that offers relatively little visual stimulation and plot variation, the background music is almost nonexistent, adding to the boredom. For a role-playing game, the graphics engine is satisfactory, but if it were an action game, visuals would be considered very disappointing. Gas Powered has traveled backward in time; this is clearly not Dungeon Siege.