Besieger

From Russia with love comes Moscow-made Besieger, a wall-building RTS that has a plot to do with Vikings, flying ships and ogres. Your task is to conquer map after map by building impregnable villages, forts and later, castles, while simultaneously trying to equip an army powerful enough to wreck your opponent's citadel.

And in concept at least, Besieger is a decent stab at an RTS: somewhere between the epic panoramas of Warrior Kings and the build-and-defend gameplay of Stronghold. Initially, good points abound, such as the flight sim-like draw distance, the smart mini-map and the balance you need to strike between workers and fighters.

Even with the by-the-numbers resource gathering and technology trees, Besieger could have been a decent, offbeat little game. The balance between constructing defences and retaining a mobile force to sally out and hurt your opponent is a strong one, and the flexible graphics engine is more than capable of bringing the game to life.

Unfortunately, all the developer's good efforts are ruined by the stinking, incompetent Al, especially in the realms of pathfinding. For a game that revolves around breaching walls and scaling ramparts, the fact your troops can't walk through a gap even if it's the size of the English Channel with a sign saying free rape and pillage through here' is loony. It also means that frustration soon replaces fun, and optimism turns to despair.