Graphics and Sound

Haven't I Seen this Before?

The graphics engine of Starsiege should be familiar to those who have played Tribes. Rolling, beautiful landscapes are the norm, although they are a bit barren. This is excusable given the settings here, but at least the Dynamix team includes the occassional burnt out vehicle or base structure to break up the spartan landscape. The game supports mainly 3dfx Glide API, but OpenGL for Riva TNT cards is also included out of the box. Patches are being worked on for Matrox G200 and ATI Rage 128. There's also a software mode, so those without a suitable 3D card needn't fret you can still play Starsiege.

Robots or Toys?

Starsiege's graphics were average overall. While the landscapes and scenery were good, I felt that the HERCs exhibited only a decent amount of detail. When the HERCs toppled over from being destroyed, it didn't seem like 50 tons of metal hit the ground - the overall effect was too subdued looking compared to our expectations. You'd think the ground would shake, but that's not what it feels or looks like. Continuing on the same theme with perceived size, it's not that easy to tell the difference between a 30 ton HERC and a 60-70 ton one. You would think that it should be, given the difference in mass between the two. On the plus side, I liked the treatment of each weapon, from a graphical standpoint. Lasers are of course, just colored lines, but the lightning look of the ELF gun was particularly fun to look at. Also the shadows cast by the vehicles were a nice touch.

This is what cloaking looks like - remember Predator?

Open Your Ears

The sound in Starsiege was also a bit of a mixed bag. While some of the weapon sound effects were quite uninspired (like the walking of the HERCs themselves), some were quite realistic sounding, such as the autocannon hitting metal armor. I also enjoyed the included music, most of which was pretty catchy. A lot of the voice acting is worth noting as well, particularly the introduction sequence and Harabec's voice. Starsiege ships with A3D support, so owners of Aureal compatible cards can enjoy 3D sound along with the other goodies we mentioned.