Besiege: The Broken Beyond Review Summary

Excellent orbital mechanics and physics with great new blocks and enjoyable levels offer outstanding value, but the campaign lacks variety and depth and the camera and rotation controls have issues

Overall gameplay is fantastic: The general experience is described as great, excellent, and super fun, with high praise for the developers' continued support. This sentiment spans many clusters, reflecting strong overall satisfaction.

Orbital mechanics are excellent: Players appreciate the complex yet intuitive orbital mechanics, praising the system as beautiful and fun to experiment with. This is highlighted in multiple clusters as a standout feature.

New blocks are great: Players consistently praise the introduction of new blocks, finding them fun, creative, and useful for building. This feedback appears in multiple clusters, indicating broad approval.

Enjoyable and well-designed levels: The levels are described as well-designed, fun, and engaging, with specific mentions of iconic races and creative campaigns. This positive feedback is echoed across several clusters.

Excellent value for price: Multiple reviews emphasize that the DLC is well worth its cost, providing substantial content and enjoyment relative to the asking price. This is a common sentiment across several clusters.

Campaign lacks variety and depth: The campaign is short (only 11-13 levels), with too many 'destroy village' or 'destroy castle' missions. Only five levels engage with new blocks, and there are no ferrying or planet-to-planet missions.

Camera issues with planet rotation: Multiple reviews report that the camera locks onto the planet instead of the core, causing dizziness and disorientation. This is especially problematic when transitioning between planetary and orbital views.

Physics and simulation gaps: Players want more attention to atmospheric simulation, water physics, and fuel-powered weapons. The sun is just a texture, and space lacks convincing scale with floating-point precision issues.

Performance and stability bugs: Many bugs accompany each update, including multiverse system glitches, DLC interface lag, and mods auto-disabling. Floating-point precision leads to small bodies, and the sun lacks detail.

Level design and content issues: Levels like 'Doon canyon run' are horrible, and the map editor has small celestial bodies and a tight space boundary. Few new blocks are added, and some are disappointing.

Orbital and space physics: Gravity, orbital mechanics, and planetary distances influence thrust and flight. Players must account for these in their designs.

Fuel system and mechanics: Fuel handling, weight, and explosions are key mechanics. Fuel weight affects rocket performance and must be balanced for successful launches.

Space-themed DLC with stages: The DLC introduces a space theme with 11 new campaign stages and a sandbox mode, expanding the game's content significantly.

Building for space environment: Players build machines for space, considering fuel, gravity, and inertia. This requires mixing new blocks with existing ones like Splintered Sea parts.

Rocket planes and atmospheric flight: Rocket planes combine atmospheric and space flight, with maneuvering and thrust management as core mechanics.

Performance issues and lag: Some reviewers experienced laggy performance, including a laggy DLC interface, and host simulation lagging to below 1 FPS near gravitational fields. A more humorous mention of 'poop machine performance issues' also points to frustration with game speed.

Overall stable performance reported: Multiple reviewers reported that the game runs perfectly well, is bug-free, and offers smooth cruising. These positive reports suggest that for many players, the game functions without significant technical issues.

Great value for price: Several clusters note surprising value and great value for the asking price, stating the game is well worth the price and worth buying.

DLC praised but Mac unsupported: Players express high praise for the DLC and love it, but warn Mac users that the DLC is not currently supported, so Mac users should avoid.

High overall recommendation: Multiple clusters express strong positive sentiment, calling the game hard not to recommend and highly recommended, giving it a 10/10 score.

Heavy DLC recommendation: One cluster heavily recommends the DLC, calling it the best pride gift ever and a great expansion.

Good for sandbox players: A cluster indicates the game is great for sandbox players, suggesting it appeals to those who enjoy open-ended creative play.

Game completion: 2.0h.

Story completion: 3.5h.

Session length: 3.0h.

Players report overwhelming complexity, no tutorial, and tedious core mechanics with no reported point where the game becomes fun.

Friction: No tutorial or guidance; Extreme complexity compared to base game; Tedious orbital mechanics due to instant acceleration; Heavy parts limit useful builds.

Sandbox Orbit Builder: Hands-on experimental builder who designs rockets and vehicles, enjoys mastering complex physics, and prefers creative freedom over structured campaigns. Motivation: Creative mastery of orbital mechanics and building intricate machines in an open sandbox. Stance: buy.

Cautious Perfectionist: May focus on campaign or multiplayer but gets frustrated by unresolved issues and recommends waiting for updates or discounts. Motivation: Desire for a polished, complete experience with working mechanics and multiplayer options. Stance: deep sale.