Space Run Galaxy – Preview

It seems after our experience with the mobile version of Galaxy Trucker, our intergalactic trucking career isn’t quite over yet. We once again ventured to the furthest corners of space, to safely transport supplies from point A to point B, albeit in a rather peculiar way. The vessel under our command is not just any vessel, but one that can be properly molded to our liking in a LEGO-like fashion. Cannons, shields, thrusters and precious cargo, this early build of Space Run Galaxy is ready to go into orbit. We were curious to see how much extra seasoning this intergalactic dish needs before its full release.

The plot of the game, or at least the current build is quite straightforward, as you’ll be contacted by Buck Mann, a renowned space runner who is in need of some extra hands. This legendary figure noticed you and your vessel, tries to hire you and eventually succeeds after some humorous banter. From now on you’ll dedicate your time to delivering cargo from one point to another, or one planet to another to be precise. You don’t care what the cargo may be and you don’t ask any questions if you get your paycheck at the end of the ride. Simple as that, and for a game like this, that’s the way we like it.

Graphically the game looks rather simplistic, an intergalactic tower defense appearance as it were. While things may look simple, it doesn’t mean they look bad, as the game has a very appealing visual style, which is a bit reminiscent of something fairly realistic in combination with parts you’ll find in some of your old toy boxes. The backdrops also share this fairly basic appearance, with an occasional pretty looking sprite of the planets that are presented during your playthrough, of course all with enemies and clutter that is making its way towards your hexagon-ish ship.

As mentioned several times, the game is all about transporting goods from one location to another, in a very Han Solo-like fashion. You’ll strive to become the best intergalactic trucker (or smuggler) the galaxy has ever seen, but to do so you’ll have to start from the bottom and work your way up, seeing a bigger ship, new weapons and defensive structures cost you a hefty penny. While things are straightforward, some items need some consideration or some extra thought. At the beginning you’ll start off with a small ship, which is just a collection of hexagon tiles linked to one another. Every mission you’ll start off with a blank ship, except for the cargo you wish to bring along with you, which will take up one or more of your hexagon tiles.

When finally getting to the job at hand, you’ll be floating in space with an empty ship, except for your precious cargo. You will slowly earn the currency that is needed to build thrusters, weapons or defense, but you can start earning more cash when you destroy whatever comes for your loot. Nonetheless, attackers come from different sides, so you won’t be able to strengthen the front side of your ship and blast your way through everything. And seeing most guns have a static position, when it comes to the direction they’re aiming at, you’ll have to see how the waves come in the level you’re in. Keep in mind that your turrets and other buildable structures are limited. If, for example; you can build eight laser turrets, that’s it for the entire level. If you build eight, and two get destroyed, you can’t build new ones, so be sure to add defense as well as set them in proper locations on your vessel.

Upgrading the amount of items you can build, the size of your ship or simply unlocking new weapons has to be done with money and the materials you earn by completing missions. You’ll be able to upgrade different categories and thus you’ll need corresponding materials, namely offensive, defensive and utility. Each category has basic and advanced materials and upgrading your ship requires supplies from the three different categories. There’s only one catch when it comes to upgrading your stuff, namely the planet you’re currently residing needs to have the proper mechanic to do the work and your supplies have to be on that planet. This means that when completing a mission, your reward will be dropped at the destination of your mission and thus in time you’ll see that all your supplies are scattered all around the universe. This leaves you with two options, namely transport all of your rewards to another planet to have everything in one place yourself, or create contracts for other players to do it for you. The latter actually doesn’t cost you money if you don’t want it to, but dumping some extra cash on top of the random rewards that players will receive will probably motivate them to pick your contract over others.

All of that being said, even though there’s an offline mode for this game, it’s most fun when played online, as you can work with other players’ contract or contract them yourself. In all honestly, we were puzzled to see that this title is still in Early Access, as it feels like a solidly built game, which doesn’t require that many extras anymore.

Conclusion

This early build of Space Run Galaxy grants us a glimpse at a game that shows a lot of promise. This quirky tower defense-like title is fairly simple to learn but you’ll have to keep your wits about how to properly plan your moves and the construction of your hexagon-tiled vessel. The simplicity, fun and addicting action and a  bit of interaction with other players are what makes this title very amusing.

ThaMofo

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