When the great Sir Isaac Newton set to writing his Principia Mathematica in 1685, it's fair to say he had no idea that future generations would take his ideas and create electronic games employing his principles of physics to destroy virtual castles on desktop computers. Yet that's just what they did, and last year, legions of players were able to get their castle destruction fix thanks to a unique projectile tossing game called Sieger. Unlike other titles like Crush the Castle and its ilk, Sieger featured a precise first-person system where players targeted a series of structures that shattered and splintered like so much balsa wood. The game proved to be quite popular, leading Anton Fedoruk of Warspark to answer the demands of players around the world for more with the new Sieger Level Pack.
For those unfamiliar with the original game, the object of Sieger is to destroy all the bad guys by taking out their structures with carefully-placed mouse clicks. Once structures are damaged, gravity, mass, and momentum usually does the rest, much to the esteemed Sir Isaac's satisfaction. You earn points and medals by being careful and efficient with your shots, avoiding fragile hostages and conserving your precious ammo. Beyond the standard game there is a robust level editor, and a community to share and play levels with.
At its core, the Sieger Level Pack includes 40 additional levels that take advantage of a series of new projectiles and materials. While the original Sieger featured a set of 29 castles based on different historical eras, each new castle in the Level Pack is now themed, sometimes giving you a hint to its completion by its name. In addition to Sieger's standard, explosive, and diseased projectiles, a new triple shot brings more pain to your targets. And no longer are these targets made of mere static wood, stone, and steel - now levels include slippery ice blocks, rolling boulders, and explosive boxes and barrels for maximum chain reaction devastation. The castle builders of Sieger have even discovered a strong glue for connecting blocks, and have designed basic engines to create moving contraptions.
On top of the additional gameplay, the Level Pack's editor (called the castle builder) is also enhanced this time around with a cleaner interface and extra functionality. Instead of grouping building materials by era, they are now nicely separated into material types. It's much easier to rotate things, and you can add pin and motor joints to create interesting levels like never before. There's even a nice "settle" option to help clean up your levels, and you can layer items in front or behind each other to make architectural perfection.
Analysis: At first glance, the Level Pack doesn't feel very different from the original Sieger, but that's actually a good thing. The developers have chosen to keep what works and not deviate much from that formula, adding nifty features to an already solid game. The sounds and graphics are pretty much the same, though the backgrounds look a bit more varied and detailed. What I really enjoy is the pack's new chain reaction effects courtesy of the explosive boxes and barrels, which lead to some ridiculous levels of destruction that are quite satisfying. I also like using the new triple shot weapon, which is very effective at taking out moving machinery.
Difficulty-wise, I feel that the levels are akin to the original, offering sufficient challenge without leading to frustration. While there are a few castles that seem to require some amount of trial and error, you probably won't be too upset at having to replay a level since watching the animation and physics play out each time is a bit of a guilty pleasure. You may even surprise yourself at your ingenuity (or sheer luck) at getting an entire solid structure to fall like a house of cards with a single shot.
Overall, the Sieger Level Pack is a nice extension to one of the better casual games out there. Its content and features should appease projectile physics fans until a true sequel emerges. And while you might not find mouse-click destruction as a chapter in Newton's Principia, you can still thank the physicist for his contribution to another fun chapter in casual Flash gaming.
Walkthrough Guide
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Sieger Level Pack Walkthrough
This walkthrough will help you earn all gold medals across all 40 levels by taking out the castles and its defenders in as few shots as possible.
Level 1 - Starter's Castle
Click the spot indicated by the arrow to take out the castle.
Level 2 - Under Pressure
Click the middle of the bridge to drop the heavy stones on the castle, taking everyone out with it.
Level 3 - Heads Will Roll
Click the small stone at the bottom right of the tall structure holding up the stone head. It will cause the head to fall toward the ice slope and roll towards the bad guy.
Level 4 - A Secret Base
Click the spot right above the treasure chest where the point of the downward triangle touches the horizontal ice block. It should collapse everything and take out the left side as well.
Level 5 - China Guarding Station
Click the right-most support holding up the far left castle. It should tip towards the middle castle, which should tip toward the right castle.
Level 6 - Icy Level
Click the ice block right above the middle bad guy. The ice should split on both sides, taking out the bad guys while sparing the hostages.
Level 7 - Cavern Crossing
Click the 5th bridge portion from the right to cut the bridge and send the bad guys to their doom while sparing the hostage.
Level 8 - The Ogre Attack
Click the lower-left leg of the right-most ogre. It should tip to the left, taking everyone out but sparing the hostage.
Level 9 - Prisonbreak
Click the bottom-right wheel on the ledge to the left and let physics do the rest.
Level 10 - China House
Click the middle of the right-most support on the second level of the middle castle. The third level will fall toward the right castle, sparing the hostages.
Level 11 - Shrine to Darkness
Click the lower-right portion of the platform holding the treasure chest where it touches the small vertical support stone. The stone head should fall to the right, taking out the wooden structure and everything else.
Level 12 - Whiles of Blood
Quickly click the diagonal support column to the right of the left-most bad guy. The bridge should fall, and the wheeled vehicle should roll across the bridge and take everyone out.
Level 13 - The Chinese Warrior
Click directly under the right metal leg of the warrior, near the middle of the base. If successful, the support will fall, causing warrior will tip to the right, taking out all the bad guys.
Level 14 - Vikings in Mountains
Switch to the stone projectile. Click the point to the right of the left-most viking where the bridge attaches to the platform to send everything crashing down.
Level 15 - Viking Fortress
Switch to the stone projectile. Click the vertical support to the left of the right-most chalice to send the structure falling onto the fortress.
Level 16 - Bunker Hill
Click the gate in the middle of the screen, right under the explosive boxes to set off a bloody chain reaction. You may need to retry a few times if it doesn't take everyone out the first time.
Level 17 - Look Out Below
Click directly above the middle viking to split the platform in half without hitting the hostages below.
Level 18 - Viking Fort
Switch to the stone projectile. Click the middle of the lower-left support column in the structure on the right to send it falling towards the scaffold on the left.
Level 19 - Barbarian Village
Click the lower-left part of the platform of the structure on the right. Pieces should roll down the hill towards the explosive barrels, and debris should take out the structure on the left. Retry as needed.
Level 20 - Timber
Click the lower-right vertical support holding up the wooden wheels and chalice. Everything should fall to the right, taking out the vikings.
Level 21 - Ice Puzzle Fortress
Click the long vertical ice support near the bottom. If you do it right, the heavy metal bar should fall left instead of right, sparing the hostages. Retry as needed.
Level 22 - The Man Machine
Switch to the stone projectile. Click the machine's right leg where it meets the horizontal stone "belt." The machine should topple right and take out all the bad guys.
Level 23 - Viking Madness
Click the left support column in the upper fortress to make it fall down and to the left, taking out the other structures.
Level 24 - Charge!
Quickly click the wooden horse's second leg to cause the machine to tumble before it reaches the hostages.
Level 25 - Llama
Shoot your triple shot directly at the left stone head. This will spare the hostage in the lower structure and take out the remaining bad guys.
Level 26 - Frozen Ship
Click the ice support beam directly above the lower-right viking to send everything sliding left, taking out all bad guys while sparing the hostages.
Level 27 - Undercroft
Click the wooden support on the right to send the metal wheel rolling toward the explosive barrels.
Level 28 - Sly Shot
Click the platform the king is standing on so that a chunk of it falls toward the explosives below, which should take out all the bad guys. Retry as needed.
Level 29 - Three Towers
Switch to the stone projectile. On the first tower on the left, click the small stone above and to the right of the base stone. It should make the tower topple to the right, taking out the remaining towers and bad guys.
Level 30 - Snowboarding
Click the upper-left portion of the hostage's "snowboard" to send her sailing down the ramp toward her attackers.
Level 31 - Forgotten Siege
Click the top of the pyramid roof above the king to split it, taking him and the soldiers on each side out while sparing the hostages.
Level 32 - A Weapon of Execution
Quickly click the middle of the support beam holding the execution contraption to send it crashing down.
Level 33 - Southern Garrison
On the left-most tower, click the lower-right support column. Wait for things to settle. Then, on the right-most tower, click the lower-left support column.
Level 34 - Rooftop
Click the upper platform to the left of the left-most soldier. Everything should fall but the hostage should be unscathed.
Level 35 - Red Citadel
Click the vertical support column under the explosive boxes to make them fall and send the whole structure down. Retry if a solider or two get spared.
Level 36 - A Fatal Flaw
On the left tower, click the lower-left wooden support area to send the tower tumbling left. On the right tower, click the lower-right wooden support area to send the tower tumbling right.
Level 37 - It's Not Impossible
Click the exact middle of the upper support structure so it splits and falls on the bad guys while avoiding the explosive barrel in the middle.
Level 38 - The Bridge
Wait until the cart gets onto the bridge, then click the middle or middle-left portion of the bridge to send everything crashing down.
Level 39 - Behemoth Blockade
Click the right thigh area of the stone behemoth to make it fall toward the red building, crushing everyone.
Level 40 - Prison Escape
Fire your exploding triple shot at the lower-right square pillar. Fire your second shot at the long horizontal platform holding the king, just to the left of the knight. Retry as needed.
Posted by: J-Witz
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May 11, 2011 6:44 PM