Rebel Galaxy

[noiseredux]

this game just came out - have y'all heard about it? I guess it's kind of like a lite space sim. Or a more arcadey version of a space sim. Everything is more simiplified. Anyway, that sort of appeals to me in a ease-yourself-in kind of way. Stuff like Elite Dangerous is certainly alluring, but also rather intimidating. And this does look really pretty. And it's pretty cheap.

[Pulsar_t]

Has a certain Firefly flair to it too, albeit with more scaly aliens

[Tanooki]

That's the space game that just dropped on GoG isn't it? I wishlisted it for later as it looks interesting despite not being my usual thing. I like my space games with weapons usually small ship based like Wing Commander or those Star Wars titles from that era too.

Something about it just looks compelling with the mix of finding stuff and firefights.

[MrPopo]

I'm about 4 hours into this and was going to put up some thoughts in random gaming, but I guess I'll put it here instead.

The game definitely has a Firefly vibe, down to the music. They're certainly going for space wild west in terms of the setting. In terms of the gameplay, it takes a lot of cues from Freelancer. You have the option of doing missions (which so far have been delivery to a station, retrieve a jettisoned crate, or blow up enemies), engaging in the commodities market and try to make a profit trading, bounty hunting (certain enemies give a reward when killed), mining, or general piracy. There is a main storyline but the game is very nice about letting you ignore it; unlike Freelancer you can explore the entire playable area from the get go (once you spend the money on a jump drive).

The biggest difference from Freelancer is the combat. Rather than piloting a single-man ship you start off with a light corvette and the sizes go up from there, all the way to dreadnaught. To facilitate this, your ship is restricted to a single 2D plane. Your ship is outfitted with main broadside guns as well as one or more turrets. The broadside guns are intended for fighting against other capital ships naval style (though if you catch a fighter/gunship that's flying through its arc of fire it's quite effective). The turrets have a wider arc and can hit more stuff. Turrets come in several varieties, some good against fighters, some good against capitol ships. You can set the AI on the turrets to restrict what they attack, and you have the option to jump into your turrets and manually target them. The combat is fairly active; maneuvering is important, you have a temporary boost as well as a forcefield that can be raised temporarily (or until it takes too much damage). This forcefield shuts off your weapons while raised but is good for blocking a missile or weathering fire before you come into range.

You have reputations with the various factions which are impacted by what missions you do (and who you kill). You can certainly become friends with the pirates, though that'll piss off other people.

[MrPopo]

Ooo, something awesome I forgot to mention: ships and equipment buys and sells for the same price. If you buy a weapon that costs 5,000 then you can sell it for 5,000. Thus if you don't like a ship/piece of equipment you haven't lost anything by using it. Only the commodities market has variable pricing and different buy and sell prices.

[Tanooki]

Wow that sounds good, and I've never heard of a game that buys/sells at the same rate as they always are made to rip you off in return value on the after market in games like this and RPGs in general too. I like that, you can test and if it sucks, dump without being punished other than repairs/lost time.

[Gunstar Green]

I just plowed through the story, as I could not stop playing this game. It took me about 25 hours and I spent some time just taking in the game and enjoying it. Someone might be able to do it quicker than that if they're better at making money than me or if they're hardcore enough to beat the story with a weaker ship.

This game is really fantastic, one of my favorites of the year. I'd been keeping my eye on the release ever since seeing the trailer. It succeeds where a lot of space games these days fail as it gives you a fun world to play in that you buy exists due to the infectious atmosphere. It takes space western even more literally than Firefly and its cowboy buttrock will inspire you to wrecklessly charge into danger for no other reason than the musical cues make you feel like doing it.

I love simulations like Elite: Dangerous but there's definitely room for games like this that offer the same ideas in a much more casual, inviting and fun package. It throws any type of realism out the window in order to deliver a fun, colorful space fantasy. Though don't take that the wrong way. This game is seriously challenging and it only saves when you leave stations meaning if you get a little too cocky you could lose lots of progress when you inevitably blunder into a bad situation and get blown to smithereens.

Freelancer was definitely the main inspiration, though with a less serious tone and in my opinion better thought out gameplay especially in regards to trading and the economy. It's almost never lacking action and while some systems are more difficult than others you'll frequently jump back and forth making it a lot less linear. I also found it interesting that each save has its own procedurally generated sector of space to prevent people from figuring out lucrative trade routes and posting online, not that they could anyway since the economy is always in a constant state of flux.

The story was probably one of the weaker aspects, it's not that it's bad it's just sort of there. The initial mystery serves well as a vehicle to move you through the game and teach you how to play, but while it starts out promising it flattens out in the end. That's unfortunately one of the other things it has in common with Freelancer. I guess I was just so invested in the universe they created that I wanted there to be more to the characters and really that says more about how great the game is than anything else.

Unlike Freelancer though which I was completely done with when I finished the story, I could definitely see myself jumping back into this to keep playing the non-story missions, enjoying the gameplay and getting bigger and badder ships just for the hell of it.

If you like space games and especially space westerns then $20 (or the $17 I paid during the launch sale) feels like robbery.

[MrPopo]

What size ship did you end up with when you wrapped up the story? I just snagged myself a heavy destroyer.

[noiseredux]

Damn, you guys are gonna get me to play this.

[Gunstar Green]

What size ship did you end up with when you wrapped up the story? I just snagged myself a heavy destroyer.

I got a destroyer from a Militia base. One of those ships with the long horizontal engine in the back. Once I was in that I was happy and just kept upgrading it. My equipment was a mix of MK4 and 5.

The threat level was "High" for the very last leg of the game but I went for it anyway and that probably made it more fun for me than overpowering everything in a better ship.

I also hired a mercenary in the final system who was really badass. Which is another thing I forgot to mention, mercenaries. They don't add much really but it's cool having a little gunship buddy.

Damn, you guys are gonna get me to play this.

Do iiiit. It's got a lot of bang for the buck.