"Inspired by BioShock and System Shock 2, Void Bastards is a revolutionary new strategy-shooter that will test your wits as well as exercise your aim. Can you lead the misfit prisoners of the Void Ark through the derelict spaceships and myriad dangers of the Sargasso Nebula?"
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I love roguelikes but after 3 hours and a few runs I don't feel like I will keep playing this one anymore.
Two things make the experience miserable:
-Lack of a melee weapon (even if it barely did damage).
-Only being able to carry one main weapon, when said weapon does not replenish ammo after the mission and finding bullets on the beginning is almost a miracle (never found in three hours).
You cannot play survival horror style though (run and pray), because the corridors are small and the enemies do block your path. That is, when they're not exploding taking 15% of your health in one go (good luck when there are multiples. It happens a lot).
All in all, the start of roguelikes are the toughest parts but this one is just barely playable (fun-wise I mean. I could make it work but it would be 5 hours of grind to then more 2 hours of real gameplay to see if I like, and well, my backlog is huge as is. And tbh, if a game cannot catch me in 3 hours I'm ok letting it go). I just gave my two cents about two things that would not break the economy of the game but it would give the player more control back, but I'm sure the devs could cook even better solutions.
Good part: the visual is really cool and I didn't get motion sickness.
Two things make the experience miserable:
-Lack of a melee weapon (even if it barely did damage).
-Only being able to carry one main weapon, when said weapon does not replenish ammo after the mission and finding bullets on the beginning is almost a miracle (never found in three hours).
You cannot play survival horror style though (run and pray), because the corridors are small and the enemies do block your path. That is, when they're not exploding taking 15% of your health in one go (good luck when there are multiples. It happens a lot).
All in all, the start of roguelikes are the toughest parts but this one is just barely playable (fun-wise I mean. I could make it work but it would be 5 hours of grind to then more 2 hours of real gameplay to see if I like, and well, my backlog is huge as is. And tbh, if a game cannot catch me in 3 hours I'm ok letting it go). I just gave my two cents about two things that would not break the economy of the game but it would give the player more control back, but I'm sure the devs could cook even better solutions.
Good part: the visual is really cool and I didn't get motion sickness.
As someone who usually doesn't enjoy rogue-lites, this was a pleasant surprise. Void Bastards plays like a mix of FPS, immersive sim and your typical rogue-lite where you repeat randomly generated levels with changing parameters and enemies over and over again to collect parts and craft better equipment. The variety was good enough to not bore me over the ~12 hours it took me to finish the campaign. It's a lot of fun to experiment with all the tools the game gives you to accomplish your missions in the most effective ways.
There is a steady sense of progress in this one and dying isn't too harsh so that the game rarely gets frustrating. In fact, towards the end of the game the player is pretty overpowered and the game gets almost a bit too easy, at least on normal difficulty.
Another strength of the game is its sense of dark humour, the driving soundtrack at especially the fantastic graphic style reminding of the FPS-classic XIII. Overall a very good game with some repetition here and there, but pretty much comes with the genre.
There is a steady sense of progress in this one and dying isn't too harsh so that the game rarely gets frustrating. In fact, towards the end of the game the player is pretty overpowered and the game gets almost a bit too easy, at least on normal difficulty.
Another strength of the game is its sense of dark humour, the driving soundtrack at especially the fantastic graphic style reminding of the FPS-classic XIII. Overall a very good game with some repetition here and there, but pretty much comes with the genre.
This game is 100% worth your time
very underrated
very underrated
+ Addictive roguelite with fun "FPS meets FTL" gameplay
± While it was plenty good enough to keep me interested until the end, there is little incentive for a second playthrough because you can unlock everything without much difficulty your first time through
- Ultimately somewhat unsatisfying because the progression depends on unlocking upgrades, while your skill and invested effort only serve to speed that process along rather than alter the outcome
± While it was plenty good enough to keep me interested until the end, there is little incentive for a second playthrough because you can unlock everything without much difficulty your first time through
- Ultimately somewhat unsatisfying because the progression depends on unlocking upgrades, while your skill and invested effort only serve to speed that process along rather than alter the outcome
Fun rogue-like to play on short bursts. After a couple of hours it becames a cakewalk though and I don't feel like playing it again for achievements. Might be better for somebody who's into this genre though.
After I played the Wild Bastards demo earlier this month I was so impressed with it that I HAD to go back and finally play Void Bastards and unfortunately this game is just not compelling at all. Very quickly you begin to realize that everything you do is the same, and there's barely any strategy to engage with.
Void Bastards is at it's best when it comes to its presentation and music. That stuff is top notch, and the menu between your raids is some of the most stylish UI out there right now. But the gameplay just isn't up to snuff, the guns are not fun to rely on, and you're hardly ever presented with more out-of-the-box situations to solve problems on the randomly generated ships. It's just incredibly dry, you dock with a ship, loot it, shoot some guys, and leave. No variation, nothing new. It's just the same 1-7 minute loop repeated again and again. And even for a roguelite, there's ZERO tension ever. At no point are you ever afraid of failure or even grow from failure because the game expects so little of its players that challenge just doesn't exist. Once you die in a run, the game just randomly gives you a new character and you keep all of your crafting items, giving no risk for failure at all. The enemies and ship hazards themselves are also not fun to fight, or fun to circumvent. It just gets very old, very quickly.
Void Bastards, despite its unique premise, just doesn't have the long term chops to engage with the player like a roguelike/lite should. It's visually stunning but beneath the surface it's a very hollow experience.
Void Bastards is at it's best when it comes to its presentation and music. That stuff is top notch, and the menu between your raids is some of the most stylish UI out there right now. But the gameplay just isn't up to snuff, the guns are not fun to rely on, and you're hardly ever presented with more out-of-the-box situations to solve problems on the randomly generated ships. It's just incredibly dry, you dock with a ship, loot it, shoot some guys, and leave. No variation, nothing new. It's just the same 1-7 minute loop repeated again and again. And even for a roguelite, there's ZERO tension ever. At no point are you ever afraid of failure or even grow from failure because the game expects so little of its players that challenge just doesn't exist. Once you die in a run, the game just randomly gives you a new character and you keep all of your crafting items, giving no risk for failure at all. The enemies and ship hazards themselves are also not fun to fight, or fun to circumvent. It just gets very old, very quickly.
Void Bastards, despite its unique premise, just doesn't have the long term chops to engage with the player like a roguelike/lite should. It's visually stunning but beneath the surface it's a very hollow experience.