Absolute Territory
An absolute (pun not intended) nostalgia trip, Absolute Territory is a game that hearkens back to the old days of X-Wing/Tie Fighter and Freespace, back when those games were commonly made. While not a very long game, it scratches the space dogfight itch like I haven’t felt in a while.
Really there’s only two things I’d request be added to the game:
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More missions (and it seems like that’s being done through the steam workshop)
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Missions that contain large fleet battles, if it’s possible. It’s one of the major things that has pulled me into games of this genre, being able to be just a small factor in a massive battle and be able to influence the events in a critical way. Having massive battles to be able to be part of would have me sink way more time into this game.
– Real player with 16.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best First-Person Controller Games.
Games by a single developer are always going to be about balancing priorities.
This game’s priorities are squarely on the fundamental mechanics of what makes a good Space Combat Sim, largely to the exclusion of all else.
The arcade tuned newtonian physics feel great. Ships have real weight and momentum. You will likely get heavy usage out of the slide mechanic. There are lateral thrusters as well, which I found a little too weak to get heavy usage out of but there is one mission in particular towards the end that would be nearly impossible to complete without them.
– Real player with 13.7 hrs in game
Planet B24
A friend of mine gifted this to me, i thought this was just going to be just a distraction from life, to bury away my sorrow and get distracted for a while, yet this game changed my life. I started to grow new hobbies and things to look forward to. I started a diet, lost up to 20 kilos, and began to excercise everyday. Long since i’ve broken up with my girlfriend, i have learned to move forward thanks to this game. I feel very identified and inspired by the amazing characters involved into the immersive storyline. Very thrilling was this experience, i must say, with amazing dialogue and story. Thanks to this game, i now have a motivation to keep going on with my life. As long as the path may be, i’ll keep going. Thank you Quarlelle for this masterpiece, i’m looking forward to support any other upcoming projects of yours.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best First-Person Indie Games.
Wow Planet B24 was fun. Firstly do as devs say and press ‘E’ to ditch the bug. After that the game play opens up nicely. You need to sneak and or run around avoiding the Aliens. If they see you then you are pretty much dead. The sneaking about is pretty suspenseful and the horrible looking aliens do make you jump. It is a credit to the developers that they get tons of atmosphere without it all being dark and you needing a touch. Most of the areas are brightly lit, clinical and sinister. I have paid a shed load of money for big studio games that are no where near as much fun as Planet 24. Well done Quarlellle.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Galaxy’s Extreme
This game has a lot of potential. I would love to see replays implemented, as well as after the race machine cams, kinda like F Zero GX has. The game runs great, looks amazing, and has super tight controls. I highly recommend this game to any fans of F Zero, Wipeout, or if you just like fast racing games.
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best First-Person Racing Games.
Very polished and futuristic racer. Soundtrack is very atmospheric with a hint of 90s dance! Played for about 20 minutes and there are lots of tracks and many ships to unlock which i guess the more you play and advance through the game you can unlock.
The graphics are impressive and the speed is fast but you don’t find yourself crashing into the side of the track a lot trying to control the ships! When you do crash you don’t lose a lot of time trying to catch up to the other ships and trying to gain back your position.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
STAR WARS™: Squadrons
Star Wars: Squadrons is a superb multiplayer simcade space simulator with a steep learning curve and in-depth movement mechanics. The game is easy to learn, and moderately difficult to master. To be successful and get full enjoyment out of Squadrons, you must learn proper movement techniques such as boost gasping, dead drifting, and 0 throttle boosting. Squadrons is best when playing with others, and there are a lot of communities to choose from. TFA, TRA, NRN, Gray Squadron, Emperor’s Hammer, and others will help you learn how to fly and have many opportunities to fly with other pilots.The playerbase is slowly dwindling, meaning that a lot of the remaining active players are decently skilled at the game. You will be crushed and beaten badly if you come up against players who are much more skilled than you, which is why learning advanced movement techniques is so important. The game isn’t for everyone, and if you aren’t willing to put in a lot of hours learning these techniques, I can’t recommend the game.
– Real player with 1197.1 hrs in game
The game looks great, no, beautiful. All models are true to Star Wars lore and very detailed. Sound effects are on point, and they’ve managed to add some non-canon game elements (because it’s meant to be fun, after all) without those elements being lore- or immersion breaking.
I haven’t played the multiplayer for a while now, so I can’t say if that’s still active, but it was great fun during the game’s peak.
The only thing that slightly annoyed me were the very forced diversity/social justice points in the single player story line. They felt absolutely shoehorned in, which is a shame because the single player campaign is otherwise a very well structured and typical Star Wars story.
– Real player with 176.9 hrs in game
Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War
Descent: FreeSpace was - for pretty much two decades - the start of the best space combat simulation ever developed. I probably spent several years of my childhood playing FreeSpace 1 and 2 and to this day there is no other game which I will get back to every few years and then play it for months on end because it is that good.
Never before have I played a game which utilizes almost all keyboard buttons, some of them even twice or thrice with button combinations. It takes days to get used to the controls and to remember all of them in the heat of battle, but after having learned them once, I never forgot them again. I can boot up any FreeSpace game after 5 years without having played it and the controls will come back to me within 5 minutes. No other game has ever managed to do that. No other game has ever managed to entertain me to that degree even although I can still remember every single mission, every enemy wave, every plot twist and all and any scripted events.
– Real player with 198.1 hrs in game
Descent | Freespace: The Great War is a 3D space craft action simulator. You are a recruit pilot who just joined the Galactic Terran Alliance in its age-long war against the Parliamentary Vasudan Empire, but the war takes a different turn when an unknown threat makes its appearance with the sole purpose of exterminating both races.
Pros: You get to live the war and the events through the eyes of a pilot, and the whole story is detailed through mission briefings and in-game events. Different levels of success in a mission may affect the following mission, even open entire branching side-missions. The voice acting does a good job a delivering the humane yet rigid tone of a military situation, something you’ll rely on for immersion as there is little to no cut scenes. Action is great, and often allows creative thinking to resolve an issue, succeed in a mission and achieve bonus goals. The missions themselves are very varied, rivaling and often surpassing classics of the genre like the Wing Commander series. Control is spot-on, although optimized for mouse-less keyboard. As you progress, you get more and more flexibility in how you want to set and arm your squads.
– Real player with 27.3 hrs in game
Adrorium
Build your ship, defend against drone waves and explore hundreds of sectors filled with stations, asteroids and planets with lots of POIs. The ship systems can be controlled via consoles with several hundred buttons. Craft equipment and blocks, loot the POIs and disabled drones. Upgrade your ship and venture to the center of the galaxy.
HARDCORE SHIP MANAGEMENT
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Hundreds of buttons over multiple consoles and functional blocks
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Subsystems defined by blocks
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Docking + station services
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Power grids + plasma grid, liquids(atmo, fuel, water, coolant) + internal atmosphere
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Toggle blocks to save power
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Nuclear reactor + fuel + turbine management
SPACE SURVIVAL
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Farming, crafting
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Sleep, eat, heal, drink and more other tasks
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EVA suit for looting and raiding
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After you disable drones, go inside them and scavenge resources with tools
EXPLORATION
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Hundreds of sectors per galaxy (procedurally generated)
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Multiple points of interest (stations, asteroid fields, planets, wreckages,….)
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MFM drive for traveling between sectors
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Land on planets and explore them with a rover
SPACE SIM
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Newtonian physics + autopilot
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Docking (ship-ship or station-ship)
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Dogfight against enemy drone waves
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Mine asteroids + use hook gun to grab the ores
LOOTING
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Hundreds of items and crafting recipes
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Drones and bases are filled with loot containers and rare blocks that can be dismantled
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Stations have many traders (and one secret trader) that can buy your extra loot
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Many handy inventory shortcuts(hover send, take all if item owned, send stack,….)
SHIP BUILDING
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Hundreds of blocks, majority are functional like cockpit, ship weapons, doors or consoles
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Extend the hull with hull pieces and wall blocks, the drill can remove hull
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Repair blocks after drone fights and upgrade them, hull can only be repaired at stations
PROGRESSION
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Missions, campaign
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Many upgradable tiers for blocks
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Research, skills (coming soon)
IMMERSIVE
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No loading screens
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Realistic and complex ship procedures
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Dock your rover inside of the ship and deploy it on planets
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Explore wreckages after drone fights
MULTIPLAYER
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Currently using Photon Networking to avoid NAT issues
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Cross-platform servers
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Dedicated servers, steam networking and p2p connections will come soon
OTHER
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Joystick/controller support
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Localization (coming soon)
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Memory efficient (less than 100 MB)
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Runs on potato rigs
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Full modding support
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The game is in early access so expect regular updates with new features and bugfixes
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Starship Simulator
Starship Simulator is a true work of passion, born of many a childhood dream to experience what it would truly be like to live and work on a massive deep space exploration vessel, just like the ones you see depicted in classic science fiction. A dream of walking among the stars, exploring distant worlds, and answering one of mankind’s oldest questions… what awaits us in the great unknown?
You will serve as a crewmember on the maiden voyage of mankind’s first-ever deep space exploration vessel - the Magellan Class. The ship has been designed and built from the ground up with an unprecedented level of detail. From the bare structural framework to the miles of cables and conduits, every part of the ship is fully simulated and designed to be scientifically plausible. Nothing is mere surface detail. Every button does something, and every piece of hardware serves a real purpose.
Real Structural Framework
The bare titanium that defines the physical structure of the ship has been designed in line with the latest manufacturing techniques used in the real world today, projected forward 200 years with advances in 3D Printing and AI-driven automation in mind. Unlike typical games where nothing exists behind walls and under floors, our ship exists as a completely solid and physical vessel.
Cables, Pipes & Hardware
Every system on the ship has simulated hardware driving it, and these systems are connected together by a complex network of pipes, cables, and conduits that exist in real-time. As an Engineer, you can follow every cable from source to destination while it passes through various pieces of hardware along the way.
Fully Explorable
With over 200 rooms spread over 7 decks, you are free to explore the entire ship on foot without barriers or loading screens. Gaze out of the panoramic lounge windows while the action outside of the ship is taking place in real-time, or hop in a shuttle and take it out for a quick spin. Our goal is to create a truly immersive sci-fi experience.
Our focus on science and realistic simulation also extends to the galaxy itself, with currently over 2 billion procedurally generated star systems to explore.
Procedural Generation
Our procedural algorithms are based on real-world astrophysics in order to generate not only believable but also scientifically plausible star systems. If you want to find Earth-like worlds, then you will need to seek out a star’s habitable zone where liquid water can exist. This is based on not only the distance from the star but also the planet’s albedo and atmospheric makeup.
Life Among the Stars
When you find a planet that’s capable of supporting life, your scans will reveal the nature of that life and how advanced it is. It could be anything from simple bacteria to ancient alien civilizations that are millions of years more advanced than you. How will they react to your presence, and do you attempt to contact them?
Breathtaking Beauty
A NASA astronaut once said that without exception, every person to have ever looked down upon the Earth from aboard the ISS has shed a tear over its sheer beauty. We find that incredibly inspiring, and we’re leveraging all the latest technologies and pushing Unreal Engine to its limits in order to achieve the most stunning visual experience possible. Entering orbit around a distant exoplanet should take your breath away.
Players can choose to occupy one of a number of different roles on the ship, with each one presenting the player with unique and interesting gameplay challenges.
Captain
Born to be in command, as the Captain, you will be making the big decisions such as which star systems the ship should explore, whether or not an alien species should be contacted, or whether or not to stand your ground or retreat in a hostile situation. How well you handle first contact situations will have a very real impact on how the mission plays out.
Pilot
Taking the Helm, as the ship’s Pilot, you will be responsible for safely navigating the ship through space. You will also pilot the shuttles and other support craft as required by the current mission objectives.
Science Officer
Working on the Bridge and in the Science Labs, as a Scientist, you will be responsible for performing scans of stellar objects and analysing any gathered data. You’ll also be performing tests on samples and artefacts acquired by the ship on its travels.
Tactical Officer
Working on the Bridge and around the ship, as a Tactical Officer you will be responsible for defending the ship and her crew. You’ll man the tactical Bridge station during combat, and serve as the security detail on any away missions.
Engineer
Working in Engineering and around the ship, as an Engineer, you will be responsible for maintaining and repairing the ship’s many systems. Keeping everything in tip-top condition will ensure the ship is always ready to meet any new challenge, but neglect your daily maintenance duties and critical systems will begin to fail.
Doctor
Working in the Medical Facility, the Doctor is responsible for the crew’s physical wellbeing. You will be dealing with everything from simple cuts and bruises to strange alien pathogens that could infect the entire crew.
Morale Officer
Working in the Mess Hall as the ship’s Chef you will be responsible for preparing healthy meals for the crew, but also as their Bartender, you will perform the important role of listening to their concerns and offering helpful advice. It’s up to you to look after their mental health.
Passenger
As a guest aboard the ship, you will have no duties to perform, allowing you to simply relax and explore the ship at your leisure.
Starpoint Gemini 3
Starpoint Gemini 3 Review
Release Version 5th Nov 2020
Starpoint Gemini 3, 4th title from LGM Dev Team. This time around LGM went with a different view on the Gemini Star System, So lets get into the nitty gritty of it all.
SPG 3 puts you in the shoes of Captain Bold, a brash upstart pilot of a starship who has his AI sidekick ADAH which both are at logger heads over things quite often. This to me adds some charm into the cockpit as I could see my future self in a similar situation as I went to do the dumb things and the AI constantly reminding me of how stupid it is going to be.
– Real player with 165.9 hrs in game
I don’t often write reviews, as I don’t often get around to games until looooong after they’re released, but I gave this a day one try and… now I remember why I wait so long to play games after they’re released.
With this being the third game in a franchise I’ve come to enjoy, I had high expectations. And I was left sorely disappointed. While the graphics are okay, and the ship fighting is decent, that’s about where my enjoyment ended. Here are some of my highlights that I hope the devs can take to heart:
– Real player with 43.1 hrs in game
Rank: Warmaster
Rank: Warmaster is a brand new take on the space game genre which combines elements of Space Combat Simulators, RTS, and 4X games into a cohesive whole. Take command of any and every aspect of your corporation, from the large scale decisions of research and territory acquisition, all the way down to the piloting of individual ships, where you focus your attention is entirely up to you.
When civil war between the Central Earth Government and a collective council of corporate interests suddenly erupts, Earth’s Defense Grid is compromised in the chaos. With all ships marked as hostile by the grid, Earth has been fully isolated from the rest of the solar system. You take on the role of a corporate settler who has just been stranded on Mars. Trapped in an underground shelter, your only assets are a Builder Bot, a handful of construction resources, and an instructional contingency AI named Ares. From these lowly origins you must first build a city, and then assemble a fleet of remote controlled warships to secure territory and advance your technology. Be quick about it, too, because you aren’t the only one out here. Every other major corporation launched its own settlers to escape the devastation, and soon you’ll find that there’s just not enough solar system to go around.
A One of a Kind Experience:
Rank: Warmaster combines the best parts of the 4X, RTS, and Space Flight genres bringing a new depth to all three. Build your cities in real time and raise up fleets to defend them. First plot your conquest across Mars, and then the rest of the solar system. Order your fleets into engagements with enemy forces and, when the battle needs a personal touch, freely drop in and take direct, first-person control of any of your ships. When the ship you control is destroyed, instantly jump into any other ship you control, on or off the battlefield, with no respawn timer.
Unique Granular Damage System:
Every part of every ship is individually damaged and destroyed. Penetrate the hull to damage the critical systems held within. Enough damage will see a ship fully perforated, allowing weapons fire to pass through one ship and into another. With careful shots enemy ships can be left disabled rather than destroyed, the better to salvage them and reverse engineer their technology.
Customize Your Ships Using a Vast Web of Technologies:
There are many tools at your disposal, victory will rely on picking the right ones. Research new weapons and components and then use the ship builder for full customization of your ships including armor thickness, shield strength, and even weapon and component placement. With no set mounting points or number of components the only placement limit is the ship’s available internal space. Design the perfect ship manually or with assistance from the auto-build functions. Focus on the technologies that suit your strategy, but beware that your enemy can display just as much variety as you. You will be forced to adapt your designs or be left in the dust.
Customize Your Corporation:
Create your own corporation with unique qualities to suit your preferred play style. Is your shield technology miles ahead of the competition? Perhaps your ships are optimized to allow more components to fit in the same amount of space. Maybe nobody knows explosives quite like you. The bonuses and penalties you select before the game even starts will be with you for your entire campaign, irrevocably changing the course of your destiny.
Command as you Will:
A suite of AI helpers allow you to focus on the aspects of the game you love the most and leave the management of everything else to the AI. Whether you want to focus on developing your cities and technology, strategically commanding your conquering fleets, or if you just want to be the best pilot in the solar system you have the freedom to play your way. If you prefer human management bring in friends and divide the responsibilities of empire management between you, the AI doesn’t know the difference. For a more competitive experience players can form their own corporations and challenge each other for final dominion of the solar system.
Explore a Hostile Solar System Full of Surprises:
As you expand your sphere of influence an AI storyteller will present events and situations which bring new depth to your story. Some of these will be random while others will be placed at game start; waiting to be discovered. The solar system hides many secrets both mysterious and mundane. Carefully navigating the evolving narrative will yield potent rewards of technology and resources, while the careless and unlucky will suffer brutal setbacks. Adapt to unforeseen circumstances as space itself becomes another opponent to be challenged and overcome. At the end of your journey face off against the forgotten colonists of Alpha Centauri, who seek to reclaim their home system.
Space Colonizers Idle Clicker
Brief Review
PROS
Space Colonizers is an entertaining, amusing incremental idle game in the clicker genre. It has a bit of strategy and simulation tossed in for good measure.
As you wander the stars, you will use skills on cooldown, upgrade your spaceship, collect aliens which offer persistent bonuses for your journey, colonize planets, portal through black holes, and mine asteroids for gold and dark matter. Buildings and Research give you a substantial feeling of progress and persevere through each return to Earth.
– Real player with 2971.3 hrs in game
Practically no end-game contant. Research scales very, very badly with the economy. Not one bit of content update since release. Meh.
– Real player with 1195.8 hrs in game