Arkin

So. Let's be frank here. The game has been officially abandoned. It's free to check out. I have no idea how many missions it has, but I'm assuming only the tutorial plus 2 missions? I've only ever seen that mission mentioned in overhauls at least. In any case, I'm afraid to say it's a bit of a waste of time regardless. Do you remember Freespace 1 and 2? Those games are in my eyes still the epitome of space combat games (and thanks to modding they still look decent right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkcDNPAOJWo). These games had excellent sound and music design, captivating voice acting (for the time at least), a cool mission overview, loadouts, a lot of different ships to choose from (and fight against), varied missions, a mysterious story, and a plethora of gameplay options. This game, even though it's technically still in Alpha and available for free, sadly has none of that charm. - The graphics are okay. Nothing spectacular, but serviceable. - The UI is lackluster and lacking a lot of information. + Cockpit view is nice (all other cameras are pointless though) - Voice acting is bland and terrible for the most part - Combat is...well, fast paced and dynamic are not the words I'd use...it feels sluggish and slow to be honest, like with too much inertia and dampening. -+ Core functions are infinitely less, but depending on playstyle that can be a good thing, because this game can be played with a controller with everything mapped, Freespace on the other hand REQUIRES a keyboard (for like 20 or 30 actions!) and preferably a flight stick (I don't even know if Mouse works) - Character: This game has none - Sound effects are boring, but the muffling is cute - Music is boring if it even plays + Game runs smoothly - Story seems lackluster as well, but obviously I can't tell. It just immediately throws you into conflict with an unknown enemy, no buildup, no skirmishes - The "energy system" is kinda stupid? Apparently my shields only work when I activate the shield module, but then I don't have access to increased maneuverability or increased weapon strength, switching on the fly is also not possible, because there's a charge-up (at least for the shields), so switching to anything but shields completely disables my shields, which means you die in like 3 hits. Well. In FS you could obviously direct your power where it's needed...reinforce certain parts of the shields, throw everything at speed or weapons...or just mix it up. - Game is also too busy. The first mission has thousands of debris flying around, very hard to navigate. Sometimes less is more, sorry. - Apparently missiles and counter measures are just on CD and are infinitely available, which makes using them just boring, because there is no decision to be made...Do I keep my valuable missiles, because I might need them later or do I fire them right now, because I'm in a pickle? - Weapons and modules are all available from the start (Alpha, I guess), but that just makes what is there even more boring. There's also barely anything there. 3 or 4 main guns as well as 2 missiles and some modules that are straight up better and some with tradeoffs...more armor, less speed for example. I'm sorry if I'm being harsh on the game, but I just don't see it being anything than mediocre, even if it was ever finished. Maybe there's a fun space game shooter in there, but we'll never know. Judging by the first mission, which seemed somewhat final (?) I would say no, not worth your time. Play modded Freespace 1 + 2 instead. Infinitely more fun!