After my best run in the game, my ship was left with two crew members. A human named Steven, and a bug(Mantis, a race of... bugs) named Charlie. They stood in the med bay not being able to get out. Stuck in a ship, far in the deep reaches of space. The oxygen generator was busted and the ships O2 levels dropped to 0%. Moving out of the med bay would mean certain death. So there they stood in space... FTL is rather unforgiving that way. The recently released on Steam indie title is what they call a space ship management game. It's not a genre that's common... at all.
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| As you unlock achievements, you gain new ships and layout types for your ship |
I've been completely hooked to this game ever since purchasing it. It’s been keeping me away from playing bigger triple A games that I've recently purchased such as Total War: Shogun 2 Fall of The Samurai, The Witcher 2, Counter Strike: GO etc. If a tiny indie title could do this, it’s really just that good. It’s not entirely complicated like a strategy game, in fact it’s not calling itself that. It’s a hybrid of a rogue like; a game with lots of random elements, generated worlds, excruciating difficulty, and perma-death. A throwback to old school hardcore games.
But that’s where the similarities to rogue likes end. FTL takes place in spaaaaaaaaaace(Portal 2 reference for those that don’t get it), and you’re the commander of a federation ship. You are on the run from the rebel fleet that is closing in on you and you must get to the federation fleet to give them important data. That’s all quite secondary really, and story is not where FTL is going to sink its hooks in you.
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| Combat is a tactical affair where you put your bets on a particular strategy by targeting a sub system. Pray that it works. |
Controlling a space ship isn't just a matter of clicking on different sliders and buttons. In FTL, it is your crew that does all the work. Assign crew members to work in the shield arrays, weapons room, engine room or be the pilot. Each can be critical to defeating an enemy or just plain necessary(you obviously can’t jump out of a planet without a pilot). This is where all the chaos and mayhem happens in FTL, cue Benny Hill theme.
This emphasis on the performance of your crew is what makes FTL different from other strategy/management games as your ship does well or dies because of them(the game is real time by the way, you can pause it to give orders and study the situation). It’s not extremely complicated, easy to pick up and play quick rounds and you just get the mechanics the first time you play it. Just like in the XCOM games, you can rename your crew for a more personal touch.
"You feel an empathy for your crew and its charming simplistic art style endears you to FTL"
And just like in XCOM, you can lose your crew in many multiple ways. Die from a fire, die from suffocation, die from invaders, die from a hull breach. You feel an empathy for your crew and its charming simplistic art style endears you to FTL(I wished the graphics were just a tad bit better, but no biggie). They also gain experience working on a subsystem so it pays to keep them alive to work your ship to full efficiency.
FTL forces you to manage your resources like fuel which you use to jump from sector to sector. The more jumps you make the more you use up fuel but the less jumps you make, you also earn less scrap and other trinkets that will give your crew experience and allow you to upgrade your ship. It’s a toss up between the two. Upgrading your ship can be the difference between life and death as each jump to another sector means more difficult challenges that await to tear your ship apart, like my hatred for chick lit (how I imagine tearing up chick lit books).
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| When things go wrong, it goes really wrong |
FTL never hits you in the head with pomp presentation or giving you a gentle nudge, holding your hand while going through the beginnings of what you might think to be a jolly romp around space. No... it violently kicks you in the tush and hopes you learn from your mistakes and deaths... time and time again. Perhaps... in FTL... death is inevitable. It is the march towards inevitable death.
"Despite it’s propensity to put your space romp in a coffin, FTL is madly addictive, you can never get enough of it and it will stop you from playing other games"
If that wasn't difficult enough, it is completely randomised. Your encounters, quests, planets, sectors are never the same in each run, constantly keeping you on your feet. Sometimes it can be bloody unfair, but you deal with it(like those damn solar flares). It’s not a game for babies. But despite it’s propensity to put your space romp in a coffin, FTL is madly addictive, you can never get enough of it and it will stop you from playing other games. Achievements and unlocks are just the right motivator to keep you at it... dying... again and again.
FTL stands alone as a unique roguelike that is addictive, simple to pick up, and just plain brilliant. It doesn't inundate you with complexity, but its simplicity and randomness makes for long replay value that will keep you glued to your monitors. You just can’t have enough of FTL... just another run.
Pros:
- Easy to learn and play
- Amazing music
- No single strategy for doing well
- Random universe leads to an unpredictable game(good thing in a roguelike)
- Games are quick
- Fulfils the inner space geek in me
- Combat is varied with different type of enemies that requires different tactics
- Constantly makes you rethink your tactics and strategies
- Addictive as hell
Cons:
- Graphics while cute, could have been better in certain parts
- Will become a time vampire
- Doesn't have that many cons
Verdict: Will make Jean-Luc Picard cry! And also an FTL addict.
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