This game is NOT to be slept on, but it is not $30.
The Music, atmosphere, effects, etc. is so unique and immersive. Sometimes it's easy for me to forget the game is literally just a map and 2D box arenas, because the world has a way of drawing me in.
Every weapon has their own respective requirements of the ship, and the player. I.e a weapon could require X amount of power, Y amount of crew, and Z amount of ammo loaders
X - will be from generators
Y - will be from Crew Quarters
Z - refers to what's reloading your gun in the first place
Then there's scanning equipment, anti-missile stuff, fire extinguishers, fuel, etc.
Most of these things are in the shape of boxes, rectangles, and triangles. Meaning that making ships is kinda like legos, just adding piece by piece based on what kind of ship you need for your playstyle. Like having a super duper fast lightweight ship but has a limited range of weapons, no sensors, etc. Vs a large, Cannon-mounted, Nuclear missile-primed war vessel, with long-range scanners, gargantuan fuel tanks, and artillery that could rip apart a fighter ship with one mouse click, HOWEVER, is expensive to restock aaaall those weapons, fuel, missiles, fighter planes, etc.
You're at point A, Go all the way to point Z, and tread carefully with your sonar and your "footprint" (if you will) as to not alert your attention to roaming, patroling oppositions with STRONG ships. Throughout the game you can perform a minigame to decode messages the ships send to one another. It could be a patrol, it could be cargo ship just waiting to be looted, it could be a group that's spotted your location. All of this and your surveillance tools is how you will basically stealth your way to the end, while being able to ambush your opponent to be able to land to a town, restock, repair, and whatever unique bonus that town may have.
(Not gonna spend too much time on this, but you can also launch missiles across the map, as well as fighter planes. Both obviously deal damage, but is another way to scout your surroundings without being fully detected.)
There are many other little game mechanics i haven't even gotten into in relation to the story, but everything again related to the story is stuff that tldr i think is fun or interesting, but i would be a liar if i said that this game is perfect and these things need to be addressed
1 - capped framerate. that will always be a negative to me period but it's not a terrible thing
2 - when all the ships are together in a group, no problem. When you start splitting them up and start using planes, in my opinion the controls start getting really janky, REALLY fast. And this is a terrible thing when you only have so much precious fuel to get from one location to another. And mind you: if you're out of fuel, you're ♥♥♥♥♥♥. As in can't finish the game ♥♥♥♥♥♥. so every "no don't go there go HERE" is just increasing your chance to be stranded between towns. Splitting your crew to do more advanced things on the map isn't impossible, but in my opinion the jank alone removes the incentive.
3 - look, i like difficult games, but this is just ball crushing. Having a crew spot you from your recklessness is one thing (and is very fun!), but having 8 ship-tearing, semi-homing missiles, and 10 bomb-dropping fighter jets, launched BACK to BACK like a row of ants from MILES across the map because you couldn't ambush a town in time out of pure chance, you have 0 fuel, and you HAVE to sit there for HOURS to restock, repair, refuel, etc. is just downright not fun. I don't feel punished for my recklessness at that point, i just feel punished for even playing the game. Like just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ can you tone it down just a notch? Just one notch?
4 - all of this can honestly be forgiven if the majority of my current playtime wasn't just trying to blindly figure out what i'm doing in the first place. I don't like handholding whatsoever, but a game should be able to intuitively teach you how to play; to learn smoothly as you go, but of course constantly put you to the test. The tutorial if anything only teaches you things that you honestly would have figured out on your own, but not the things that actually matter to survive unless it's already too late.
That's not fun. Look, I'm sorry but i have a job, and things to do. I don't have all the time in the world to figure these things out completely blind outside of youtube saints and just dying over and over again. I like dying because i failed to execute what the game taught me, not because i just downright don't even know how to do a game mechanic that the game could have easily taught. You're going to pause my entire gameplay to tell me how to turn off the radar, but not how to deploy planes smoothly and bring them back? Little things like that get frustrating, REALLY quick.
But look, i'm telling you, PLEASE do not sleep on this game!!! If you have the time to practice, study, and learn, this is a game that you just won't ever forget. But please, respect yourself and get a sale. This game is good, but it is NOT $30 good.
