Space Siege - Review @ Realplayer

Remember Space Siege?  Realplayer has kicked up another mediocre score for GPG's action game:

It's also a schizophrenic game, packed full of contrasting narrative clichés that sit awkwardly alongside each other. Hackneyed humour intersperses abject horror. Overblown, pompous action cut-scenes stand out clumsily among the eerie hallways. Its tale of a space station in disarray, controlled by an AI with sinister ideas of its own, smacks more than a little of the System Shock series, and the design of the station itself is, in places, uncomfortably reminiscent of the Von Braun's haunting expanse. But Space Siege is utterly devoid of the dripping atmosphere and existential terror that drove EA's seminal franchise, thanks in large to the incessant, predictable hoards of unintelligent enemies and repetitive, unimaginative gameplay mechanics.

Generally, it's another Dungeon Siege affair, but Space Siege proves that style feels clunky and wrong in these more confined environments. Foes swarm en masse from up ahead as soon as you enter a new area, giving little time for strategic battle-planning. They're usually in packs of five or more, but it's a real burden to do anything other than stand still and pick off targets one at a time, thanks to the unhelpful camera and simplistic controls. The more beasts that attack, the more combat becomes a matter of sheer luck and blind firing, removing any element of skill in favour of frantic button-bashing. Fighting consists of three facets: shooting, dodging, and utilising cybernetic powers. A combination of all three is usually essential, but it's all artificial depth tacked on to a lifeless and wholly uncreative system.