PC Spotlight #61: Hero Siege

Title: Hero Siege
Developer: Panic Art Studios
Platforms: PC, IOS Universal
Price: $12.99
---
Inspired by Diablo, but with more of focus on evading and destroying hordes of enemies, Hero Siege is fun and varied, with a mix of light RPG elements, randomized levels, and fast paced action.

After choosing between three classes, you find yourself thrust into a randomized set of arenas, and your goal is to kill enemies, gather loot, defeat the area's boss, and upgrade your character. Each time you level up, you get points to increase your stats for health, defense, attack speed, and damage reduction, as well as points to upgrade your class' unique abilities. The pyromancer can have a chance to call down meteors or have his attacks leave a fiery trail, while the marksman can get a multi-shot kill or homing arrows and the viking can gain a knockback ability or attack faster as health decreases.

You'll collect gold while fighting which can be used to buy keys to unlock special crates, temporary stat boots, one use skills, and more. Statues bless you with stat boosts or armor boosts and special items such as boots that let you leave fire in your wake or a stone guardian that follows you and attacks enemies. You can also collect various potions; these have a range of functions, some good such as filling your health or letting you suck life from dead enemies to bad such as releasing attacking flies or reducing your speed. And on top of all that, you can find items that give you special abilities and attacks. These have cooldown meters; I found one that was a rainbow beam that fired in any direction through enemies.

The gameplay is essentially dual stick action - move and attack at the same time - and it's just as hectic. Hordes of enemies attack from all sides, skeleton archers and turrets fire arrows, dead enemies drop objects that release sweeping lasers, another enemy may release a meteor like attack that drop mini meteors around you. Traps also litter the area, from guillotines to spike pits to crushing balls; you can lead enemies into these traps as well to damage and kill them.

Hero Siege is not the most difficult game; playing as the pyromancer, once I was equipped with stacked items and various potions, I didn't feel in much danger. But the game is fun and frantic, and it's exciting to discover new areas, and unlock new skills. The developer's also plan to update the game with new content, including the upcoming nomad class, with more classes, areas, and items to come. You can purchase Hero Siege on Desura, IndieGameStand, and vote for the game on Steam Greenlight. Hero Siege is also available on the App Store.