Besiege Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)

Besiege Review, Besiege is a physics-based building game in which you construct medieval siege engines and lay waste to immense fortresses and peaceful hamlets. Build a machine that can crush windmills, wipe out battalions of brave soldiers, and transport valuable resources, defending your creation against cannons, archers, and whatever else the desperate enemies have. Create a trundling behemoth, take clumsily to the skies, and cause carnage in fully destructible environments. Ultimately, you must conquer every Kingdom by crippling their castles and annihilating their men and livestock, in as creative or clinical a manner as possible!

Besiege Review Pros:

  • Decent graphics.
  • 999MB download size.
  • Own in-game achievements.
  • Graphics settings – performance or beauty mode, field of view slider, framerate, depth of field, and motion blur.
  • Full touchscreen controls support, both in-game and menus.
  • Control settings – Invert axis for the camera and zoom, sensitivity sliders for the camera axis, zoom sensitivity, and camera offset. Manual or automatic simulation camera.
  • Creative puzzler gameplay.
  • Tutorial pop-ups as you play along with a reference manual.
  • Cheat support – all unlocked and can be turned on and off in the pause menu and they are – explosive cannonballs, pick up objects with the cursor, no gravity, invincibility, infinite ammo, and ignore building bounds.
  • Uses physics for everything.
  • Sandbox mode has three types of sandboxes – Ancient grounds (enemies and structures) Barren expanses (flat empty world), and misty mountains (for flying machines).
  • The single-player has three locations – Ipsilon, Tolbrynd, and Valfross and each has its own unique biomes like ice, snow, forests, etc.
  • Each location has a cool little map diorama and you highlight the individual places to start a level.
  • Fast loading times.
  • Perfect fit for the handheld.
  • Each level has its own goal and you are tasked with making Contraptions to complete said goal.
  • The most in-depth yet accessible Contraption builder, you can choose which set of items is shown on the Hotbar for ease if use.
  • At any time you can test out your Contraption.
  • Unlimited retries per level.
  • The building lets you do whatever you want from simple designs to massive in-depth ones like building catapults, flying machines, add canons, etc.
  • A full 3D game world with 360-degree camera control including zoom in and out when building.
  • Each scenario is like a small diorama and comes to life when you press play.
  • Goals are varied from things like getting past this hazard, killing X amount of soldiers, or even storming castles. It really does a good job of mixing it all up.
  • Previously used builds carry over to the next goal.
  • You can save and load builds to save time.
  • To keep Contraption buildings somewhat regulated you only get a set cube to build within.
  • Day and night cycle with an optional handy time scale slider in the pause menu.
  • It’s such a fun game to play.
  • Retrying a goal or going back to building or gameplay is all instant.
  • You can have the game show you the center of mass on your Contraption.
  • Play how you want is fully encouraged.
  • Full workshop support so you can upload and download other players’ Creations.
  • The workshop builds are categorized – popular now, featured, most downloaded, cars, ballistic, all-terrain, armored, flying machines, walker and Mechs, mechanisms, automatons, and most recent.
  • You can search and refresh the workshop.
  • Handy undo and redo buttons.
  • The workshop has your profile showing how many likes and downloads you have as a creator.
  • You can make the game as simple or as hard as you like.

Besiege Review Cons:

  • Very daunting to start especially when you just have this one block and a goal.
  • Touchscreen is perfect in idea but in execution, it can make small piece building difficult and tricky.
  • The workshop is Switch only meaning you cannot get hold of any of the Steam creations.
  • It was weird to find the workshop hidden away in the menus.
  • The tutorial is not that in-depth.
  • You still get some performance hits but to be fair it is processing a lot.
  • You cannot remap the controls.
  • Playing with the controller is just OK, at times it feels like it has a bit of button lag.

Related Post: BAKERU Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)

Besiege:

Official website.

Developer: Spiderling Studios

Publisher: ULTIMATE GAMES S.A

Store Links –

Nintendo

  • 8/10
    Graphics - 8/10
  • 7/10
    Sound - 7/10
  • 7/10
    Accessibility - 7/10
  • 8/10
    Length - 8/10
  • 8/10
    Fun Factor - 8/10
7.6/10

Summary

Besiege offers a visually appealing experience with decent graphics and a manageable download size of 999MB. The game includes its own in-game achievements and provides a variety of graphics settings, such as performance or beauty mode, field of view slider, framerate, depth of field, and motion blur. Full touchscreen controls are supported both in-game and in menus, enhancing the overall user experience. The control settings are quite comprehensive, allowing players to invert the camera and zoom axis, adjust sensitivity sliders for the camera axis and zoom, and choose between manual or automatic simulation cameras.

The gameplay of Besiege is a creative puzzler that uses physics for everything, making it both challenging and engaging. The game features tutorial pop-ups and a reference manual to help players get started. Cheat support is available and can be toggled on and off in the pause menu, offering options like explosive cannonballs, picking up objects with the cursor, no gravity, invincibility, infinite ammo, and ignoring building bounds. The sandbox mode includes three types of sandboxes: Ancient Grounds with enemies and structures, Barren Expanses which is a flat empty world, and Misty Mountains for flying machines. The single-player mode spans three locations— Ipsilon, Tolbrynd, and Valfross—each with unique biomes such as ice, snow, and forests. Each location features a detailed map diorama where players can highlight individual places to start a level.

Besiege is well-suited for handheld play with fast loading times and a perfect fit for on-the-go gaming. Each level has a specific goal, and players are tasked with creating contraptions to achieve these goals. The contraption builder is both in-depth and accessible, allowing players to customize their hot bar for ease of use. Players can test their contraptions at any time and have unlimited retries per level. The building system is flexible, enabling players to create anything from simple designs to complex machines like catapults and flying machines. However, starting can be daunting, especially with just one block and a goal. While the touchscreen controls are ideal in theory, they can be tricky for small-piece building. The workshop is exclusive to the Switch, meaning Steam creations are not accessible, and it is somewhat hidden in the menus. The tutorial could be more comprehensive, and the controls cannot be remapped. Playing with a controller is adequate but can sometimes feel laggy.

The game features a full 3D world with 360-degree camera control, including zoom in and out when building. Each scenario is like a small diorama that comes to life when you press play. The goals are varied, ranging from getting past hazards to killing a certain number of soldiers or storming castles, keeping the gameplay fresh and exciting. Previously used builds carry over to the next goal, and players can save and load builds to save time. To regulate contraption building, players are given a set cube to build within. The game includes a day and night cycle with an optional time scale slider in the pause menu. Besiege is incredibly fun to play, with instant retries and seamless transitions between building and gameplay. Players can view the center of mass on their contraptions and are encouraged to play how they want. The workshop supports uploading and downloading other players’ creations, with builds categorized into various types like popular now, featured, most downloaded, and more. Handy undo and redo buttons are available, and the workshop profile shows how many likes and downloads a player has as a creator. The game can be as simple or as challenging as players desire.

In summary, Besiege is a highly engaging and creative game with a variety of features that cater to different play styles. While it has some minor drawbacks, such as the hidden workshop and limited tutorial depth, its strengths in gameplay, customization, and user experience make it a standout title. Whether you’re building simple machines or complex contraptions, Besiege offers endless possibilities and hours of fun. A must-own Nintendo Switch game.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!