ElegantTrout Reviews - Hero Siege
- ElegantTrout
- Apr 25, 2016
- 5 min read
Author's Note: This'll be my first official game review, though I've had some practice before. Feel free to give me any criticism. I don't do scoring systems as they're arbitrary and subjective, but I will give suggestions as to who might like or dislike it.
Hero Siege is an alluring pixel art roguelike, constructed by small but skilled team from Finland called Panic Art Studios. The plot is minimalistic, which the premise simply being that the Kingdom of Tarethial is taken over by a bunch of satanic monsters, commanded by none-other than Damien himself. The DLC adds a bit more to this story, as additional enemy bosses are introduced like Satan, the Carp King, and Mevius, who all seem to have a hand in what had transpired.
As of writing this blog post, I've spent about 108 hours into playing Hero Siege. Most of that time is spent on multiplayer mode, playing with a friend or two, but I have spent a good amount of time playing this game solo. Like many games, it's more fun with a friend, but this one is incredible as is if you decide to go at it alone. That's also factoring in that the price of the game is a small fraction of how much game releases tend to be nowadays. (Full price on Steam is $5.99 USD, but it can go much, much lower)
I believe there are 8 base characters and 4 DLC characters, all of which are unique with four abilities and their own voices. They can further be customized cosmetically with cool or wacky costumes through the in-game shop, which uses an in-game currency. No silly micro-transactions. Personally, I favor the Viking melee-oriented class because of their strong auto-attack potential and their CC-heavy skills. However, many other classes are flashier; like the Necromancer who can summon a bunch of minions to fight for you, the Pyromancer who has a ton of flame-based AoE abilities, and the Redneck who simply has an entertaining yet practical kit. Chances are, if you don't like one class, you might like another.
The action in this game is simplistic, but creative where it counts. The wave based combat can be controlled to your liking, which allows you to somewhat control the flow of incoming enemies. Generally speaking, you still have to use your wits in order to survive, especially on harder difficulties. Spec your characters right and equip them with good gear, otherwise you might fall short from the enemies tricks. You could get poisoned, frozen, set on fire, and walking over acid tends to be a bad idea. To get really far, you have to utilize your character's strengths and keep in mind their weaknesses. Every 5 stages, you're treated to an area boss fight, which is both cool-looking and challenging if you don't know what you're up against. The controls and gameplay are very tight, and the graphics are accessible for pretty much all computers -- though the screen can get dense with enemies which causing some slowing issues.
In addition to the combat, you can use gold gained from defeating enemies to gain relics at the shop. These also have a chance to drop from chests or boss-type enemies. Relics are a fun addition to the game. They provide variation between your breakthroughs and an added element to the game. Some will grant you stat or ability bonuses, some give you a small chance to perform a special attack, and some give you another layer of gameplay like critical hit chance or the ability to fly (which lets you move over pit terrain). There are also relics called actives which you may use every once in a while which gives off many different things depending on the relic. Most of the time, it'll be an extra attack, a specific boost of some kind, or an immediate effect like percentage-based healing. Lastly, there are follower relics, which are permanent and stay near you to attack enemies or defend you, all in their own special ways. Relics are probably one of my favorite things about the game. They just add so much to the experience, especially when you first play through it and are unsure about what exactly they do.
What the game lacks in story and cinematics (which games don't necessarily need, anyways) is fantastic content and gameplay, high replayability, and the potential for a challenging game. One of the best things about this game that I'd like to mention is that it gets updated very frequently, even after multiple DLC releases. These patch notes help remove bugs, provide optimization for certain stages, and can update the stages or characters for better looks or balance. It's absolutely amazing that devs would pay this much attention to this game for that long, and they listen to the community for good suggestions as well.
My main gripes would be that a few stages are poorly optimized and that there are bugs which can cause the game to shut down. I'm not sure if the problem is local, but I've had games slow down at the same exact area half the time I've played through it. In addition, the game freezing up and closing instantly can be pretty annoying. Thankfully, that doesn't happen as much anymore thanks to certain fixes, but it still occurs -- especially with my older characters that I haven't touched much. That's what the bug submission feature is for though. The devs do listen, and they do provide a really quality game experience. A small gripe is that the sound variations and quality is a bit low, but it's not a big issue.
If you're hankering for a fun action game, Hero Siege is a definite must try. It's many charms are only bolstered further with the facts that it's multiplayer, it's affordable, and that the devs care about the game and the people playing it. People who play games mainly for stories might want to shy away from this title though, as there just isn't much in that department. Then again, that's part of it's charm. Personally, I love the game and definitely got my money's worth.
Proof that I did, indeed, get my money's worth.
Stuff I Like:
- Characters with various play-styles
- Relic system
- Frequent updates/patches
- High replayability, especially with friends
- Low price tag
Middling Stuff:
- Art style
- Soundtrack & Voice Acting
Stuff I Don't Like:
- Seems bugged or not optimized on some stages
- (In previous version) Could get 100-0'd by certain attacks in half a second
Recommended For:
Fans of the roguelike genre or even casual gamers. It's easy to pick up and it doesn't hurt the wallet as much as other games. A good, fun pixel game.
Personal Score:
8/10
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