Developed By: Rockfish Games
Published By: Rockfish Games
Platforms: PS4, Xbox, Switch, Windows
Reviewed On: PS4PRO
You play as Adam Roslin who at the start of the game is detained and injected with “something” and in order to cure himself he must enter stasis and send out his clones into the far reaches of space. It is then players will take control and explore sector by sector to advance the story and more importantly brave the dangers deep space provides.
Graphics
It must be unequivocally said that for an indie game, this game has some stunning graphics. As soon as you can take control of your ship, zipping around space looks unbelievably good. You would think that you would be getting the same locale as well for a game this size but no they manage to throw in some truly terrifyingly beautiful hazards that will plague your journey as well like lightning storms in space, solar flares, and so on. When you are not busy being transfixed by the beauty of space you will be facing off in incredible space combat with pirates and aliens alike. Throughout my playthrough luckily I did not encounter any frame dips at all as it looks like its running at a rock solid 60 fps (or close to it).
Presentation & Gameplay
The game story is said to be told in a non-linear fashion. Truth be told the initial excitement for what the story would unfold did wear out but it’s perfectly serviceable. Menus are clear and where everything is, for the most part, easy to understand. To be honest there were times where I was confused especially in the beginning with the controls as the default control settings do not fit well. It seems like it would fit better with a mouse and keyboard. I especially hated holding down the L3 button for the speed boost as doing that at the same time while trying to get away from enemies can be a nightmare. As this is a roguelike, game players will start out with the basic balanced ship which is the Interceptor but will later get to purchase two more with the speedy but fragile Scout or the hulking Gunship. You will then move starting from Sector 1 trying to collect resources, upgrade, collect as many credits, fuel and make it alive to the next Sector. Be warned though as each sector does increase in difficulty so players will die a lot initially. However, that is not a problem, the game story conveniently explains that you are a clone and that’s why you keep coming back. Once you die you will have the option to spend your collected credits upgrading ship specific benefits such as increased speed, or allotments or global benefits such as increased credits received or finding rare items before venturing out once more to try again. Along the way, players will also encounter foreign entities which will attack you and this is where the gameplay shines the most as the space combat is absolutely exhilarating and dangerous. Even against lower levelled enemies, you can quickly be overwhelmed so you must carefully plan out your plan of attack by picking them out one by one or just fly in head-on (which is always a bad idea) and try and take out as much of the enemies as you can. Along the way as well you will find ways to upgrade your ships weapons or replace them outright with better ones that will aid your survival longer in your quest to get to the end.
What I Loved
- Graphics – Absolutely Amazing. The Unreal Engine was utilized to the fullest and the results really show in amazing space combat as well as breath-taking views.
- Space Combat – It is really exhilarating going up against a group of enemies and slowly outmanoeuvring them while you take them out one by one until only you are left standing.
What I Wished Was Better
- Story – It was alright, but I expected better.
Final Verdict
As it is a roguelike game, I was initially put off by the resetting progress I made throughout the game with how easy it is for you to die. But then I persevered and found that in short controlled bursts the game is just too much fun to play. Slowly making your way further and further until finally beating the game is just an amazing feeling especially with the amazing graphics as well as the extremely satisfying space combat. If you are a fan of roguelike games and space dogfighting than this game is a must get.
