Besiege: The Broken Beyond Review Summary

New blocks, a fun campaign, and satisfying thruster and wheel upgrades shine, but frequent game-breaking bugs, useless unbalanced blocks, and a tiny space scale drag it down.

New blocks are great: The new blocks are impressive, cool, and fun to build with. They enable creative builds and are useful without making older parts obsolete.

New levels and mechanics: The DLC introduces new levels and mechanics that are well-designed and fun. The levels are not too difficult, making achievements accessible.

Fun and enjoyable campaign: The campaign is frequently described as fun and enjoyable to play. It includes creative levels and secondary objectives.

Excellent DLC overall: The DLC is widely praised as excellent or very good. It is considered a great addition to the game and better than previous DLCs.

Orbital science content: The DLC includes all orbital science content, which is well-received. Orbital mechanics are beautiful, complex, and engaging.

Frequent and game-breaking bugs: Players encounter numerous bugs, including progression blockers, crashes, and physics glitches. These range from minor annoyances to game-breaking issues that halt play entirely.

Unbalanced and useless blocks: Many new blocks are underpowered or useless, such as the blaster and new wheels. Fuel pipes, RCS, and engines have issues, and balancing is needed.

Space scale feels too small: Planets and space distances are far too small, with space lacking scale and feeling unconvincing to explore. Travel between planets is quick and easy, undermining the sense of a vast cosmos.

Campaign is short and easy: The campaign can be completed in just a few hours, with many levels being easy and repetitive. Players feel it lacks challenge and depth, especially compared to previous DLCs.

DLC feels incomplete and rushed: The Broken Beyond DLC is perceived as unfinished and unrefined, with missing features and content. Comparing to Splintered Sea, it falls short in quality and completeness.

Space flight and orbital mechanics: The DLC adds mechanics centered on space flight, including fuel, delta-v, orbital mechanics, and camera orientation modes for planetary and orbital views. Clusters 2, 3, 5, and 6 emphasize these space-focused features.

New parts and blocks added: The DLC introduces a large number of new parts and blocks for construction, including reaction wheels, stabilizers, steam cannons, thrusters, inertial steering, large fuel barrels, and fuel pumps. Cluster 1, 12, 13, and 17 highlight the variety and quantity of new building components.

Sandbox map with planets: A sandbox map with a habitable planet and a twilight zone is included, along with a campaign that adds content for sandbox gameplay. Clusters 7 and 16 highlight the sandbox and campaign features.

Building system mechanics: Building mechanics and systems are present, with new parts available for building. Cluster 10 and 12 focus on the building aspect.

Multiple multiplayer: The game has a multiplayer mode, as noted in Cluster 11. This allows players to engage in cooperative or competitive play.

Laggy gameplay and multiplayer: Some players report that the game is laggy, particularly in multiplayer sessions. This can lead to a subpar experience during online play.

Good performance on low-end hardware: Multiple users report that the game runs well even on older or weaker laptops, indicating good optimization. This is a positive point for accessibility.

Mac launch crashes: The game crashes on launch for some users on Mac, preventing them from playing. This is a critical issue for affected users.

Laggy interface in DLC: The new DLC introduces a laggy interface, which can hinder navigation and gameplay. This is a specific issue tied to the expansion content.

Runs perfectly well: Some players experience no performance issues and state that the game runs perfectly well. This contrasts with reports of lag and crashes.

Worth the price: Multiple reviewers state that the DLC is worth every penny, absolutely worth the price, and 100% worth buying. The cost is justified by the content and experience it provides.

Recommend other DLC first: Some reviewers suggest getting this DLC if desired, but recommend purchasing other DLC first. They find it hard not to recommend, yet prioritize others.

Not fun currently: One reviewer does not recommend the DLC as a fun experience in its current state, finding it more of a headache despite loving space games. This indicates significant enjoyment issues.

Content worth asking price: A reviewer states that the content in this DLC is well worth the asking price. The value proposition is strong.

Wait before buying: One reviewer advises waiting a few months before buying this DLC. This suggests current issues or expected improvements.

Game completion: 2.0h.

Story completion: 3.5h.

Session length: 3.0h.

Players report the campaign can be fun but repetitive, with enjoyment fading as missing tutorials, complexity, mission bugs, and a dead multiplayer scene create friction. No report supplies a clear timing cue for when fun begins.

Friction: No tutorial or in-game guidance; Higher complexity than the base game; Unclear how to build working designs; Buggy mission progression; Tedious orbital mechanics; Dead multiplayer community.

Unlock drivers: External tutorial video to learn building.

Orbital Mechanics Sim Veteran: Builds and flies rockets in sandbox, focusing on staging, launch physics, and orbital maneuvers. Motivation: Enjoying realistic, hands-on orbital mechanics and rocket building. Stance: buy.

Sandbox Creative Explorer: Roams sandbox maps, experiments with new blocks, and soaks in the scenery and atmosphere. Motivation: Creative freedom to build and explore sandbox maps at their own pace. Stance: buy.

Multiplayer Community Player: Seeks multiplayer sessions, public servers, and the ability to play sandbox levels with others. Motivation: Playing and competing with other players in co-op and PvP. Stance: sale.

The Windows <8GB VRAM cohort reports a positive performance outcome in the available evidence, with no negative reports included.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. A 6 GB VRAM / 31 GB RAM Windows 11 system is marked recommended, indicating the game runs well enough despite building for space being challenging.

Favorable comparison to Splintered Sea: Some players find this DLC more creative and interesting than The Splintered Sea, and consider it the best DLC so far. However, others disagree, stating Splintered Sea was better.

Mac support issues: The DLC initially did not support Mac, unlike the base game, and was not marked as compatible on Steam. An update later added Mac support, but future macOS changes may break compatibility.

Short completion time: The DLC can be completed in a few hours, with reported times ranging from 1 to 4 hours. This is seen as short by some, though the low price may justify it.

Comparison to Kerbal Space Program: Reviewers frequently compare the space mechanics to Kerbal Space Program, noting missing features like SAS and navball. Some warn it's not KSP plus Besiege, but more Besiege with a space theme.

Unfavorable comparison to Splintered Sea: Several reviewers feel this DLC is unfinished and unrefined compared to The Splintered Sea, which they considered much better. This highlights a divided opinion on the DLC's quality.