http://www.thickonline.com/reviews/video_games/index.php?&content_id=6051
What a year it has been for indie games on PC! First we get Orcs Must Die 2, then Legend of Grimrock, and now FTL. This is one of the first games to be released through a Kickstarter campaign…you know, the craze that is taking over the entertainment industry at the moment. Let’s get this out of the way right now, this game is exceptional.
What is FTL you ask? It is a space-based indie RPG game for computer and is a lot more about game play and strategy, than mindless shooting and action.
To begin, you get to name your ship, and your crew members before you set off on your adventures. Let me mention early on that you WILL die in this game and a lot. In these types of games, the fun is in starting over again and trying to get further than you're previous best. It can become really addictive and also incredible satisfying.
Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong for you and your crew members. Whether it’s a pirate ship attacking you, or being boarded by some enemies as you are repairing your ship. During battles and after battles you send your crew to go repair various areas like H20, weapons, medic bay, etc…
It can get very hectic as you are launching a missiles attack at an enemy ship, when all of a sudden your crew members are being set on fire by random outbreaks. You have to keep your wits about you and dig deep to try and get out of some of these situations. You take turns firing at each other in combat, you can pause the action at anytime, and you can also do it in real time if you feel up to the challenge.
FTL really shows that you don't need hundreds of people or millions of dollars to make an enjoyable and deep game. You can tell a good deal of effort went into not only making this game fun and challenging, but making sure the replay value is there. As soon as I die in this game, I am already thinking of what I did wrong, how I could have done it better, and of course what will come up in my next play through?
The only problems I could see people having with this game is its learning curve and the graphics. But for me, neither of those are really issues. The graphics are fine by indie standards (most indie games seem to put game play ahead of graphics). And as for the learning curve, it really depends on the person playing the game. I learned it fairly quickly and there is also a tutorial for those who need some help.
I hope that the developers continue to support this game with updates and game content. It will also be interesting to see what kind of mods eventually come out of the community.
I have had a wonderful experience with FTL and I am sure I’ll be playing this game for many more hours to come.
