Colony Siege (p)Review

All information about Colony Siege – with developer interview

The exciting real-time strategy and tower defense mix Colony Siege will go into early access in May. Here you can get all the information, gameplay, and details in advance.

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German Version:

Colony Siege is currently under development at Finifugal Games and is scheduled to go into early access on Steam in May 2020. From then on three to four months EA phase are planned until the actual release. In this article, you will get all information about the game, including a developer interview.

This article is available here as text, but also as a YouTube video (German voice-over, subtitles in many languages). So you can choose how you would like to enjoy it the most.

Video:

German voice-over, subtitles in many languages

Colony Siege – Prologue

In a distant future, humans fight against the alien race Xeno. The fight has been going on for a long time and with little success. Some time ago, the catastrophe happened and humans lost Earth. The situation is really very bad.

Some human colonies have even tried to unite with hostile aliens. As a result, they have become corrupted human-alien hybrids called Riven, who are now also fighting against the remnants of humanity.

We are a commander of the remaining remnants of the human defense forces. Stationed directly on the front lines, we are called upon by various colonies for support. We have an agile and stable small ship and the blueprints for a defense tower on the computer. So we set off, right in the middle of the battle, against the onrushing alien masses.

Colony Siege – intro

Hi, this is Zap. In this episode, I’d like to introduce you to an upcoming real-time strategy and tower defense hybrid called Colony Siege.

The game is not yet available. It is expected to go into early access on Steam in May 2020. This phase is planned for three to four months so that the final release should probably take place in September to October.

This video is sponsored by the developer Finifugal Games. If you like what you see in this post about the game, or if you would like to know more about the game, please click on the Steam link and add the game to your wish list. It won’t cost you anything, but you can support the game by becoming more popular on Steam.

Game type – How does Colony Siege play?

Colony Siege is a mixture of real-time strategy and a high percentage of tower defense. The game is divided into maps, which we unlock bit by bit.

On each map, we start with a given base. This consists of a concrete slab on which building sites for specific buildings are given. Some of them may already be built, others we can build during the game round if we have the resources.

The enemy aliens have known starting points. From there they will run in waves to level our base to the ground. We have towers, units and our main spaceship to stop them. If the aliens succeed in destroying our main building, we will lose. If we can repel all waves, we have won.

In some missions, there are additional tasks like destroying an enemy base or recovering an alien artifact. For a victory, there is a certain amount of money as a reward. Each level also has side quests, the completion of which brings additional income.

Between the rounds, we can invest the money earned in a shop in 5 categories. There are new towers, new main buildings, such as factories for robots, improvements for our spaceship, and many more ways to become a better defender of humanity.

Colony Siege offers a co-op multiplayer throughout the game. So you can always play everything on your own or in a team of 2 players together. You can easily invite a Steam friend to your current game and then play together if you want to.

Gameplay – Tower Defense & RTS

Colony Siege is not a pure tower defense, where you only build towers and nothing else. First and foremost, the most important element of the game is our Commander spaceship.

We need this in order to be able to construct buildings at all. But it can also carry out fights and emergency repairs in the field. This spaceship can be equipped with better weapons, shields, armor and special skills over time. The Commander ship already allows much more direct possibilities to intervene in the action than is usually the case in common tower defense games.

For every enemy killed, we receive the metal we urgently need. For the successful defense of a wave we get another delivery of metal. The constant lack of this resource limits our expansion.

Because every tower and every robot costs a certain amount of it and of course better towers or stronger robots are more expensive. New buildings or later upgrades all cost metal. So we have a real-time strategy typical resource management part, even if it is limited to one resource.

We then have the possibility to build a factory and manufacture robots there. We can move these units freely, as we are used to from other real-time strategy or RTS games, combine them in groups, define patrols, etc.

The combination of towers, commander spaceship, building and repairing in real-time and freely moving robot units greatly expands the game. Colony Siege thus allows for much more tactics and strategy than is normally the case in pure tower defense games.

Additionally, we have a limit on how many units we can build. Each tower and each robot consumes a so-called housing space and these are very limited. We can invest a part of our resources in the expansion of these housing places, but usually, this is also limited to one or two expansions per map.

So we constantly have to weigh up what we are building where and set priorities. A lot of the strategy depends on the terrain. And in later levels, there are also attacks from two, three or even more directions. And that usually requires a combination of towers, moving units and clever use of the commander ship.

Gameplay – Maps and Missions

Colony Siege offers handmade Maps. These are not only graphically lovingly and detailed, but also often have some tricky strategic points.

We will discover 12 different biomes in the course of the campaign. From green meadows and ice deserts, lava moons and desert maps to complex and chic animated space stations, there is a wide variety of battlefields.

The campaign currently offers 23 different levels, which we can play in three levels of difficulty. On top of that, each map can be used as survival or endless map after playing through on medium or hard.

Gameplay – Progress and advancement

There are several different progress systems in Colony Siege. As the attacks get stronger in each mission, it is necessary to use these systems effectively and of course to adapt them a bit to your favorite tactics.

First, there is an experience number for all units and towers in a map. Through this experience, they get level-ups depending on the damage they have caused, which are indicated by stars. This increases their damage, their life and also other values.

This progress is only for the current map and only for the respective unit. If the unit is destroyed, this progress is also lost. This makes repairing already very successful units even more important.

A further possibility then arises with the power plant building. If we have unlocked this technology and the map allows it, we can build a power plant and thus we get the possibility to upgrade existing towers in the rank.

A rank 2 tower will then do about twice the damage, have twice the durability and also increase the radius. The big advantage of a rank 2 tower is that it only takes up the space of one and uses only one housing point.

There is also a shop for upgrades. In this shop, we can buy better towers, better robots, new skills and upgrades for our spaceship and many other improvements to our equipment.

But these upgrades are also only unlocked gradually through successful missions in the shop, and they are usually a few more than we can afford. So we also have to make some decisions here or play missions several times as an alternative to earning more money, so that you can afford everything.

Gameplay – The alien species

In the game, you will be competing against two different opponents. These have very different units and sometimes require different defenses.

First, there’s Xeno. This alien race is Insectoid, and their units are streaming into our base from portals in great numbers. On top of that, there are some very fast units here, who often try to simply storm through our tower rows.

The second is a human-alien hybrid race called Riven. These colonists tried to ally with the aliens instead of fighting them. I guess that worked to the extent that they are now no longer under attack by the Xeno. But in return, they went crazy and are now also attacking the humans.

The Riven, like ourselves, mainly use technology and robots for fighting. There are some very heavily armored specimens and also many flying machines. In many missions against the Riven we not only have to fend off their attacks but also destroy their bases. In these, they will produce more units as long as we do not stop them.

Both opponent nations already feel very different in the game. This is intensified by the different processes of the missions. Here the developers add some more variety to the game.

Gameplay – Perks and Achievements

Colony Siege offers perks as a reward for successfully completing each map and the corresponding bonus challenge. This always includes a Steam Achievement, but only in passing.

But these perks also have an effect in the game. So when we start a map we can activate a perk from the list we have unlocked so far.

There are currently 25 Perks to unlock here. These range from more armor for towers, faster respawn for our Commander spaceship, to more money as mission rewards or many more specials.

Recommended reading:

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Gameplay – Game Modes

At the moment the game offers already an extensive campaign. After more than 10 hours of playing time I have only unlocked 10 of the 23 levels. The missions here are very varied and all maps are designed by hand.

In addition to the campaign, there is also a Survival and an Endless mode. These are unlocked when you have completed a map at the difficulty level normal or higher for the first time.

In Endless mode, the opponents’ waves will never stop. But here you get better and better rewards the longer you last. The Survival Mode offers completely different gameplay because here enemies can attack from virtually all directions and don’t storm our buildings so much, but attack towers and units more strongly.

For the time after release, the developers are also thinking about high score lists, a possible extension of the real-time strategy possibilities and a map editor. One could also imagine further alien races as DLC.

I asked the developers a lot of questions about Colony Siege and their plans for the future. And you can read the answers to these questions in a longer interview here on zapzockt.de. Just look for the interview below.

Engine, Graphics, Sound

Colony Siege is an in-House development by Finifugal Games. Often this is rather a risk for shaky games, but here are experienced programmers at work. Colony Siege runs free of crashes and with good performance on a midrange system.

The multiplayer part uses the Steam-Network functions and even here there were security functions even at Lag’s which prevented a desynchronization of a game.

Only if a player completely aborted the game it was over. But I already submitted this as a suggestion for improvement and the devs want to have a look if there is a possibility for a save point system.

The graphics are appealing middle class. The buildings, towers, and robots are functional and easy to distinguish. But groundbreaking new things should not be expected here.

The explosions and projectiles are very nicely animated, I already like that a lot. Also, the projectiles with automatic target tracking already work amazingly well.

The game sound is suitable. Shots and explosions sound rich and the current English voice-over samples are high quality. The music fits the setting but is not an outstanding feature now.

At the moment, the game is only available in English, but there are 9 different languages in preparation for the early access. In any case, German, Russian and Chinese are on the list.

State of the game

Even though Colony Siege is still in a pre-early access phase, there are no major criticisms at the moment. There is still room for improvement here and there in the balancing process, but there is nothing dramatic to report here either.

The game is stable, already offering the full campaign with 23 handcrafted maps, 46 different enemy types from two races and numerous custom units and buildings. For the time after release, the developers are still thinking about a map editor and possible additional alien species. For the planned short early access phase, the main focus will probably be on balancing.

Opinion and Conclusion

When Colony Siege will go into early access in about May, a price of $19.95 is planned. For this price, a very extensive campaign, multiplayer support, and further game modes will be offered. A replay value is also available.

The game is definitely fun to play, and it also offers a good challenge in terms of strategy and tactics. Some levels I had to start several times because the aliens sometimes destroyed my base very quickly. But if you analyze the paths well and use the available possibilities to adjust your tactics, every level was manageable.

If something should become too difficult, you also have the possibility to replay the missions you have already completed in order to earn more money. With that, you can buy more expensive towers or robots. And most of the time you have several missions to choose from at the same time to get ahead.

The multiplayer mode is especially recommendable for me. Together with a friend or in my case with my wife, the maps were a lot more fun. Alone it is a nice game, but fighting against the aliens together is a lot of fun. However, it requires a little consultation, preferably with voice chat. But if that shouldn’t work, the game also offers in-game text chat.

I would like to explicitly ask you again to put the game on Steam on your wishlist, the link can be found below. The developers would be very happy about it, it will only cost you a short moment of your time and two clicks, nothing else.

Do you like this original tower defense and real-time strategy mix? Feel free to write your opinion about it in the comments below. You can find many interesting videos on my YouTube channel, there are thumb and subscription buttons available for clicking. Many more reviews and game news can be found here on my website ZapZockt.de. Then I wish you a great day, let it go well, ciao ciao, your Zap

Colony Siege Interview with Finifugal Games

Hi, dear Dev-Team from Finifugal Games. I am a German YouTuber and Blogger for zapzockt.de . I wanted to ask you some questions about your game and your plans for this project.

I am especially interested in some details about the game, that I could not find out for now. This begins with the time-line for development, goes over to some gameplay details, but inherits also your future ideas for the title.

Q: The game has a release announced for 2020, but no exact date. When do you expect the Early Access start? How long do you plan the game to be in the Early Access phase?

A: We are planning to begin Early Access in May. The main factor in entering Early Access is the number of wishlists; we want to be sure that the game is popular enough to be noticed, and also translated into many languages before we start Early Access. We plan on staying in Early Access for only 3 to 4 months.

Q: What are your team’s plans for the pricing and monetization? What are your current ideas for the price tag? Will the game be a one time purchase or do you have DLCs or even an Item shop in mind? As you already have some kind of Shop, it would be easy to integrate.

A: We are currently planning on pricing the game at $19.95 USD, and it will be a one time purchase. We don’t have any plans for an item shop, but we do have ideas for DLC to expand the game after release.

Q: What is the scope of the game? I already played 8 very different missions, I can see a few more. What is the total number of missions in the game at the moment?

A: There are 23 different missions in total, and each mission has 3 different game modes. Instead of using just one or two different kinds of environments for the missions, we designed 12 unique environments so that the scenery always feels fresh.

Q: The maps appear to be handcrafted. Do you have plans for procedurally generated content, or a map-editor to extend the playability beyond your handcrafted campaign? And if the last is true, will that have a steam-workshop integration?

A: The maps are handcrafted; it was a lot of work but we love the idea of each map feeling unique. We do have some ideas for creating a map editor and we would very much like to add workshop integration. This would probably happen after full release.

Q: Do you have plans to expand more in the RTS direction? I could imagine worker robots, that could gather metal resources. Or even completely different resources, that could be used for buildings or upgrades, that are not available for metal. I could also imagine this especially for the survival mode or for later campaign missions, it could be useful to expand the base-platform, maybe with a new resource?

A: We are always looking for ways to expand in the RTS direction. We want players to be able to mix and match RTS and Tower Defense strategies for the way they want to play. We recently added veterancy and patrol capability to the ground units and are happy to consider additional improvements.

Q: Let’s discuss Game Modi. You have a nice campaign. I can see an Endless Mode and a Survival Mode, but they are still locked for me. Will they be available soon and how exactly do they differ from the normal campaign maps. Do you have more Game modes in the pipeline?

A: The Endless and Survival modes will unlock for a mission after it is completed on normal difficulty. The Endless mode will continue forever and give a nice extra bonus if you are able to survive longer. The survival mode is very different: units attack everything you have in one giant long wave at night and can appear from anywhere on the map.

Q: Topic Multiplayer. At the moment it is a friend invite-only multiplayer. Do you have plans for matchmaking in co-op? Have you thought about some kind of PvP? Or competitive PvE, like to players defending against waves, and trying to destroy an alien base, and who does the most damage to this base wins? How about high score-lists for the different maps and modes?

A: We have considered adding matchmaking but there is a lot of teamwork involved, so we thought it would be the most fun with someone that is already a friend. We have some cool ideas for PvP that we may add to the game after the official release. Once the game is fully released we will also have leaderboards that let players compete for the highest scores.

Q: What languages will Colony Siege be available in?

A: Right now we are having Colony Siege professionally translated into 9 different languages, including German, Russian, and Chinese. These should all be available right when Early Access starts!

Q: And my last question: Any plans for more and different Alien species?

A: Currently there are 46 different enemy units and two different enemy factions. We probably won’t add additional enemy types to this release, but we are considering adding more in a future DLC.

Many thanks for your time and for the chance to test out this really nice new game. To end this interview, do you have something, you wanted to say to your audience, players and soon to come fanbase?

We would like to thank our fans and beta testers for their support. The last 3 major updates have been almost entirely based on changes that our testers have suggested, and they’ve made the game much better! We want to make Colony Siege as fun as possible, so please feel free to join our Discord and let us know what you think. – Johnson Brown

Links and Sources

Steam-Page (Wishlist please):
http://bit.ly/2vtUqPK

Dev Website:
https://www.colonysiege.com/

Dev Discord:
https://discord.gg/xK3YVAj

Dev Twitter:
https://twitter.com/FinifugalGames

Dev Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Colony-Siege-109093387307502/