with god-like status. The Cybrids established themselves in the outer solar system after being defeated two centuries before during the first Earthsiege. Since then they have built up their strength for another bid to destroy humanity and claim Earth for their own. Like the Martian rebels, the Cybrids discover their own cache of alien weapons and adapt it to use, but their cache is inferior to the Tharsis Cache. The game offers two story campaigns, with different endings. The Human campaign puts the player in control of a Martian rebel, initially fighting the Empire before humanity unites against the Cybrid invasion midway through the campaign. The human campaign culminates in an attack on Prometheus on Pluto. The Cybrid campaign starts with their invasion across the outer colonies and proceeds to Earth, ending in an assault on the Imperial palace to kill Petresun. Gameplay As a simulation, Starsiege offers players the ability to pilot a wide variety of massive bipedal war machines known as HERCULANs (Humaniform-Emulation Roboticized Combat Unit with Leg-Articulated Navigation) (or 'HERCs' for short), as well as several tanks. Set in 2829, Starsiege contains an array of advanced technology, and numerous upgrades are available for each vehicle. Starsiege takes place across a number of planets and moons in the Solar System, offering a range of different locations throughout the game and in multiplayer battles, including Earth, Titan, Luna, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. There are two campaigns, Human and Cybrid. Gameplay in Starsiege revolves around mechanized combat - piloting HERCs and tanks in combat against opposing vehicles. Both types of vehicles can be controlled via any combination of keyboard, joystick, or mouse input. Starsiege abandoned the "torso-twist" gameplay mechanic common in many mecha simulations (including preceding games in the series), a feature that would normally allow the user to swivel the HERC's upper body independently of its legs. In Starsiege, torso orientation is fixed forward, but the player can move the aiming recticle across the screen with a mouse, a feature GameSpot compared to playing a first-person shooter. In both campaigns, the player is eventually assigned squadmates and is able to issue basic commands to them. Every vehicle has unique performance, though this can be modified somewhat through customization of parts. Tanks and HERCs both utilize armor for defense, but HERCs also can equip rechargeable shields for additional protection. Other part choices include weapons, engine, and engine boosters. Customizing the