Recent reviews by Damage Control

Buy this game. The core mechanics and the feel of combat are fantastic. This is some of the most fun gameplay I have experienced in a long time. If the developers follow their roadmap and flesh this game out over time as they plan to, this will become an amazing game. I am very glad I found this diamond in the rough; all thanks to an AngryJoe preview.

This game has the potential to be amazing. At launch, however, that potential is unrealized. The matchmaking and lobby system are an absolute disaster. I have a bit over 2 hours in this game, and in that time I have spent about and hour and 15 minutes looking for matches and about 45 minutes actually playing the game. In over 2 hours of time I have managed just 2 games. That is absurd any way you look at it.

The problem boils down to this:

-Games are hosted client-side by the Killer, who opens a lobby and waits for four Surviors to fill it. The server ends as soon as the game ends. You then have to go through the MMing all over again to find a new game.

-Playing the Killer is way more appealing than playing the Survivors, and you need FOUR times as many Survivors as you do Killers in matchmaking for equalilbrium. The numbers are obviously no where near that, thus resulting in extremely long queue times. tl:dr too many people want to play Killer.

-There is no party system in place, so you have to time when you enter the queue and hope you end up with friends. This results in a Killers lobby being filled with 4 Survivors (after a several minutes wait), only to have 2 of them immediately back out when they realize they aren't with their friends. The remaining 2 survivors stick around for a bit, but when nobody else shows up after a few minutes they invetibly leave as well, leaving the Killer to start the process all over.

I think the game needs to move to a dedicated server system, where players stick around after matches and the Killer rotates. I know I would be a lot more willing to queue as a Survivor if I knew eventually I would be able to play as a Killer without having to go through MMing again.

As it stands, if you want to play as a Killer, good freaking luck.

I have played this game for about 12 hours thusfar and I am going to offer up a concise, honest review at this point:

This game is a hell of a lot of fun. Not even "For an alpha" or "Taking into consideration how early it is in development." It is a hell of a lot of fun for a game, period. Having said that, it IS an alpha. There are some balance issues, missing features, and it is a bit rough around the edges......but it's an alpha....that is the point. Updates are frequent, issues get addressed quickly, and engagement with the community is high. This game is quite clearly going to turn into something very special, and to be able to jump in on the fun now, for under 8 bucks, is an absolute steal.

Some meat: The ship types are varied and interesting, with distinct roles, functions, and designs. The designs are bit more realistic than what people are typically used to, so they will look weird at first...but they grow on you. The combat is smooth and the game mechanics are solid. Essentially you fight via 2 side lanes to lock down a jumppoint at the end of the lane that enables you to jump to the enemy base and cap it. Along the way in the lane there are 3 cappable points that give resources, which are used to level up. The third middle "lane" is a capturable station that gives your team a buff when capped, but only becomes cappable every so often. Other game modes are being worked on, as are other maps.

Combat is insanely fun, wheather you play as a railgun toting Sniper, a cloaking and ambushing Assassin, a floating fortress Flagship, a run and gun Frigate, a bullying Enforcer, or one of the other classes (8 in all, lots more coming). Snipers can see and shoot clear across the lane, but the lane is literred with asteriods that allow ships to approach via cover.....unless they want to cap one of the points, in which case they must skirt across the open for a bit. But while they are doing that, an Assassin is inevitably making his way to the Sniper, using a combination of cloaking and asteriod cover. Some classes have the ability to blink (teleport) , others can speed up cap speeds, others can snare/immobilize enemies, others can heal, others can detect cloacked enemies....to name just a few. It all unfolds with surprisingly good rock-paper-scissor balance....except way more complicated. Each of the 8 classes bring a unique feel and purpose.

Anyways, I wanted this to be short, but I see I could not do that. Too many good things to say about this game. In short, if you love space combat, get this game.