Posted on: September 14, 2012
FatuousOne
Verified ownerGames: 167 Reviews: 1
Roguelike covering with a creamy strategy center
To be honest, I don't really like roguelikes. I've played several (although not the original) and they've never particularly grabbed my attention for very long. But for whatever reason, I still decided to back this on kickstarter, and when I actually got my hands on it several months later I was blown away (figuratively and literally, as I was blown up almost immediately after starting). While people call it a roguelike, I really like the 'strategy' label on it better. It has roguelike elements to be sure, but those are really more in the game mechanics (randomized galaxies, permadeath, etc.), the actual gameplay is definitely in the strategy category more than anything else. You command a ship with a crew, and you need to make liberal use of the pause feature to balance where your crew is (to either manage work stations to speed up shield regeneration, weapon reloading or whatnot, do repair work, or even fight invaders teleporting onto your ship), timing your weapons and other ship functions (as you may need to fire one weapon RIGHT before the other to slip through the enemy shields, or hit the cloak button JUST after the enemy fires their missiles so they'll fly passed you), or in more dire situations, hit the FTL jump button a moment away from your ship becoming scrap for your enemy to collect. This game is hard. Even once you get used to the controls, even if you play on easy difficulty, you're often going to run into situations that will simply screw you over. I once played a game where I was in a Mantis cruiser (which has no weapons, depending on you teleporting over to the enemy ship to kill them in hand-to-hand combat) and I immediately ran into a Zoltan ship, which has a super shield that you can't teleport through without disabling it (which you can't do without shooting it). They then blew out my engines and quickly shot me into scrap. And this will happen to you, I guarantee it. Maybe not often, but it WILL happen. The random enemy generator will just screw you over at times, and you will die. So, I say again, this game is hard. I've played almost a hundred games and I've only beaten it ten times or so. (Granted, a lot of the time I just restarted because the galaxy didn't generate sectors like I wanted, but the point remains that I've died a lot.) Regardless, I really like this game. I like the feeling of coming out of a battle without a scratch because I timed all my weapons perfectly, disabling all of their systems before they even got a shot off on me. I like the feeling of immediately teleporting my attack crew onto the enemy ship, ripping a bloody path through them, and then reaping the spoils of victory from an untouched ship. I like the feeling of pulling a win from the skin of my teeth and then coming back for more just moments later (after I scrape my scrap bucket back into a ship with a quick repair stop). I like the feeling of reaching each achievement, especially the ones that unlock new ships or ship layouts since it expands the way the game can be played. I don't particularly like being blown to smithereens, but I don't mind it terribly because win or lose you still start with a fresh crew, and maybe THIS time I won't run into that freaking Zoltan ship right off the bat... If any of this sounds like it might be fun for you, do check FTL out. Even if you're not a fan of roguelikes, if you like strategy games, FTL might just tickle your fancy.
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