I'm a 1980s kid. I recognize many of the games that influenced this, but I did not play them myself. I've been catching up in the modern era. 3030 Deathwar is one of the best space games I have played.

Admittedly, it's not perfect. Procedural station missions are where the bulk of the money is made, but they don't seem to take the stats of one's current ship into account. For instance, cargo space never matters outside of holding extra fuel and the destination range doesn't seem to extend with ship speed. Meanwhile, there's a limit of 4 simultaneous missions so it's never made up for in bulk. Fortunately, the ship/upgrade prices are balanced such that the grind isn't excessive. It just makes the ships feel less rewarding.

Outside of stations, mining seemed nigh useless even with sensors and trading felt like too much manual tracking. Salvaging, however, at least provided a distraction and allowed items like nebula sector maps to found. All three of these activities give a reason to actually have that cargo space if you're interested.

The flying is fun. Momentum and turn rate are considered. There's obstacles to avoid, debris to shoot, and ship traffic for you to use your best judgement on. Dogfighting can be performed with a front-facing gun and/or a turret while split engines double as quick dodges.

The campaign is light, but enjoyable. The jokes, thankfully, are not as full of pop culture references as the visual art of the NPC species wandering the galaxy. (Don't worry about those Steam workshop ship mods breaking immersion.) I spent about 20 hours. There is no real replay value. However, it is possible to continue playing in the open world once the story has ended. I bought a ship just under the highest tier, flew it out of the station, and closed the program in high spirits.

I'm a 1980s kid. I recognize many of the games that influenced this, but I did not play them myself. I've been catching up in the modern era. 3030 Deathwar is one of the best space games I have played. Admittedly, it's not perfect. Procedural station missions are where the bulk of the money is made, but they don't seem to take the stats of one's current ship into account. For instance, cargo space never matters outside of holding extra fuel and the destination range doesn't seem to extend with ship speed. Meanwhile, there's a limit of 4 simultaneous missions so it's never made up for in bulk. Fortunately, the ship/upgrade prices are balanced such that the grind isn't excessive. It just makes the ships feel less rewarding. Outside of stations, mining seemed nigh useless even with sensors and trading felt like too much manual tracking. Salvaging, however, at least provided a distraction and allowed items like nebula sector maps to found. All three of these activities give a reason to actually have that cargo space if you're interested. The flying is fun. Momentum and turn rate are considered. There's obstacles to avoid, debris to shoot, and ship traffic for you to use your best judgement on. Dogfighting can be performed with a front-facing gun and/or a turret while split engines double as quick dodges. The campaign is light, but enjoyable. The jokes, thankfully, are not as full of pop culture references as the visual art of the NPC species wandering the galaxy. (Don't worry about those Steam workshop ship mods breaking immersion.) I spent about 20 hours. There is no real replay value. However, it is possible to continue playing in the open world once the story has ended. I bought a ship just under the highest tier, flew it out of the station, and closed the program in high spirits.