Wednesday, February 08, 2012

iPhone: Siege Hero

I've been pretty occupied lately that this blog had practically gone into hibernation hence I think it's time to do something about it - right on the last night of a long festive weekend...

In truth, I am kinda in the iPhone games mood and had been checking out the top free games on App Store. Most are still in their many stages of completion - halfway here, a quarter there - but I actually completed playing the game that at the beginning I thought I would most unlikely be hooked, in just 2 days.

Siege Hero: The Cover
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At the first glance, most would say Siege Hero is just probably a rip-off of Angry Birds. Indeed the concept is similar; throwing weapons at a fortress of soldiers (or green pigs in AB's case) to bring them down, scoring more points the less tries needed. However, while I never did warm up to AB - of which I still don't - it took me no time to get all determine to finish Siege Hero.

Somehow the little cute, evil ninjas/soldiers/vikings/red indians/cannibals (depending on which level you are at) standing there on the fortresses, wickedly inviting you to take them down work so well. And to hear their sinister chuckling-s when you fail to do so just fires you up to try harder and harder and harder still, not stopping until the blocks of woods/bricks/steels are in ruins. [Yup, that was how "obsessed" I got..]

Siege Hero: The Storylines
(click image to enlarge)
The game consists of 3 major levels, cleverly called 'Ages'; the Fortress Age, the Age of Discovery, and the Age of Pirates. Each 'Age' is made up of 3 storylines with 21 stages each i.e 63 stages/Age i.e 189 scenes and hours and hours of gameplay. The storylines are similar and differs only in the settings. They start with a prologue of evil conquerors closing in on peaceful dwellers (portrayed as adorable girls) and take them as hostages. The backgrounds are nicely drawn (there's day/night, sun/rain/snow, etc) and the characters all cutesy - even the bad minions.

As you play on, new weapons are introduced. You start with the basic rock throwing and then you have a 3-rocks-in-one-go, bomb, fire jar, oil barrel, and a grappling hook to pull things apart. What you don't have however, is a choice. You don't get to choose which weapon to use, no sir, you don't. Instead, they are given to you in arranged sequences. That is where the game gets interesting. Siege Hero is not a throw-and-hope-you-hit game, it actually requires you to strategize, however little it may be, and in some cases making use of whatever physics knowledge you may possess. The lineup could be a hook, rock, fire but if you don't target them at the correct points, the fortress ain't gonna come tumbling down, and "Siege Failed" is all that awaits. If you are lucky, you get 4 rocks in some stages but others might only have 2 fires in store for you. So use your weapons wisely....

Siege Hero: The Gameplays
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And if you think that is all, these game developers bring the game up another notch. They place the captives within the fortresses and being the hero that you are, you are suppose to ensure that your hits do not kill them or *poof you'll be seeing angel wings. But well, I have to admit, sometimes collateral damage happens *whistles

Overall, Siege Hero is an addictive, fun game that works your brains at the same time. And frankly, I was frustrated at times when I was stuck at some crazily difficult stage and just couldn't proceed. But the euphoria of seeing the walls coming down when you got it all right......

P/S: There is an Age of Cowboy in the making and let's hope to see that out soon *fingers crossed

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