GoD Factory: Wingmen

This game is essentially the space battles in Star Wars Battlefront II without the small on-foot interior sections. Fly at the enemy's ship and blow up their components with bombers, or attack other enemy ships with fighters in 4v4 fights. Customization is good, the individual parts don't make a huge overall difference, but it's easy to spec out what type of ship you're aiming to make. The overall ship style is pretty neat as well, with additional colors being unlocked by accomplishing steam achivements in game. The graphics are great, the environments and ships are amazingly detailed. But, here's why I can't honestly reccomend the game. First and foremost, if you crash one of your ships, it's gone for the rest of the round, replaced with a very mediocre drone. I had to check the tutorials again to reconfirm this, but this is a huge pain considering rounds typically last 10-20 minutes. Now, I know it's rather easy to evade other players with a combination of boosting, manuvers, and special abilities, but being unable to use the ship you've designed for the rest of the round is a mental nightmare, and extremely discouraging. Essentially, you've been crippled for the rest of the game, and it's difficult to stage a comeback because of it. Next up is the controls. This is strictly a controller/joystick game. Mouse and keyboard controls are inherently flawed from the getgo because of both the default bindings, and the difficulting in turning. I believe initial bindings have the ship roating with mouse side movements, and turning binded to the A and D keys. I ended up flipping these bindings and found it far more usable. However, in dogfights that require you to constantly be turning, you are phsyically incapable of turning fast enough due to you having you keep dragging the mouse in one direction, and you will run out of desk space. Plug a controller in, save yourself the hassle. Once you understand the previous two complaints and try to work around them, you have the rest of the game open to you. The issue is, the rest of the game appears to be exactly like your first game, with different players, and different parts, and holy hell does it get old fast. I understand the idea that it's esentially trying to be a MOBA, where everyone plays one gametype and attempts to win via various strategies, but the difference between ships in this game is limited to stats, weapons, and abilities. Some abilities are a get out of jail free card (short range teleport through walls, decoy ship), while some are minor boosts, and some just feel like they're negated entirely if the other player boosts away. Mechanically, besides for the fact that some ships make better bombers, and some ships make better fighters, you're going to be playing the same thing over and over. The game's part experience and currency system will pretty much enforce this. Overall it feels this game could be better as a F2P based on it's grindy systems, selling cosmetics for income. A $20 pricepoint for one game mode and map is a very steep barrier of entry that in my opinion does not pay off for the content provided.

This game is pretty damn cool. Space combat sim, fast-paced, bright, clear, strategy and resource management necessary - it's fun as hell. There's one gaping problem: No one is playing. Logged in, ran the tutorial, bought a little missile group for my ship, hit quick match and!!.....no players online. Nothing. So, I start a pure bots match. Worst idea ever. No-one to communicate with, no one to learn from, no one to play with. Bots seem to have the perfect reflexes, can pull off all these neat little manuver combos that leave you dead and them from in front of you to behind, left, up, and stabbing you with a stick while you feel like you're picking your nose. I'd reccomend this game if it only had a player base. As it stands? I wish I could get my money back.

GoD Factory is a space shooter akin to the ones I grew up with, it has the balls to punish you for doing stupid stuff and for having a lone wolf mentality (your gunship is replaced with a drone after it has been destroyed and it remains destroyed for the rest of the match) and there's a high skillcap which turns a lot of off on the idea of playing it because they don't like the idea of having their ego smashed. Take a good long look at what some of the negative reviews are saying, it's basically all related to the person who wrote the review being unable to "get gud" or get over their own false sense of supremacy; this is a team game. It is designed as a team game and if you beleive for an instant that you're not part of a team but rather some special little snowflake meant to take on the entire enemy team by yourself... you will get smashed into the ground- errr... nearest asteroid. Buy it. It's a great callback to the kind of high-skillcap, highly punishing games, of the glorious old days of PC gaming. PS. There's not much grinding in the game, if you win a game you get quite a bit of credits to spend on parts.

Sadly this game is all about multiplayer, which has been close to abandoned except for veterans with superb ships, which will destroy all newcomers outright. I had quite a bit of fun with this game, but it sadly isn't worth a purchase, as there is no singleplayer experience whatsoever.

Don't buy for $20 you will only get to play it when it goes on sale, average players online 2-8, a full player match hosts 8 players. Just wait for a sale like $5.00 then you can get it and play it for a few days before it dies again untill the next sale.

EDIT: Sadly, while this remains a great game, the lack of players online raises a big red flag for a PvP game such as this, even though it is possible to play with and against Bots. If you pick this game up, be wary that you may not find people online to play it with. This is very sad, it's so good. This is a great title, which is saying something coming from me - I am not traditionally a huge fan of PvP games, but this does tick the boxes: solid gameplay; interesting mechanics; rewarding intelligent and strategic teamplay. Despite playing through the tutorial, it did take me some time to get used to the carrier parts and the controls, especially as I am using keyboard and mouse, but using a controller will also give a good experience. Though it is a punishing game with a high skill cap, I find myself enjoying it, despite my lack of skill. Something to work on, I suppose. The idea about the game itself is pretty simple. It's not a deathmatch; matches are up to 4 v 4 (including bots should you wish to do so), and the two teams try to destroy the enemy carrier (base) by destroying components (in the vein of Star Wars Battlefront II). If the two carriers are destroyed at the same time, then the team which has destroyed the most enemy gunships (your fighters) is considered the winner. The race-specific abilities and the purchasable add-ons also make the game quite interesting and refreshing, forcing people to think carefully about their resources and how to use them - the cooldowns can be crippling if something is used at the wrong time. The game looks great, with 4 very different races available to choose from. The ship and component designs are all vividly different from one another with clear distinctions and very interesting designs. The weapons are a particular highlight, with a huge variety all looking very nice. The great look is complemented by the maps - as of Galaxy Update 1.1 (15/11/2014) - there are now 4... the two carriers and the surrounding area, including the cover you can find from man-made factories in the area or the immense statue nearby all look great. The 3 new maps all include new unique and interesting mechanics in addition to more stunning visuals. One offers damage dealing locations, one offers healing, and one has teleporters spaced around the map. This is complemented by the game's audio. The soundtrack is absolutely brilliant, I could listen to it for hours on end. The sound design for the space combat is quite good too, disregarding the impossibility of sounds being heard in space... but who cares? Music makes it more awesome. One of the things I like most about this game is the customisation available for your ships. You start with two basic ships from two races, but are quickly able to buy more. While you do need to "grind" to unlock better parts - keep an eye out on the "tech tree" in the shop to see what you want to unlock and work towards those parts - the grind is not excessive like in some other games. The range of options available is incredible, and offers a huge range of options forcing you to make some hard decisions: do you upgrade a lower tier part to it's max level or do you skip it and use a weaker higher tier part until you can level that up? This is supported by something I quite personally like - the fact that achievements unlock further cosmetic options. This makes it interesting and fun to collect achievements if you can, while not rewarding these achievements with OP ship parts. Thus, a failure to be skilled or lucky enough to acquire an achievement will not punish you further by ensuring you will be left with comparatively substandard parts. Finally, I am pretty happy with the game developers, who are maintaining a strong presence in the community, always on top of launch issues and always happy to talk with the players and keep them up-to-date. Very, very happy with my decision to buy this game.

I recently acquired GoD Factory: Wingmen through the humble multiplayer bundle. The reason why I bought the bundle was not this game; in fact, I had never even heard of it before and it just seemed like a nice added bonus. Boy, was I wrong! Here's a quick run-down of the pros and cons: Pros: +Get in the mood! Starting in the the main screen and throughout the entire game, the music is excellent! +Eye-candy all the way! Space combat has rarely looked so good! +Riveting gameplay! Blow away your opponents while just barely avoiding the giant debris floating around! +Work as a team! Throw out tons of damage with synergies and combos! +Coordinate! Succeed together with the easy-to-use communication system! +Play your way! 4 playable races and a huge amount of ship customization options! +Become stronger! With the progression system, there is always something new to reach for and discover! Cons: -Steep learning curve. Some people might find it hard to get into, but the tutorial is great and really helps with that. Plus, experienced players are very helpful and are happy to give you some pointers! -Small player base. We need more people to play with! Fortunately, literally everyone I've met in-game so far has been nice, helpful, and fun to be around! After having played GoDF for a while, I can say with absolute sincerity that I am in love with it. Nowadays, I rarely find new games with so much attention to detail, where you can really feel the passion poured into it by the developers. I consider every aspect of it to be well-executed and highly enjoyable. Plus, you can really feel the impact of all your choices, whether in the hangar, building completely different ships or in combat out in the field, fighting alongside your allies! If you're looking for a breath of fresh gaming air and friendly people to play with, GoD Factory: Wingmen is definitely for you! So what are you waiting for? Start building your gunships and join us out in the field!

[Edit 2/12/15] Having come back to take another look at Wingmen, I see that the developers did address several of my original complaints by adding new maps and gametypes and capping rewards for playing with bots. Then I checked the game's recent statistics and found this: Current players: 4 (@7pm EST) 30-day Avg: 2.3 30-day gain: -1.9 Couple those dismal numbers with a potentially final update mentioning a new project and Wingmen's lack of profitability, and the game really starts looking like a ghost ship. It's a shame, even a short single-player campaign alone might have added enough draw and mitigated the learning curve enough to sustain an online player base. Ultimately, Wingmen shows that a few missteps early on can sink a promising multiplayer title. [Original Review] I love this game, and have played it almost every day since release. That said, I can't recommend it, at least not at the current price of $20. Let's start out with what's good. The game has an excellent engine, runs very smoothly, and has no notable lag issues. Initial match load times can be slow but after that it's generally smooth sailing to the finish. The graphics are good, not exceptional but nothing to complain about either. Ships are varied, and the customization options are deep and satisfying. Taking 2 ships into each battle allows each player to prepare multiple tactics and adjust on the fly. Ships can be shared with comrades in battle. The dogfighting is solid and the carriers offer a variety of targets and strategies. A good match is a hell of a lot of fun. So why not buy it? GFW is an online battle arena with no single player campaign of any kind. That in itself is not a problem, except that there's currently only one multiplayer gametype, with only one map. I think the deficiency here is pretty self-explanatory. I have been assured more are coming by a developer, but until then is now, it's an issue. I believe this game should be properly classified with the "Early Access" titles at this point. Getting a game started, especially at non-peak times, involves a lot of waiting. As of this review, the community averages 30-40 players at midday, and 80-100 peak. A full session is 8 players, and less is not nearly as much fun. The game allows you to substitute bots of varying configuration and difficulty, which would be good except that the bots currently provide better rewards than real opponents, so the lobby list is full of rooms with 1-2 people and 6-7 bots. The developer also assures me that bot rewards will be reduced soon. It can't come soon enough, in my opinion. Compounding the frustration of the small community are a variety of social features the game is lacking. It does not populate Steam's "recent players" list, so you have to manually search for anyone you want to friend, and then sort through the many results. It does not offer in-game voice chat of any kind. It does not offer basic options such as blocking chat from a disruptive player. There is no solution to an idle host, aside from leaving and starting a new lobby. There is no persistent squad chat, as squads are immediately disbanded after each match. Communication mid-game is bolstered by a nice team command broadcast menu, but this can't be assigned to a gamepad like everything else can. Some final notes: Gamepad support is a plus, but the recommended mappings beg to be reassigned immediately. The music is great at first, but the one extended track rapidly becomes repetitive. The tutorial is helpful and gives you a credit boost to start, but is frustratingly segmented. Notice how everything is "good, but...." Bottom line: Unless you are a space combat fanatic, wait for more features and a lower price. You can get a hell of a lot more for $20 out of the Steam catalogue.

Not for the non-dedicated player. It looks great and is pretty responsive. great with a joystick. But not for me. I probably won't ever play it again. Pros: -Responsive -Beautiful -3d wars -lots of options Cons: -Requires time and dedication -Looks immidiately complex -i'm lazy

Simply put this is a great game with superb dogfighting, tons of meaningful customization and much strategic depth! However if you are looking for causal fun where you can just hop in and shoot at some starfighters that's probably not the game for you. It's not very clear from the description but essentially this is a MOBA. That's not a bad thing at all as the MOBA format fits the dogfighting just perfect! So to describe you the mechanics: every match there are two carriers shooting the hell of eachother and here you come with your two fighters trying to destroy the enemy carrier first. In order to be successful you and your teammates should concentrate on one of its 9 parts at a time (2 of which are inside the hull itself!). What's great is that by destroying a part you not only are helping to bring the enemy carrier down but depending of the party you've destroyed that puts the enemy team in a specific disadvantage (for example if you destroy the Ammo Warehouse the enemy team won't be able to fill the ammo of their fighters to the full set). As I mentioned earlier you bring two of your fighter to the match. You can switch between them by docking with the carrier. When docked your fighters get their ammo refilled and their shield gradually recovering. As for the fighters themselves they are fully customisable. Each fighter consists of 12/13 parts (depending on the number of weapons) which you can combine as you see fit. When using the parts in a match that later unlocks upgrades for them and gives you access to new ones. All this give the matches great strategic dept and variety. This may be MOBA but there are no microtransactions. You just pay the price for the game and unlock all your parts by playing. The game mechanics are great but there is something else you should know before considering a purchase. There are not many people playing it. My guess is because the game is somehow demanding of you. You need quite some time to figure things like the combo system, carries layout, the fighter's builds that best fits your playstyle and so on. So if you hop into a game at random time the chance is you will just meet 1 - 2 players playing against bots. However the people playing it are very friendly and are often willing to get out of their way to show you the ropes and make you feel welcome. And because they are so few they organize events so they can log on on the same time and have full scale matches. So it is not that there are not people to play the game with but rather you will be able to paly with them on a specific time. So if the game mechanics seems fun to you and you don't mind making some new friends I can wholeheartedly recommend the game for you.