Game Memorial

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Arantor

Welcome to our next instalment of our journey through computer gaming goodness. Today, we're taking a look at 'S', and we're looking at the most bizarrely named "Space Pirates and Zombies".

Yes, that's right. Pirates and zombies IN SPACE. What's not to like already?

Before we begin...
Loading screens, gotta love loading screens. At least the game explains why it has to load anything and does so now rather than later.

And then this.



Hmm. So, randomly generating a galaxy.



And then some backstory explaining where we are, what's going on and so on, but I'm not entirely sure how important this is going to be.



And so I'm on board a large space-ship, bordering on space station called the Clockwork, and there are problems, and that's where I come in, to begin to fix them.

Playing the game
So, we need some resources to carry out repairs, guess that means I'm off on a salvage operation... once I've built a ship.

This is already getting a shade complicated. Never mind, let's go to the hangar and see what's going on.



So, build a ship, check. Ship takes a few seconds to build... then I suppose it'll be a crash course (haha) in flying.



Moments later... I get introduced to what I'm actually supposed to be doing - or something.



That makes some sense, given that I had seen those around the edges of the screen. So, let's fire them thrusters a bit...

Controls are a bit quirky, because they do take some inertia into account, and your motion in whatever direction you're actually moving, regardless of where you're pointing at. But they do make some kind of sense pretty quickly - though mostly I don't bother with the side thrusters and just go forwards and aim at where I want to be going.

Certainly this is a little unusual, but still far more accessible than flying the ship in The Polynomial a few days ago. And while it takes a moment to get used to, it does actually feel quite approachable.

So, need to get out to another system and get some resources. Time to navigate that map, I guess.



A little flying around, avoiding the big scary laser beams, nothing particularly exciting, collecting the resources I need, back to the hangar screen, building newer shinier and bigger ships in the ship screen.

The part that's intrigued me already is the way this is a curious sort of space shooter. It's a space shooter with missions. In fact, some of those missions seem to be optional, like an RPG type quest system.

The missions I'm on now are combat missions, not just collections, and they're essentially somewhere between fetch quests and levelling-up grinding combat.

The combat, in particular, is rather interesting. It's still the same flying around as before, but of course now we're hunting targets, that can move as effectively as you do. And they can fire just like you.

Combat, then, at least with my driving skills is a fair amount of cosmic ballet. Ordinarily this would irritate me for not being able to lock onto a target and blast it to smithereenies, but this actually works quite well.



It isn't just a case of flying around, aiming the mouse in the right general direction and hoping - unlike some other games I have encountered. It feels right the way it's implemented, and not just because the opponents do come back around to get you.

A few jaunts round the block, a couple of waves of combat, a bit of story interjection, a few more waves of combat, and I've essentially got the locals on board with me. It means, amongst other things, more quests to choose from and an option for buying items on the black market for upgrades, which is never a bad thing.

A couple more combats pass and I've got enough sorted out to have the Clockwork in a reasonable state. Completion of a major quest seems like a pretty good place to stop, I guess.

On that bombshell
I'm well aware I haven't described this game very well. That's partly because it defies description and explanation for the most part. (It's also because I only really finished the first major quest, but I can't imagine the game throwing vastly different gameplay after teaching these fundamentals so thoroughly)

It's an action shooter, top-down and set in space, but with some pretty distinct RPG leanings (quests, levelling). But it doesn't fit into either genre particularly well.

What I will say is that it isn't your typical RPG, and I wouldn't necessarily suggest it if RPGs are your thing. If you're a fan of action shooters, it's the sort of thing you should try, doubly so if you like both action shooters and RPGs - but you might want to give it a miss if fast action isn't your bag.

I guess what I'm getting at is the pace is variable - it has the slow periods of thinking where you set up your builds, and the action periods where you have to fight your way through. It won't appeal to everyone, but it does have a unique appeal all of its own, and as the developers actually mentioned, it was a case of being a game they didn't have the option to play and ended up making it - and it really shows that they care by the depth of gameplay poured in. I'd also note that it carries the hallmark of being an indie game by not conforming to any of the accepted wisdoms on how games should work, and that alone is worth trying the demo for.

As ever, the only real proof in the pudding is to actually give it a try. Steam has a demo of S.P.A.Z. for both Windows and Mac (full game $10), and if you like action games at all, you should probably give it a try. It is a lot deeper than your average space shooter, however - you can outfit your ships to your liking and have different ships around for different uses and so on, which is fantastic for both dealing with the types of action involved, and also for the RPG fan because it's much like having a sort of party.