Deck & Conn

Having a ton of fun so far. I have wanted a game like this for a while. Will update my review as i play more. Very Addicting.

So far, so good! Even with only a cursory start, I love the look and feel of this game. I particularly like the skeuomorphism, with everything having chunky, text-heavy interfaces like computers from the late 1970s/early 1980s, which is the style this game has always been aiming for. The layout and depth of coordination are very similar to HighFleet’s map view, and so it’s fitting that the two games are available as a package deal. I’m not normally a turn-based strategy person, but I think it’s very well done here as it lets you think through everything without getting bogged down by the intentionally obtuse UI. Think FTL meets Carrier Command meets Nebulous: Fleet Command, without being as overwhelming as any of those three on their own. Another fine feather in Microprose’s cap as [i]the[/i] publisher for tastefully true-to-earth sci-fi naval sims. 9/10

This feels a lot like Trade Wars on a BBS or FTL with more control over where you go. Nice strategic depth during combat; it feels like your choices matter (including the occasional bad choice!)

I will agree the lack of save option during a patrol is a problem. I actually missed this during my review as I didnt try to save the game during a patrol so hadnt encountered the problem myself yet. That being said I would still say this game is easily worth the price of admission. It's 12 now and 15 at full price. For such a cost I am not expecting a AAA game that will keep giving me content for years to come. I wanted to have that old school feel and solid gameplay. This game does deliver that. I do believe they need to tweak the mission generator (along with adding as save) as a first update. Ive seen a couple of complaints about getting the same patrol multiple times, but the patrol they are mentioning isnt the patrols I have been given. That tells me that there are many different patrols but for whatever reason the game keeps repeating the one you are given. I think you might be given a general "go here" order, but then it becomes random events after that. At least that is what I have seen. I have been given "patrol B1" more than once, but what happens when I get there is different each time. Regardless dont let the detractors fool you. There is a lot to like here and more depth than is obvious at first. The lacking a save option though is a serious mistep that needs to be corrected.

Id say its pretty good sized for 15 bucks I have played 3 patrols in about 5 hours and it says you can do 8, so far so good, reminds me of s simplified sub game, I would warn if you are expecting a big 20 hour campaign, or varied scenarios you will be disappointed. I think it is a good base of a game and I would be interested to see if they add DLC for more weapons systems or scenarios in the future.

Still kind of bare bones and repetitive. But that's the nature of simulation and sandbox games. Even Skyrim was blamed to have short main questline and no easy to follow guidelines at the time. A good sidetracking with nostalgia fetching cosmetics.

I've enjoyed playing. Finished one patrol (apparently a bit early) after being blown to smithereens in a previous one. Look forward to getting some more time to play.