Faster than light races11/12/2022 Many other developers have checked all of these boxes before though, and few games have the lasting appeal that FTL does. The concept is original and fun, the gameplay mechanics are well-balanced, and the difficult challenges never feel unfair. The combat drew me in, but the infinite replay-ability kept me enthralled.īeyond what I’ve written here, it’s hard to explain just what makes FTL so great. If the moment-to-moment action is the first compelling part of this game, the roguelike design and inherent randomness to each run is the second. Some procedurally-generated games feel cheap and lazy, but the random levels feel handcrafted every time. However, the game’s procedural design and random events allow each play through to be different, and Subset games executes this element perfectly. I’ve reached the endgame a few times, and the inevitable defeat there always sends me back to a starting point devoid of my precious upgrades and crew. I can chart my way through most of the universe well enough, but I’m not good at adapting once I’ve lost a few crew members or weapon systems.ĭefeat is a constant in FTL, and the game’s roguelike system means that it can be emotionally crushing. Firing weapons and maintaining shields is easy enough, but when other ships possess enough firepower to knock out player weapons (or, even worse, the oxygen), the game’s real-time mechanics quickly shift toward “unforgiving.” Personally, I always seem to hit a wall about two-thirds of the way through. The combat has a distinct rhythm to it, and there are tangible rewards to upgrading weapons and adding crew members.Īs players progress further and further into the universe, the combat gets much more difficult. Firing weapons is easy, and making sure that the shields are always powered up is similarly so. The game operates in real time, and players control the engine, shields, and weapons of various starships (there is only one at first, but more are unlockable). That moment-to-moment action is the first truly compelling part of FTL. There is also a lightly sketched out backstory of how these different races interact with each other, building a believable concept that adds depth to the moment-to-moment action. This on its own wouldn’t be enough to build a compelling universe, but Subset games populated its various worlds with different races, all of which are distinctly separate from the “normal” humans that players start out with. Players control a Federation starship on the run from the rebels that is tasked with delivering critical information. From then on, despite a singular lack of skill, I have greatly enjoyed every moment spent in its randomly-generated, punishing, and always-intriguing universe.įTL is light on story, but what’s there is compelling enough. The game kept popping up on “best-of” lists for iPad games however, and I eventually took the plunge. I’ve always had a tenuous relationship with strategy games, and I normally prefer navigating one character in a game to navigating multiple. When I first saw FTL on Steam, I was unimpressed.
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