Developer: Double Damage Games
Publisher: Double Damage Games
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PS4
Rebel Galaxy – Review
Rebel Galaxy is a refreshingly unique game in which you are in control of your very own heavily armed spaceship in a randomly generated universe. It’s truly your own special adventure and you can live it how you please. Having originally been released on PC, it has now been brought to consoles and feels right at home on PS4. You’ll be pitted against enemy frigates, devious story characters, an unstable market and much more.
Story
The game starts you off right at the beginning of your own personal adventure. You’re a rookie captain with very little to your name besides a ship, looking for characters from your past with little leads to go on. In the beginning, there’s very little back story given which in this case surprisingly helps with the immersion. You see, Rebel Galaxy feels like the original ‘space cowboy’ adventure and you really do have the choice on the paths you take, whether it’s following the law, honestly and fairly gathering materials and money and helping out strangers who have wandered into grave dangers such as space bandits. Or of course, you can letter your inner pirate out and go against the law and everything it stands for by ambushing space traders, smuggling illegal cargo, and blasting militia forces out of the sky.
Throughout your adventure, you’ll come across many strange alien creatures and humans who are pivotal in the progression of the main campaign. Conversations between these characters is carried out in a face to face situation where you have multiple choice dialogue options to really add the extra feeling of freedom in this game. Your character isn’t voiced however we feel that if they were, it wouldn’t work as well as it does.
Very quickly, you find yourself on the wrong side of some shady characters and end up tangling with cutthroat mercenaries who want nothing more than to see your ship explode into small pieces so they can collect their next paycheque.
In Rebel Galaxy, there are multiple ‘factions’ in which you can help and level up with in the form of missions such as bounty hunts, goods deliveries and battle support.
These faction missions and trading are the main source of money which you need to buy improvements for your ship’s weapon and defense systems or of course, a new ship altogether.
Graphics
Rebel Galaxy is a very beautiful game in terms of its visuals. With such a large world that you must explore without fast travel, it would be very easy to become bored or feel as if you’re witnessing the same things over and over again. With this game, that isn’t the case. The colours are strong and vivid, the galaxy is beautiful, the planets are unique and interesting. Small touches in visuals really help this game stand out. For example, when entering a planet’s orbit, you are treated to beautiful effects that show you are in fact interacting with the environment. This dynamic addition is one of many small touches that create a natural beauty in this game.
Beautiful and unique ice and meteor fields, vibrant novas and excitingly coloured horizons are a real treat to witness on your way through this universe.
Sound
A stand out point for Rebel Galaxy, and our all around favourite thing about this game is its stellar soundtrack. It really delivers a huge amount of atmosphere to the game. Hearing ‘Blues Saraceno – Evil Ways’ blast through our speakers while flying and blasting through the galaxy makes us feel like we’re living a futuristic ‘Sons of Anarchy’. It’s fabulous and utterly genius. Without such a strong soundtrack, we fear this game would struggle to leave the lasting impression on us that it has. Which isn’t to say Rebel Galaxy is carried by the music, it just wouldn’t be what it is without it.
The voice acting is very impressive for such a small game and this allows for the characters to really leave a lasting impression on you. No one really becomes forgettable and we found ourselves struggling to tell the sly from the helpful characters. Subtlety is key when it comes to the NPCs voices here and this is delivered surprisingly well.
Gameplay
There are many elements that contribute to the dynamic gameplay in Rebel Galaxy. The game does feature roleplaying elements, but as a space combat flying simulator at heart, the stand out feature to us are the battles. Hectic, yet controlled wars between you and fleets upon fleets of enemy fighters is as exhilarating as it is chaotic. To put it simply, these space battles are very reminiscent of the naval warfare in Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, as you often have to rely on lining up beside an enemy ship, aiming your broadsides and letting loose a volley of destructive energy. The whole combat system feel intricate and flows very well. Your ship has a high number of offensive capabilities and you only ever need to control one as the game automatically fires the others.
Enemy ships often have highly protective shields in which you must chip away at (or of course fire heavy duty missiles) to be able to deal heavy damage on the ship itself. At this point, the ships will usually attempt to retreat which can get a little dull as the repetition really can build up. Repetition is potentially the game’s biggest flaw. While battles can be unique and exciting, the end result is usually the same.
As previously mentioned, in order to extend your arson and improve on your ships, you have to build up your credits by partaking in missions and bounties. You can also trade between planet colonies that are either struggling financially or in an economic boom. This allows certain items to be bought cheap and sold high elsewhere. Whilst being fun, this really can be a hefty grind. The main campaign jumps in difficulty quickly if you don’t usually grind for at least 30 minutes in between missions which may be a turn-off for many gamers. We however, found it fun to dabble in the market and find stray merchants where we could make a high profit from items, or of course ambush for their high value cargo.
Conclusion
Rebel Galaxy is a game with a barrel load of potential that is slightly brought back down to Earth (no pun intended) by a variety of little flaws. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring such a vast expanse and travelling between systems, but small things really can get in the way of the enjoyment such as the restriction of two dimensional ship movement while other, smaller enemy fighters are capable of three dimensional movement. It can be highly frustrating to attempt to hit ships with your broadsides only for them fly above you completely out of your vision. Either way, we would love to see a sequel which expands on this brilliant space adventure. It’s truly impossible to leave this review on a negative note because really, we had a whole lot of fun with this game. It’s fresh, dynamic, hard hitting and often exciting. When coming across a horde of enemies that are of a much higher level than you, the escape can sometimes be as exciting as the chase. Rebel Galaxy really is a game you can delve in and out of and have a great time with.
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- Rebel Galaxy
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- Rebel Galaxy
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