Isolation & Collision in Space
When I finished Rebel Galaxy, I thought, "I'm not quite sure why I played that for 24 hours. The amount of missions is barebones, all the systems felt the same, and combat was simple & easy. I wish there was more meat on it so I could have an excuse to play more."
A day later, I relaunched it and happily played it for 3 more hours.
Rebel Galaxy gets away with a lot because it nails the emotions of space. Fights are up-close and visceral, loud country rock punctuated by explosions erupting all around you as you pull up alongside an enemy capital ship and unload everything into them. Haunting instrumental themes emphasize the isolation of salvaging derelict craft in an abandoned minefield or traveling the long routes between two stations. While most spaceship sims try to realistically emulate space, Rebel Galaxy tries to show how we think of space.
Let's start with the biggest break with reality Rebel Galaxy has: using a 2D plane instead of 3D. You couldn't make a game feel like this in 3D. People don't handle 3D navigation well; the mere act of moving along 3 axes requires thought and disengages you from enjoying it. You could make it easier by including an autopilot, but that detaches players from the feel of actually piloting a craft. Piloting's not just a matter of pointing it at your destination and hitting Warp, either; you can still steer in warp, swerving around (or stopping to investigate) obstacles. A 5-minute trip in Rebel Galaxy can involve passing by an ice field, 3 asteroid belts, a distress signal, and 2 pirate fleets duking it out, which makes it feel like you actually traveled a ways. You wouldn't encounter most of those en route if everything wasn't squashed to 2D.
Combat is similarly unrealistic. Not only do ships stick to a 2D plane, but your capital ship is fast. Potentially faster-than-fighters fast. Combined with the large number of weapons that have short ranges, it's rather obvious the game wants you to pull up alongside enemy capitals, unload everything you have into their broadside, and slip out before your shields fail. Meanwhile, the AI is firing your turrets at the half-dozen fighters & bombers buzzing around you, and the result is a laser show with explosions. It's a glorious bloody mess, the unholy union of close-range fighter combat and the hulking behemoths typically relegated to long-range volleys. When I'm out of combat, I mull over how easy and kind of mindless it is. In combat, I'm going, "Laser those fighters to ashes! Now accelerate and ram that dreadnought! UNLOAD EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT! AHAHAHAHA!" I'm not surprised the creators also worked on Diablo.
Although there's alternate activities to earn money, like mining, salvaging wrecks, and trade, the game always focuses on traveling and combat. Even mining lasers and giant cargo freighters are deadly threats in their own right, so you can have your cake and blow up theirs, too. (Like Dead Space, this game realizes mining tools are dangerous.) Even trade involves combat, not just by fighting pirates trying to loot your cargo, but by blowing up special ships or breaking sieges to influence economic events. These events make trade dynamic, interesting, and profitable enough to justify buying several tons of pure water to sell as a side job while you're traveling, or figuring out where to sell all those containers of live organs the pirates dropped when you blew them up.
Everything else feels rather weak and undercooked. Every star system feels like every other star system, the main plot is just decent, none of the side missions or characters are memorable, there's very few variations in equipment, and there's no way to, say, conquer an entire system for the pirates. These feel like steps back from some of the classics I played, like Sid Meier's Pirates! and Escape Velocity: Override. But the reason I can overlook those shortcomings while wishing they were better is because this game nails the feel and contrast of space travel & combat. It's the most flavor & style I've ever seen in a spaceship game, and the most fun I've had just screwing around in one. I eagerly await an expansion or sequel that fleshes out these weak spots into a game I revisit time & time again, like Pirates! For now, I'll just keep enjoying messing around in it, even though I've reached the end of the game, and dream of having more reasons to replay it later.
Total Playtime: 25 Hours
Current Price: $20
