Title: Space Siege
Platform: PC
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Gas Powered Games
ESRB Rating: T for Teen

I'm not a fan of the recent casual gaming craze. Sure, Peggle will keep me busy while I wait for a pizza delivery or install a better game but I don't sit and play it for hours or take anything away from the experience. Casual games are a nice alternative to sitting and staring. While they're fun and they kill time, they don't draw you in or offer any lasting memories. With all that in mind, I'm prepared to classify Gas Powered Games' new title Space Siege as a casual game. It's an anemic action RPG with repetitive environments, lackluster enemies and a familiar sci-fi story. But it's also a fun game.

The story driving Space Siege is a mix of the two most common science fiction elements found in books, movies and other games: xenophobia and fear of technology. The Kerak, a generic insectile/crustacean aggressive alien race, attacked the Earth and destroyed all human life save for a single colony ship, the ISCS Armstrong, which slipped through the invasion. As the Armstrong was escaping, the Kerak launched a pod full of alien warriors that attached to the hull and allowed the aliens to board the ship. You play as combat engineer Seth Walker, and when Space Siege opens, you're immediately tasked with defending the Armstrong's engines from the Kerak boarding party so the ship's A.I., known as PILOT, can fire the main engines and escape the Kerak fleet.

Space Siege's narrative is thin and that's being kind. As the story unfolds the motivation behind the Kerak attack is addressed and an easily-foreseen plot "twist" occurs later in the game - but this is not a story that will find its way next to BioShock on any lists. It's very simple and straightforward allowing the player to influence the events only near the end. How you play Walker through the game can affect some of the dialogue you'll see and ultimately lead to two different endings; one of which feels like a complete betrayal of the character's actions up to the point of no return.

Walker, seen here with all the cybernetic upgrades and carrying a Cyborg Chaingun, looks less the hero and more the villain.

It's a stretch for me to classify Space Siege as an RPG despite what it says on the box. For instance, there aren't any classes, loot, levels, experience points or inventory. The only RPG elements the game retains are two skill trees for Combat and Engineering. Additionally, there's only one character path until very late in the game - I'm talking 30 minutes before the ending -that has any bearing on the story. The "multiple gameplay paths" mentioned on the box and in the press releases refer to the cybernetics component of the game. Eventually you'll have the option to outfit Walker with cybernetic enhancements at the cost of his humanity stat. These cybernetic upgrades can instantly provide bonuses for combat such as increased health and attack power. You'll have the option of replacing his legs, an arm, his spine, his chest, an eye, a hand and even his brain resulting in a completely new head. You can't customize or upgrade the cybernetics in any way. You either take them stock or not at all.

The other characters in the game warn Walker about becoming too robotic, suggesting some kind of story-defining threshold. I opted to go full cybernetics, gladly replacing my frail meat and bone limbs with steel and hydraulics, and while I did enjoy slowly turning the heroic Walker into a horrifying terminator carrying an enormous mini-gun, I was disappointed at the lack of repercussions for my actions. Aside from locking out a few skills in the skill trees, the only repercussion I noticed was some dialogue referring to my sacrifice for the greater good. Despite being completely cybernetic - retaining only 5% of my humanity according to the character sheet - I was still given a choice near the end concerning which path to choose. For all the fuss made by the other characters about the dangers of cybernetic replacements, I expected something more dramatic.

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