Besiege Review

After releasing back in 2020 on Steam after five years of Early Access, then making its console debut in 2022 on Xbox consoles, the physics-based building mayhem that is Besiege has finally made its way over to PlayStation. But how does it fair on Sony’s consoles? Let’s find out!

The premise of Besiege is to construct a mediaeval-esque siege machine that will destroy certain objects and structures across a series of levels. Sounds simple enough, but the ever-increasing complexity of your designs as you progress further into the game can end up getting wildly out of control, both in terms of scope, and (since this is a physics-based game) literally spinning off in the wrong direction. It’s a fun process of trial and error using the allotted pieces, and with no time limit or pressure to quickly finish a level, I enjoyed taking things slow and constantly testing my machine as I went.

Besiege’s level structure is laid out on a world map, where each continent houses a number of levels to conquer. There’s no reasoning behind your path of destruction, and no story to tell. It’s just destruction for the sake of it, which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly a bad thing! There is also a sandbox option that allows you to create and save your siege vehicles for use in the main campaign. No objectives or restraints, just the player and their imagination let loose! If you’re not the imaginative kind, though, fear not, as you can easily browse a plethora of user-generated content, ranging from fighter jets to gigantic mechs. Some of these builds are seriously impressive, and at the very least can serve as inspiration for your own constructions. As a bonus, you can always use these creations in the campaign if you ever get completely stuck on a level!

For a game originally designed with keyboard and mouse, Besiege works really well on a controller. You’ll move the cursor using the left analogue stick, and pieces easily snap to where you want them without any frustration. Overall, it’s a very simple system to use, with button prompts on-screen reminding you how to undo, rotate, and so on.

It’s not a bad looking game, either, with a basic design that won’t blow you away but works well for the puzzle-like gameplay. Most of the levels are very minimalist, but that’s by no means a bad thing. The lack of audio was a little more disappointing, though. Having a machine swoop down on its target with the assistance of several cannons used as engines in almost complete silence (other than the generic background music) was very jarring. There are sound effects present, but even at maximum volume they were difficult to hear.

Besiege, unfortunately, can suffer from repetitive gameplay, and I found it best to play in short bursts. It was a game I found myself going back to when I wanted something a bit more simple and laid-back. That’s not to say there isn’t any challenge to be found here, but experimenting with different parts to see how they work or if they’re suitable for the current level was a good deal of fun. With a decent number of parts to play around with, you could create a new siege machine for each level, or construct a powerhouse in the sandbox mode that will more often than not get the job done.

With over 50 levels and design choices that are only limited by your imagination (or the physics not working how you expected them to) Besiege is a genuinely enjoyable game, albeit only in small gameplay sessions. For the low cost, I got a lot of enjoyment from this physics-based destructive puzzler, and the amount of creative freedom available is more than worth the price of admission.