First blog post and all that.
FTL! Faster Than Light!
A truly joyful little indie game which I discovered a while back on the Steam roster.
The premise is quite simple: You are captain/omnipotent deity of a spaceship tasked to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other, dodging rebels, engaging in quirky adventures, and bringing crucial intelligence to your superiors.
It feels like the sort of game the Empire would make for propaganda against the Rebel Alliance.
Now, don't let space-fascism put you off from this enjoyable and fun title.
The mechanics are also quite simple: you jump your ship from point to point, each point has an event or mission with a number of pre-defined options to choose from to resolve said problem. This may sound boring and repetitive on paper but it works quite beautifully. The missions are engaging, the dialogue well written, and the consequences of your choices are significant. So significant that a wrong click will in most likelihood doom your mission.
As you gallivant across star systems, you are reminded that you are indeed on the clock by the ever advancing rebel fleet on your tail. If said fleet of evil and anarchy catches up, you pay the price by being ripped apart by much much much stronger ships..
Which brings us to the dynamic portion of the game: The combat.
It is exciting, engaging and at times, quite challenging. A perfect mix really. You attempt to destroy the other ship while protecting your own. A wide variety of armaments will satiate your murder-thirst as you whip up new combinations of weapons to decimate your foes. Oh this game has it all: missiles, lasers, beams of various purposes, teleportation bombs, bigger lasers, drones, boarding crews, LAZERS. You will be quite busy orchestrating death upon your foes while simultaneously avoiding being destroyed and sucked into the infinite oblivion of space.
FTL has quite the replay value. It is fashioned as an arcade game of sorts, with you being tasked to reach a certain objective within limited time/turns. However, the large variety of missions and events available, and the fact that the starmaps are randomised for each playthrough, gives you the incentive to play over and over.
Weaknesses? None really. It delivers what it promises, and that is a fun and engaging time blasting through space and brining peace to the galaxy.
If I had to nitpick, and this is just that, nitpicking, I do wish the game had more ships to unlock and play as. Then again there are what, about ten ships already in game (I haven't even unlocked them all yet, ungrateful little **** that I am) and all of them have different playstyles, again adding to replay value. More alien species? There already are a bunch each with their own abilities, strengths and weaknesses.
I believe what I am trying (and failing) to say is: I want more of this game. I can't get enough. It really is that good.
Piece du resistance: FTL's simplicity. No hi-fi graphics or physx. An incredible soundtrack. Clever writing coupled with smart mechanics.
FTL has made me believe that a video game has absolutely no need to be cutting edge, or be an FPS/MOBA, or have the fanciest graphics, and be "immersive" or "visceral" (ew) to be amazing.
And it is just that: Amazing,
Forever yours
Kelpto
P.S. The beginning of something very mediocre.
