Galaxy on Fire 2™ Full HD

A trip back to the age of Wing Commander: Privateer Back in 2014, when I bought my first iPad, I naturally started browsing the App Store for games. That's when I discovered Galaxy on Fire 2. The screenshots and trailers immediately caught my attention because I saw one thing in it: Wing Commander: Privateer. I bought it, downloaded it, launched it, and within minutes I knew that feeling was back. Unfortunately, the honeymoon did not last long. I'm simply not part of the touch-control generation. Swiping around a screen to fly a spaceship never felt natural to me, so despite loving what the game was trying to do, I eventually forgot about it. Years later, by pure chance, I stumbled across Galaxy on Fire 2 again on Steam. And this time it clicked. I play it on a Steam Deck OLED, where it runs flawlessly. I highly recommend using one of the community controller layouts, as they make the controls feel incredibly natural. Once configured, the game feels like it was made for the Deck. I'm getting a locked 60 FPS with all effects enabled and the High preset. What surprised me most is how well Galaxy on Fire 2 holds up. The game offers a surprisingly large universe to explore, featuring dozens of star systems, numerous stations, several alien races, a wide variety of ships, and an economy that gives you plenty of freedom in how you want to make your living. You can mine asteroids, hunt pirates, escort freighters, trade goods between stations, accept missions from space lounges, or simply follow the main storyline, which I genuinely enjoyed. And throughout all of it, that old Privateer feeling never goes away. You start with a modest ship and basic weapons, slowly working your way toward better equipment, stronger shields, more cargo space, and eventually entirely new ships. Yes, there's grinding involved. You'll need credits, lots of them. But honestly, that was true in Privateer as well, and somehow it becomes part of the charm. Some of my favorite moments came later in the game after acquiring a tractor beam. You'll pick a fight with three pirates, barely survive the encounter, collect their cargo, dock at the next station, and suddenly discover you've earned 60,000 extra credits from the loot. Naturally, every single credit immediately goes into new upgrades. The Steam version lacks the mobile DLC expansions, which may disappoint some players. Personally, I can live with that. I never experienced those expansions on iOS because I stopped playing long before reaching them, so I don't really feel like I'm missing anything. One final note: the German voice acting is surprisingly good. It's actually funny that I'm writing this review in English while playing the game with the German audio enabled. Maybe the nostalgia goggles are firmly attached to my face, but I genuinely struggle to find anything bad to say about Galaxy on Fire 2. It reminds me of the games I grew up with while still being accessible and enjoyable today. If you miss the days of Privateer-style space adventures, enjoy building your fortune from scratch, and want an excellent game to play on a Steam Deck, give Galaxy on Fire 2 a chance. For me, it's an easy recommendation 👍