This is a unique blend of 6 degrees of freedom, first person shooter, and secrets hunting. Doom had a refresh, and this is the refresh of Descent from the 90's. I for one, really enjoyed this. The 3D navigation and checking auto maps to find areas I need to explore is a lot of fun. It really tickled the part of my brain that likes to go into a room, blasting robots while jamming to head bobbing music. Speaking of which, the music and atmosphere are great for me. I bought the sound track to support the developers, and don't regret it. Played this game on the Steam Deck (Steam, not Gog version) and had a blast (using a Steam Community layout). My hud would occasionally disappear and I'd have to press a button to get it back, though sometimes I'd have to reload a previous save. Unsure if it's just me. The weapons in this game are pretty fun. There are plenty of power ups to keep them going. One of my favorite weapons is a weapon that richochets off walls (similar to Frag missile in Descent 3), but also has limited homing abilities. A lot of upgrades in this game allows weapons limited homing (primary and secondary). That's actually a Godsend, as from Descent 3, the enemy dodge and 3D maneuvering meant your weapons had super low accuracy. This addresses that nicely. The voice acting is superb, and the story is enjoyable. Some negatives of the game: 1. if you miss an upgrade in a level and move on, you won't have that upgrade point for the rest of the game. Not a huge issue if you miss some, as game is completely beatable without. 2. There are alien levels later on, which are OK. But you can't spend upgrade points. This meant the latter 1/3rd of the game, you have upgrade points that won't be usable until much later. Bummer. Overall, this is a great game, and on sale, very cheap. Would recommend to people who enjoyed Descent / want to try something new.
Get this, and download the free Freespace Open Source Project. It basically gives you graphical updates, lets you play the first game and its expansion in the improved engine, and loads of other improvements (not that the base game isn't awesome). Long ago, I saw the box art for this game's predecessor in store. The box opens up to two pages, and it showed the Lucifer class Shiva Superdestroyer, spanned across two pages. Next to it, is other ships you will encounter, and finally, your tiny fighter, as a dot, with the caption: yes, things are drawn to scale. That's when I wanted to play the game. And it took me nearly 4 years before I had a computer capable of playing that and its successor, which is this game - the best space game ever made. What grips me about this game is two things. First, the space combat is tight. Things just make sense. I remember watching the new Battlestar Galactica, and feeling it's basically this game, which came out years before. Second, is the story. It's cohesive, intriguing, and ties the missions together. The fact you are a pilot going through epic moments in the war's history kept me engaged. Hitting the bonus objectives and secret missions made me feel like a war hero. I've played the stuffing out of this game so many times that I remembered every shortcut by memory. The polish on this game is just insane. At first, there seems to be a lot of buttons, but really, it gives just enough technical depths to the game that you feel like you're actually doing something. In combat, you may shift power weapons to engines to get that little extra boost as you close in your target, or divert everything into shields after a fierce fight to recharge them for the next encounter. The game is just plain amazing. Even today, 20+ years after its debut. You won't be disappointed.
Really enjoyed this game. Having played original Homeworlds 1, 2, and Cataclysm (probably my favorite), this game is in the same vein, in that there is an engaging story, good voice acting, and enough tactical depth to keep me engaged. A lot of things feel streamlined from previous Homeworld games. The resource collection is tighter, without random bits of stuff scattered in random corner of map, that you fast forward time to collect. The fights are entertaining and frantic. I really enjoy the vehicle designs throughout the games. Watching small attack crafts (but actually monster truck size) flip over climbing dunes, and then getting back on their tires, while firing machine guns is a joy. The blue blaze of the rail gun vehicles as their projectile slam into enemy armor sings to my heart. There's even aircraft in the game that has their own separate mini game. These things are powerful, but fragile, and need to be used wisely to maximize their effect. I beat this game twice, once on normal, once on hard, and immensely enjoyed it both play throughs. Not having ships that move in 3D isn't a big deal here, since you have aircrafts and already plenty to worry about on the map. The game goes for sale frequently, and it's pretty worth it on sale.
Honestly, I'd give this 4 stars, as there is definitely room for improvement, but with how much fun I'm having, I bumped it to 5. I'm a veteran of Everspace 1, Freespace 2, and Independence War 2. Also watched my roommate play a lot of Freelancer back in the day. So the genre I'm looking for is fun arcade shooter that also has an RPG element with living word to it. Not Elite level of realism, nor the huge expanse, but something that's bite sized fun. This game delivers. First, the overall feel of the game -- it's fast and fun. There are plenty of side distractions / random encounters, and the missions themselves are focused and fun. I liked the main character from the previous game, and his voice acting and light hearted style translates over here too. There are some dark elements in the game, but more of a backdrop than a depressing mood. The ship handling and combat mechanics are responsive and satisfying. You've got a variety of weapons, from the charging sniper laser, to the various energy and kinetic projectile weapons hammering away at the enemy. Seeing and hearing stream of explosive slugs plow into an enemy ship's hull is pretty satisfying. Moreover, I love what the game has in terms of scope. Areas are divided into orbits around celestial objects, with a super luminal engine carrying you in between them. While in transit between the zones, you encounter random signals and distress calls that are mostly optional for you to investigate and can yield fun rewards. I first saw a similar mechanic in Independence War 2, nearly 2 decades ago, and always wanted something that lets me travel between planets and also see them in their glory. Jumps between systems are done via jump gates. The first part of the story takes place mostly in the same system, and I have barely made to another one so far. I'm 15 hrs in, and more to see. Recommended.
This game is a puzzle, one solved with big mechs punching kaijus a la Pacific Rim. I've bought the game less than a week and have poured 30 hours into it. Let me tell you why this is so. 1. The atmosphere. What an intro. In a few pixellated, hand crafted seconds, I have come to realize that the Earth is wrecked, and we are time travelers forsaking everything, for a second chance. We are in a time loop, given chances to try over and over again, like the Edge of Tomorrow. The background music is also fantastic, drawing me further into the game. 2. The gameplay. The design here is just genius. Every encounter is a puzzle waiting to be solved. There's RNG, yes, but after scrutiny, many games, and other people's playthroughs, I've come to realize that the game deliberately limits scenarios to what can (mostly) be solved with your mechs. But you can't have it all. Sometimes, you must sacrifice one thing for another, and that's what makes it fun -- making hard decisions, never knowing for certain what will come next. 3. The progression. As you do awesome things in the game and unlock achievements, you earn coins spendable for more mech types. It's a great pacing system -- the more / better you play, the more options you have. Plus, you can always choose one surviving pilot to go back in time, keeping their experiences (provided you have someone who has survived). Honestly, I can go on and on, but there is so much meat and fun from this mastercrafted game. You really need to experience it for yourself. Way more fun than AAA shooters.
