Ultimate Space Commando

If you like games like the old school xcom, jagged alliance, or the old space hulk, you will feel at home and love this game. The randomized elements, different game modes (single mission with different challenges) the big campaign (with meaningfull choices) and defend the base all feel unique and will keep the experience fresh and make you come back for more. The animations could be better but that is pretty much the only flaw in this game, and it is perfectly understandable since it is a one-person project. 8/10, would die because of stupid mistakes again ;)

Not sure why I hadn't any Steam review for this game. That's weird and I even suspect a Steam bug. Anyway, I played the game some years ago, but made 3 full campaigns, played some special missions and challenges, and enjoyed it a lot. For Mac it's dead, I tried multiple time with Wine, at best the game could start and I could start a campaign, but cursor movements was a lot too slow and CPU hungry. For Linux, I don't know, it's probably not working either. But on Windows, I never had any troubles. I'll skip describe in detail the gameplay, in short, you have a roster of soldiers, and you progress through a campaign of missions, some missions are optional and there's a few choices, but you'll probably end make all possible missions. The missions are large maps where you progress with a squad of 4 soldiers you have selected from your roster, and equipped with weapons/ammo/misc you have. It's a fixed roster, a death is definitive, and you can't hire any new soldier. But the ironman isn't forced so you can load back to avoid a death in a mission. It must be quoted that even with such load back the campaign is rather hard even at Normal difficulty, and it's even more challenging for special and challenge missions. What's noteworthy: - Maps are sort of organic because they evolve along the mission. Aliens can gradually dig holes in wall, they can break doors, fire can propagate and generate explosions that could destroy some obstacles, soldiers can push boxes (don't remind for pull) so they can generate surface effects like burning ground during some turns but also acid pool, there's a mechanism of sewer entrances from where enemies can come regularly and you can close them, you can create fire surfaces that will stop some aliens or will make damages to some other aliens that will go through fire. The whole is nothing minor, it really creates combat terrain and mission terrain that evolve in deep during combats and missions, and one part is from enemies actions and another part is from soldiers. - There's a very tuned economy, still working at end of campaign, yeah you can't break it it's too well tuned. It's composed of a shop at the ship, anything you buy can be sold back for same price. Ammo is a major element of the gameplay. During missions you can find many and its made more complex by fire and explosions that can make explode ammo boxes but then you can't pick the ammo. During missions you can find also crafting material, blueprints, sole misc items and even sometimes a weapon. - The missions are well diversified and with a very polished tuning. There's 3 types of missions from procedural generation point of view. Some are very static with only some random aspect coming from items and aliens, but they are the most special missions and the organic aspect of missions can create very different plays. There's some mission with some map random aspect organized around fixed sewer entrances, they are more random but still static enough to allow a very polishing tuning. There's some missions more random, but they are rare, the problem of the dev was to make those ransom maps very distinctive from mission gameplay perspective so they are more rare. - Combats are great, there's many good points, particularly the overwatch system is very well tuned, mixing both a very effective aspect, and avoiding being OP up to push make very slowly any mission. The organic aspects, fire, pushing boxes, more, adda. Add a lot to the gameplay. The collecting of items is fairly well merged to combats and mission progression. - There's a doors lock system based on small puzzles to solve. You can use a consumable to skip this part, but do it always is possible but will be a penalty for expenses and because of some more space used in soldiers limited inventories. You can lower puzzles difficulty with a skill some soldiers can have and train along campaign progression, but at the end you'll still have those puzzles to open many doors that can't be break. I had no trouble with this system, but it's still a mini game in a global game, the global game is rather complex, the mini game is a mini game and sometimes it can be a bit tough. Myself I enjoyed despite I'm not fan of mini games inside big games, but for some players it can be different. Some other aspects I enjoyed: - Story: Even if it's not amazing writing, I still enjoyed the story progression along missions, I found it rather well done. - Roster building: It is based on a fixed roster available at start, it's some skills and some attributes, different for each soldier which give them specialization. Some soldiers start higher level or more skilled. I found the whole rather interesting, and deep enough in context of a tactical game that isn't RPG. Overall it's a great tactical game, with a very polished design, and a very tuned difficulty and gameplay design of each mission. Even the global campaign difficulty is very tuned by a constant precise design. The counter aspect is to achieve this level of control on difficulty, the procedural generation is more restricted, but at least there's some. The great combats, the organic gameplay of the missions, the great economy, ammo and inventory management, all of this makes a great tactical game, easily among the best I ever played.

ULTIMATE SPACE COMMANDO =USC= (2015) Spread Freedom Throughout Space; Warning, it will not be easy https://youtu.be/Yai97kh2HOM Adventure into Space to Conflict with The Alien, send the corps I chose the path of fire and flame, A mission of chaos, a deadly game. The enemy waits, a beast to defy, An alien creature, under a blood-red sky. With my team assembled, we’re built to destroy, A squad of the fiercest, each combatant a toy. I chose the loadout, weapons to maim, Explosives and lasers, prepared for the flame. I lead with my rifle, swift and precise, A pulse grenade ready to slice through the ice. My techie at the helm, shields to protect, While the heavy hits hard, bringing the wreck. We crash through the atmosphere, fast as the night, The alien horde, bathed in cold light. We strike with fury, we strike with might, Every step, every shot, an unstoppable fight. We breach the gates, tearing them down, Crushing their towers, making them drown. Each blast we unleash is a symphony of pain, Their city burns, and we leave no remains. My commando’s sharp, swift as a blade, In the shadows of chaos, no fear is displayed. Every move is calculated, each strike is pure, I take what I want, and make them endure. Through their defenses, we cut like a knife, Annihilation is our purpose, destruction our life. The creature awaits, but it’s far too late, We’ve torn through its empire, sealed its fate. Our mission is clear, our victory sweet, The enemy’s power, we have brought to defeat. For every war, every battle we win, We leave behind chaos and start it again.

Wish there were more of these games!

You can read a compared review with Templar Battleforce here http://steamcommunity.com/groups/ReviewersGuild/discussions/0/385429125014825200/ [h1]Setting and Story[/h1] The single player campaign is about an elite commando-like group of soldiers, stranded in space after a ship breakage, and having to confront an horde of aliens that have taken over the planet on which the ship crashed. The goal, or at least the intention, is to get back to civilization safe and sound. Dialogue mostly happens at the beginning of missions, and is of little importance. 5/10 [h1]Game Modalities[/h1] There are also alternative game modes (defend the base/play random map) the can be played on co-op. The campaign itself is around 30h or more, the replay value is also quite good. 7/10 [h1]Character Development, Stats & Equipment[/h1] There aren't different classes, but different ranks based on the experience level. You gain more experience on the field, depending on inflicted damage, and special actions, such as hacking secure doors, closing hatches, etc. When soldiers gain a level of experience, they get skill points to distribute on a number of skills (melee/small arms/heavy weapons, reaction, engineering, biochemistry and all sorts of skills you can expect in a turn based game). Different soldiers have also a specialization, that makes them better in a certain role. New equipment is salvaged from the field, including blueprints for new kinds of ammo, new weapons, new gear or special weapon prototypes. Moreover, on the field you'll be able to salvage special components used to craft prototypes or other gear. This feature is slightly annoying because you have to manually pick everything up, it get tedious especially for screws and other crafting material. Another aspect to ponder is that the gear found on the field can be extremely random. In my first playthrough, I found the automated turret (a very powerful piece of equipment) near the end of the campaign, while in my second run I found it in the second mission. There's a good variety of weapons and ammo types. 7/10 [h1]Combat and Gameplay[/h1] The combat system is indeed the core of the game. The most peculiar aspect is that all weapons have distinct fire modes, that in turn may have different firing patterns (for example 'star' means cardinal direction plus diagonals, 'free' can reach any square that isn't blocked etc.) and different area of effect (single square, 3x3, 5x5, along a line etc.). I was sceptical at first because I wanted to be able to shoot everywhere my line of sight allowed me to, but after a while I can say it's a very good system, it makes all weapons uique and soldiers with different weapons will have to cover different roles. There's also a wide range of ammunition calibres and types (incendiary, armor piercing, marker tranquilizing, etc). You'll often find ammo crates or kerosene barrels, that can catch fire and explode. Morale plays also a big role, there's a morale requirement for anything that isn't shooting (moving, using items, entering defend mode, etc.) Many lesser aliens leave on death a radioactive substance that will poison you if you enter a square covered with it (you can clear it with fire or moving a crate over the said square). And fire, that can damage you and the aliens. Pathfinding is quite good, dangerous square (with fire or radiation) will be avoided by default, and the UI will warn you if you will take damage in your chosen path. Another big plus is that there is a real lighting system: aliens in the dark, when they can be seen, are more difficult to hit. Later in the game, a kind of alien appears that projects darkness all around itself, making it and the nearby aliens much more difficult to hit (there's a pistol that can shoot flare ammunition). Most missions are of the 'seek and destroy' type, only a few have some more interesting goal. 9/10 [h1]Graphics and Sound [/h1] Graphics are in pure 2D, the alien sprites and the backgrounds are well drawn, your soldiers not as much. Animations are non-existent, except for explosions. The music of the main menu sets the right atmosphere, but the in-game music does everything it can to ruin it. Sound effects on the other hand are very good, again with the exception of the voices of your soldiers when they're wounded. 5/10 [h1]User Interface[/h1] Very old-fashioned. There is a total lack of tool-tips, and the tutorial doesn't help you much to understand it. There's no way to know if an alien has been poisoned or suffers damage over time, or its armor. Sometimes you can read its hit points (probably skill-related). There are also some 'undocumented' features, by pure chance I discovered I could split stacks in my inventory right-clicking on an empty square. On the plus side, all keys are customizable. After you get used to it, it's all right, but a less wordy and more to-the-point tutorial would help you understand it better. 5/10 [h1]Enemies' Variety, AI & Difficulty [/h1] The basic enemy types are not plentiful, but each of them can be seen in a lot of varieties. Some of them may have increased armor, health, action points, life stealing attacks, explode after death and other attributes. They are named in a way that remembers Tales of Maj'Eyal. Interestingly, the most powerful aliens will have their turn split in two phases, the second of which is processed after all other aliens have moved. 6/10 [h1]Interactivity of the Environment [/h1] Pretty much everything on the field is destructible, you can also pull or push crates or barrels around to raise a barricade or to clear radiation. You can pick objects from the ground, or pass them from soldier to soldier. I've already mentioned the lighting system. Definitely one of the strong points of the game. 8/10 [h1]Immersion[/h1] Immersion isn't too good, mostly because of the lacking music and the thin background story. Also, it takes some time to get used to the interface, the firing patterns and the various gameplay elements. The developer has a sympathy for ducks, and in the maps you'll find some 'vendor machines' that can boost your health, action points or morale. This can take away a bit of the 'seriousness' and/or the immersion, depending on your tastes, but I can't say it bothered me. Could be better, but not too important. 6/10 [h1]Bugs[/h1] Unfortunately it hasn't been a bug-free experience for me. There are some CTDs, luckily harmless because the games always saves before crashing. I suggest you don't use the abort/redo mission feature, because it gave me some nuisances. Only start a mission when you're ready. The developer is present in the forum if you need help, but some bugs still have to be fixed. 5/10 [h1] BOTTOM LINE [/h1] It takes time to appreciate it. Very challenging at the highest difficulty setting, there are some multiplayer options (that I didn't test) for those who look for some online co-op fun. I have the impression that a game/campaign editor would greatly benefit the game, but at this time there is none. Rather uneven in its delivery, but tactical combat is definitely brilliant. The price is probably excessive at 20$, maybe reflecting the fact that it's a one-man (woman) project that has been in development for some years. Because of there rare but annoying bugs, you'll also need to be more patient than usual. [h1] 7/10 [/h1] (if you are a very old-school gamer you can add a point)

superbe jeu en tour par tour a l ancienne graphisme tres simple mais compense par un gameplay et une difficulte tactique brillante nombreuses armes ennemis maps bravo

Writing this review so that others get a proper perspective of this. Casual gamer for over 20 years. I see other reviews have mentioned X-com, Jagged Alliance, etc. This is NOT close to any of those. Always start a game on easy to get a feel for it. Cannot complete FIRST mission: Aliens galore Not enough Ammo 6 Shots to kill an Itti - Bitty worm (If you manage to hit it - at point blank range?) I'm sorry, this game does not cut it as a strategic rpg. Before you can even move; you are overrun with enemies. The developers have made a good effort; but back to the drawing board I'm afraid.

Inspired by good ancient Space Crusade (even models look very alike) and Incubation/Alien etc. With the true spirit of Warhammer 40 000. Modern similar project - Templar Battleforce. A bit clunky and outdated UI and many bugs (freezes, crashes) - but one still can play! The process itself is nice as hell. There really is tactic! Very well balanced: it's comlicated but not not tedious. Strongly recommed for everyone who likes to dive in a game and live there, like it was in times before this one.

Have logged a few hours, both on & off Steam. This is game is very well designed & easy to setup & play. I really enjoy playing the "single missions". This game offers a variety of settings to include designing & tweaking your squads. The random maps insure endless replay-ability as per one's surroundings. The "seeding numbers" per each map allow one to share his/her "world" to play as a challenge. Of course; the best part is multiplayer co-op & head to head battles, which can be done via online or...HOTSEAT. :) As any game ( pc or board ) is dependent on its' ability to provide an entertaining challenge...USC scores a 10 from me. I will add, There are many very good videos on You Tube which highlight the many facets of this game.

its a damn puzzle