The Siege and the Sandfox
Explore the palace and cavernous depths below an ancient desert city, under siege by its neighbouring kingdom. Master dynamic parkour abilities and use cunning and stealth to discover the true threat lurking within. Evade guards, defeat enemies, befriend potential new allies, improve your skills, and foil the evil plot before it’s too late.
- 2D Stealth Metroidvania with parkour exploration
- Rich 16bit art with modern effects
- Immersive and dynamic audio builds tension and highlights danger
- An eclectic range of characters to discover and aid
- Avoid enemies, evade capture and find other ways to deal with threats
- Master moves and find tools to help access new areas previously unexplored
Use stealth to sneak through the environments, incapacitating enemies or ghosting past as if you were never there. Run, jump, slide, shimmy, pole swing and more as you navigate the intricate game world, finding new items, equipment and skills, and unlocking previously-inaccessible locations.
The Siege and the Sandfox is a stealth Metroidvania with one giant continuous world, linking the newer palace above, older prisons below, the ancient mausoleum, and an intricate network of caves woven amongst them all. Encounter unique enemies in each area – some more capable at pursuing sneaky Sandfoxes than others! Keep on your guard, as even an extinguished torch or door left open can trigger the suspicions of those out to get you.
A shining city lies besieged in the heart of a vast desert. As the moon rises over the royal palace, a notorious assassin watches the king die to a traitor’s hand. Discovered, falsely accused and thrown into the labyrinthine dungeons below, they must escape to tell the tale else the city will fall.
The Sandfox – known as the Kasha’i – is famed across the land as the legendary line of faithful protectors and servants to the crown. The current holder of this mantle has been left for dead at the base of ‘Traitor’s Fall’ – a deep pit leading to the depths of the underground prisons. Betrayed by the Queen in order to hide her regicide, you must now take on the role of the Sandfox and begin your journey back up to the palace. Save the kingdom from the Queen’s evil plot and reap revenge with the iconic weapon of the Kasha’i: the glass dagger.
In your journey through the dark caves, dusty mausoleums, dangerous prisons, and crumbling ancient architecture, you will need to avoid the nastier inhabitants of this underground world and aid those friendlier to a new face. Your progression will lead to the discovery of the true threat to the kingdom above: a sand-borne evil emerging below. As dusk becomes night, and night becomes dawn, you will need to rely on the aid of new allies, make your way back into the palace, and end the treachery of the wicked Queen.
Game Discussion
Steam User 22
Not sure about the negative reviews. Possibly due to an earlier state of the game?
I think i'm around midgame and so far it's living up to my expectations. Beautiful pixel art, great map and sense of progression, great setting, awesome narration, not the most original plot maybe but who cares. Happy I got this despite the negative reviews. Only encountered 1-2 minor glitches so far.
Steam User 19
10/10 - If you're a lucky Sandfox
THE UNFORTUNATE
To get that out the way. People are having technical issues with this game. Myself I only had one crash and guards being permanently locked into a state of alertness a couple of times within the first hour. Now, 7 hours into the game, nothing but smooth sailing and lots of joy.
THE GREAT
Where to begin... everything, absolutely everything about this game is amazing. The narration, which feels like reading a book of One Thousand And One Nights, is delivered perfectly. The world map is beautiful and incredibly well crafted, full of detail and decor. High temperature areas are even underlined by having colors in a glaring hue, it's like you can feel the heat. The shifting background scenery gives you a feel of being in an actual geographic location, with the caves, caverns, deserts and mountains in the distance.
The pace, platforming and controls, perfect. None of it is by chance, you can tell the game was crafted meticulously with intent and great care, and love for the material that gave inspiration.
Inspiration
Speaking of inspiration. My most favorite part about it is how the game is a perfect blend of two most iconic games - "Thief: The Dark Project" and "Prince Of Persia".
Gameplay & Controls
The Stealth part (danger areas) of the game feels more like Thief than I have anticipated. While the gameplay is rather simple, I think it is not the main focus. The main focus is the feeling. The eerie atmosphere, immersive ambient music, spying trough the key hole and picking locks. It all feels like a 2D Thief game.
(I only wish that walking had two paces, like Thief, where you could walk very slowly when moving the controller stick slightly, so you could approach corners more carefully, and the default walk by moving the stick all the way).
The Platforming part (exploration areas) plays a lot like the original Prince Of Persia. Even very similar to the original Tomb Raider. The way you climb trellis, swing on poles, grab ledges, slide and jump.
The Gear that you acquire progressively is very simple, but believable the way it expands your abilities to traverse the environment and interact. Climbing gloves, boots, lock picks, a black jack to knock out guards if you have no interest in a ghost run.
Gameplay feels very believable, toned down in a way that it feels meticulous and deliberate and not over the top fast paced.
The Controls are generally very responsive and precise. The game is rather slow paced, so you need to be deliberate with them, because you can not do a lot of corrections while executing maneuvers.
Conclusion
It's not a flashy Metroidvania, it's all about immersion and atmosphere. And immersed I was. Needed to make time for it, because I was totally losing sight of time.
Running is a platforming tool, because the environment is narrow and yet spacious enough and immersive, so that I feel no urge to rush through it in run mode. Instead I walk all the time, take in every moment. No rush, just be in the present and enjoy the game.
The Siege And The Sandfox is a real gem of a game, which unfortunately, due to the circumstances, will likely be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Steam User 11
This is an enjoyable experience now.
I'll state up front. I didn't play the game at launch and any dev who launches a buggy game deserves what they get. I skipped on it due to how everyone mentioned the bugs, but I had someone mention it recently and they said bugs weren't a problem so I gave it a shot and they're not.
It's not bug-free, but I only really experienced one bug that hampered the experience during my playthrough, although it happened with some frequency and is not one that's good for a stealth game to have. Basically it is possible for enemies to get "stuck" and their alertness meter doesn't go down. This can be fixed by showing yourself to them and hiding again to jostle them free or reloading the checkpoint. It's not a good one, but I can't say it was particularly a problem for me either.
I had some other issues with the game that wasn't bugs, for instance the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ gliding mechanic I've ever seen - and some instances of enemy placement (although that gripe is not unusual for stealth games).
Ok, to the game itself. This is a no-combat MV, it's all stealth in the "ghost" style, AKA remaining undetected. It's not stealth until you get caught and it's not stealth to kill everyone in sight. There isn't even any bosses, including a final boss (which is a mistake many stealth games fall into, e. g. Aragami). You have one offensive move, where you can knock out *some* enemies if you catch them unaware, but even that can't be used all that frequently due to enemy placement - your goal here is to keep moving and remain undetected. As someone who enjoys 2D stealth games, I found the stealth to be incredibly good. It's probably on par with Mark of the Ninja, Gunpoint, and possibly Wildfire (probably not Wildfire).
So how is it as an MV? It's actually pretty good. After a linear section the world opens up and there are at several points in the journey different locations you can explore in any order. The abilities are for the most part pretty unique here since they're focused on parkour and remaining undetected. There is however not much exploration to speak out outside of it being enjoyable to explore the world and make progress. There are no stat upgrades - you have 1 health, you get hit you die - there are collectibles where you'll get a bit of lore about the world and the order the Sandfox belongs to, but that's it.
Platforming is a big part of the game so if you don't like that well be aware. It's not all that difficult or anything, but it is a big part.
All in all, my verdict is this is an incredibly good game. As a fan of stealth games and MV's I'd give it probably on 8.5-9.0 and A-tier as an MV, despite the odd issue I have. Almost tempted to give it an S-tier ranking, but I really cannot because that one bug that remains, while I don't consider it a critical issue, it's still something that is something you have to navigate that you shouldn't have to.
Steam User 9
This game feels like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Thief: The Dark Project combined, there's even a narrator turning your actions into a story told long after the events. Gameplay-wise, it's both shadow-based stealth and platforming, which is a lot of fun
Its reputation for being buggy is way overblown, there's the occasional goofiness but nothing game-breaking or that isn't fixed by reloading to any of the frequent checkpoints
Steam User 7
I liked the game but, honestly, I expected more. It is far too short and I thought, it was a more articulated game. I don't even think it should be called a metroidvania. That said it is a good game and had fun playing it.
Steam User 4
I really enjoyed this game.
It is buggy, as other reviews state, but I believe a lot of work has gone into fixing it. I never encountered any game breaking bugs, just things like stuck sprites and repeated audio.
The story is told by a narrator who does a wonderful job and really is the highlight of the game, her performance is stellar and I looked forward to whenever she talked, barring the repeat dialogue mentioned above.
Visually the game is excellent too, every new environment has a different feel, and the pixel art/16 bit style is diverse and beautiful.
Gameplay wise, the platforming is technical and fluid but not difficult. Think pre-Ubisoft Prince of Persia. The main challenge comes from paying attention and figuring out where to go. Metroidvania games can be extremely demanding, but this is not one of them. It is frustrating to accidentally pass a point of no return in an already-cleared zone and be forced to run all the way through the one way platforming challenge for a second time. A lot of this could be resolved by implementing a "teleport to fast travel point" feature as seen in other MVs.
Since this is a stealth focused game, progressing through a combat zone is generally a claustrophobic and slow process. A sort of fog of war covers areas of the screen which the player character sprite doesn't have line of sight of which adds tension in a visually satisfying and beautiful way. I definitely got spotted by carelessly opening a door without checking who was on the other side first. There are only six or so enemy types in the game, and you quickly get used to them. Again, this is not a difficult game.
Finally, my complaints:
The map really needs a key to show which coloured icon means which obstacle. Even after 11 hours with every ability unlocked, I was wondering which one was which.
There is little optional exploration. You will basically visit 100% of the map by completing the story. It never triggered that "what if there's something good up there" feeling that other MVs have all over them.
The ending is a one way trip through a very simple area. You have to manually back up your save game in order to return to the main palace. This is mentioned in the forums but I had already saved outside and there's no way back. I would cut the save points from the final area and make the player do it in one go. That way, reloading the save would put you back in the palace to finish up any missed achievements.
Oh and it runs perfectly on the Steam Deck.
Definitely a recommend from me!
Steam User 7
The game is beautiful. I lover the retro metal slug classic look, with prince of persia, a lil of assassns creed and a metroidvania. All of my favorite things combined to make an epic love child. I hope they make part two, cause the gameplay is so smooth and simultaneous. I just want to know how to make those big guys go night, night.lol Love the voice actors and story so far. The naration makes you feel not so alone in the dark.
I knew this game was coming because I seen their tutorial vids on youtube, and this great game they were working on didn't disappoint.