Star Command

[size=+1]Star Command[/size]​

FTL is a good game. It's got a little bit of micro-management, a little bit of roleplaying, a little bit of exploration and a whole load of blasting the hell out of ships. It's a detailed and complex space-sim that tries to emulate just what it's like to crew and fly your own ship while being chased across a galaxy by cruel rebels. Maybe someone was tired of Rebels always being good guys? Anyway, it was intricate but well detailed, if rather basic looking on its surface. What it lacks in visual panache, it makes up for in pure, RPG chops.

In short, it's a favourite of mine.

Star Command, a game for Android systems and recently making a debut in the Android Humble Bundle, is also a Space-Sim where you take control of a star ship. You also roam a galaxy and shoot up some bad guys in ship to ship battles where your micromanaging can mean the difference between defeat and success. So, on the face of it, it's easy to mix these two up.

Well, when you get down to it, FTL is more like the space-faring version of Oregon Trail, as you wrestle your way across each sector, forced forwards by the encroaching rebels. No, Star Command let's you do what you like, mostly. In fact, it's closer to what you might have gotten if Mass Effect had been made in 1994. It's a space faring RPG; complete with dialogue choices, side quests, star battles, shootouts and even a half-decent storyline to play though. It's a pretty decent little package.

It's also really, really strange structurally.

But let's get down to brass tacks and discuss plot. You are a hopeful new captain aboard some new ship that's eventually roped into a conspiracy to take over Star Command after a traitorous ship blows up an allied vessel and your fingered for it by the General that just happens to show up at the right time. You flee and seek to make your ship more powerful, your crew better at their jobs and save two galaxies from the Antonians that want to eat you and kill everyone.

It's actually kinda compelling. I really wasn't expecting to be framed for firing on a Star Command ship and running for my life. What's also rather sweet of the game and it's writing is it's sense of humour. There's an endearing level of self-awareness to everything which, I have to admit, is starting to grind a little. At first it's a little zaney but I, and this is my tastes, was actually more engaged with all the serious plot details. Even so, being able to shout that you are all out of bubblegum despite chewing it being first on your to-do list - kicking ass being the second - is kinda fun. The sense of humour doesn't seem as punchy, just very silly. Either way, I'm more interested in making sure I'm alive and still firing guns than stopping to realise that they're trying to make a little joke about Star Trek uniforms.

It's actually the aesthetics that make this game such a joy to behold. I know, I know; retro graphics, smetro grayfix! Who cares? Every Indie title is doing this nowadays. Even though these look pretty well polished and clean, they're not that interesting because their 'old school'. Nope! They're endearing and pleasant because they're looking to evoke the look of Star Trek. Not so much 'Next Gen' wholesale as the Original Series with a few additions from 'Next Gen'.

Heh! Other kids pick up a second language or shared skill from their parents. I picked up a grounding in Sci-fi knowledge, purely from osmosis. Comes in handy. Way more than being able to say 'Me llamo tortuga', that's for sure.

By what I mean is that each character will wear the classic shirts; Red, Yellow and Blue. And they do roughly the same as they do on TNG (stands for 'The Next Generation', the second iteration of Star Trek). Now, the ships are well designed and look imposing while also pretty interesting. They're all complex shapes and weird add-ons like a rash of metal. Rather than the sleek curves of the Enterprise, they went with something similar to FTL which are interesting in their clunkiness. Which, in turn, feels like the ships from Red Dwarf to me.

Not a bad thing at all, I might add.

However, the ships and gameplay is more like a U-Boat that's in space. Your ship is basically a series of rooms that your crew can roam around in like it's The Sims. Your first port of call is to start building weapons, a dodge generator and something for your science guys to do. I went with a Shield Booster and it's basically the only, truly, even vaguely useful function a blue crew room can do at this stage in the game.

OK, let's break this down!

Of these three colours of being - Red, Blue and Yellow - your crew can only become one. They can be assigned to any room and change into a shirt of that particular room's colour before they begin that particular room's task. Each room is clearly designated with which colour and what kind of action takes place inside. However, they can perform extraneous tasks that are tied into their assigned profession and level up through it. The XP gained will give them levels to boost their effectiveness at whatever they're assigned to. Any crew member can be assigned anywhere at any time and can be trained in all three colours, up to level 30.

Red Shirts are now the most powerful and useful characters in the game, contrary to the old adage. They are the 'Tactical Crew' and they operate your weapons, man the bridge and are the only guys able to fight off invaders for a long time into the game. Even more bizarre to a Trekkie is that they're also the only guys that will get any substantial levelling while you play through the game. The guys manning your weapons are the only guys who will be levelled up every time you win a space battle. Everyone else will get diddly-squat.

Even more awkwardly is that they're the only guys who can fight off invading parties of hostiles. Sometimes, baddies will spawn onto your ship. The Red Shirts are the only guys with guns, so you can either pull them away from fighting the enemy ship to fight off the invaders or let them smash stuff while you try to destroy all their mates faster than they kill yours. This is also the only opportunity you have to level up your Bridge Crew as they do very little otherwise. The Bridge only seems to be good for boosting other rooms and choosing new destinations. Might as well let them do it and leave the gunners be.

Blue Shirts are both handy and kinda crap, as far as I know. Due to a weird game structure I will get to in a bit, I can't seem to find anyway of getting them XP reliably. These guys are the 'Science Crew', they handle healing wounded crew members and maintaining the shields, both are things you want to happen very much. However, unlike the Gunners, they only get experience from healing. And it's a pitifully small amount. My gunners hit level 20 by the end of my first run-through! The only high level Blue Shirts I got were given to me by the plot with a decent score in science already. They were operating my shields, boosting it when I needed it, surely there must have been something to it? I don't imagine firing a gun to be particularly taxing but there's XP there, why would creating a bubble of solid, strong energy be any different or less complex so that you'd gain no on-the-job training from it? It's nonsensical!

Yellow Shirts, once the shirt of the Captain, are now the shirts of the Engineers. These guys are kinda self-explanatory; they fix stuff and make sure the ship doesn't break when the shields can't cut it. While they reside in the engine which appears to do absolutely nothing but provide a place to create more engineers, they also run the Dodge Generator. This thing is what allows you to avoid damage entirely by charging up a button for you to press at the right moment. Hit it and all the targeting symbols on your ship are gone! Again, the Engineer's get nothing for doing this. They mainly level up with fixing stuff. And it's rare in your first go that you'll be expected to do this.

Again, complex aerial maneuver to avoid deadly lasers, saving the entire ship from possible destruction and buying a little more time to fight back?

Meh. You yellow guys got nothing on Trigger Boy over here! Watch as he stands around and pushes a button every now and again! Poetry in motion!

Weird RPG elements aside, there's a lot to like in the combat. It has just enough to keep you on your toes. Some fights will be straight up battles between two opposing ships. Some will be timed bouts against an opponent you must get through as quickly as you can. Some will see your crew pull out their guns and have their own little shoot out against hoards of alien monsters. The story and set up does a neat job of easing you into things. A decision to say one thing could either screw over your chances or give you a little edge so the interaction with the world is decent.

Although, it's here that the game has this one big moment of real connection with the player. Why? Because almost all exposition is given like your getting a message on a viewscreen. Oh, it's not only charming but gives you a little depth to the world that FTL just couldn't. Text can't give you the feeling of actually conversing with the people of this universe. The sprites might be a little blocky but their well animated and well designed. It's that moment when the developer grabs the Star Trek ideas and give them a little spotlight. It's a good, good idea that's incredibly enriching.

Anyway, combat! Weirdly, think On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness 1 and 2. Having a crew member assigned and standing in that assigned room will start to charge a small button in the corner of the screen that controls that room. The number of crew and their levels in that room's colour will make the button charge faster. Once it has charged, you push it to start that rooms action. For weapons, you push it to fire but you have to do a reaction-based minigame to determine how many shots you land on the ship. Usually, you just touch the screen at the right time and you'll land a hit. It's basic and slows the pace a little so you can gain some bearings. The game pauses while you fire, otherwise it would be awful!

Now, these little reaction tests made OtRPoD 1 and 2 a standout title because the tests where there to engage your mind and create some investment in the battle by making you actually do something in it. You weren't just choosing commands and telling your guys to do stuff from a menu, you had a hand in your own success.

However, OtRPoD applied the tests to the special attacks. Normal attacks you could do without any trouble. Star Command requires this of every, single shot you fire. The effect is somewhat diminished when you have to do your gunners work for you and line up every single shot yourself. Adding an extra layer of complexity to boosting the power of a special move was rewarding if you got it right in OtRPoD, but not detrimental if you failed because you could still deal damage. It feels like you're winding up your character to perform something devastating.

Star Command will declare the whole thing a fail if you miss and won't let you attack until the gun recharges. And weapons are deathly slow in this game. It's a nice try but it will wear down its welcome after a long while. I mean, making a dodge or replenishing your shield doesn't require any hoop-jumping but their buttons are also charged in the same way. Why not apply the mechanic there? Or maybe critical hits are made with the reaction games. It's a nice idea repeated to the point of disconnect. It's a shame.

And lastly, personnel combat is very basic. Which is good as it lowers the possible about of stuff you have to keep track of. Your Red Shirts can be moved round the ship and they fire on any baddies in range. The Engineers are defenceless and the Blue Shirts heal anyone in their range. Just plonk some guns and a couple of blue shirts and turtle the bad guys, they'll go down easy because they never employ the same tactic. To spice things up, your crew members gain little power ups you can use anytime that are gained from levelling up. They're useful, like range extensions or invincibility for a set time. Each profession colour has their own, unique power up and give an edge to close combat.

Apart from adding upgrades to rooms to give an edge to that room, usually, there's not much to talk about.

Except...Except that it's a friggin' easy, easy game!

On my first run through, nothing could break through my shields! The final boss of the game, a mammoth machine of modified power and awe could only chip away tiny, manageable amounts of my shields. My Engineers did bugger all for most of the game. My Blue Shirts just sat around, deciding whether to give the enemy a chance out of boredom and pity. I trounced more or less everything else in my path because I could outlast them. Nothing else replenished their shields at all. I was getting really awkward when the game's difficulty curve continued to stay rather flat when my ship was at maximum everything and my crew was as good as it was likely to get. Heck! I actually had a surplus of people on my ship at that point. I didn't have enough jobs for them to do!

This, I soon found out long after, was Beginner mode.

So, the story came and went. I had enjoyed this game too much to believe it was shallow enough to just offer the limpest challenge I've ever faced to then just give up.

It didn't. It didn't give any new plot, nope! Just loops, over and over.

However, I got a larger class of ship, got to keep my crew and then was told that the game would take things up a notch. Right, so...Shouldn't the training wheels be off by the end of the tutorial rather than the second go to see what you might have missed? Ah, whatever. Maybe if I keep going, I'll unlock everything! Should be easy, right?

I've never played a game where it felt like the tutorial was the first run-through of the game. But, after that marker is done, it starts getting mean! Really mean! As in it'll actually put up a fight! Enemies can actually penetrate your shields, damage your ship and give your Engineers and Blue Shirts something to do with all the death and fire. Even worse, when your shields are lowered, it'll beam an invading party to your ship to start wrecking stuff. It's far more intense. To the point where I wonder where this was in my first playthrough...

Thankfully, the game actually improves itself once you switch up from Baby's First Tablet Game to Men. Or Women, I know some pretty tough women...Anyway, the new ship not only gives you more room to build new stuff but it will also let you have access to the 'Large Rooms'. The three at my current command are Medical Room, Turret Room and Armoury. The Armoury is meant to give your Red Shirts grenades to do more damage with. The Medical Room allows you to make medical tokens to bring dead crew members back to life.

However, the Turret Room is a damn godsend for your Yellow Shirts. That lets them deploy rapidly diminishing turrets that will disappear over time. However, you can keep them in place if you surround your Engineers around them and let them fix it up. This is the only, reliable way I've found that you can protect your Engineers and level them up because they get XP from maintaining the turrets. So, I make them deploy a turret in the middle of all my yellow rooms and let them go to town. That's all you need and they'll be level 30 in no time.

That's rather stupid and needs to be fixed. If the only way to make my crew level up is to exploit something that feels like a glitch or an oversight of the designers, then there's something seriously wrong with how the game is rewarding your progress. I should be seeing my guys get XP for doing their assigned job, not busying themselves with something unrelated to what I put them there to do, i.e. run and maintain my ship. Because it shatters the illusion that you need the people in the room at all when they're repairing something that will constantly decay and their room's action carries on without them doing anything about it.

I need to keep playing to see whether the Blue Shirts get anything this weirdly broken feeling but for now, let's wrap this up.

I know I sound against this game but I'm not. I really love it! It's atmosphere and experience is top-notch. It's way more gratifying than it's closest cousin FTL. But, FTL is still tops in it's gameplay and design. Star Command has some serious issues and tweaks it needs to iron out in coming updates. This is only version 1.1, so I'm hoping that the developers get on the ball with this and tighten it up into something you don't have to play over and over just to get it to feel like a finished product.