FTL: 2012 A Space Oddysey

So far, I've logged about forty five hours on FTL and I have to say, I have loved my time with the game.

FTL operates as a time filler and a comprehensive adventure all in one package for a very reasonable price. This game is best described as Star Trek meets tactical adventure. It occupies much of the same space as games like Binding of Isaac and Don't Starve, so if you've played those games you have a general gist of what this game's philosophy is, even though it has radically different game play. What they share in common is infinite replay value and endearingly addicting game play.

FTL is hard; there is no way around that. In your first outing, you will likely not even make it past the first star system. I recommend playing the short tutorial, even for veteran players, just to get the gist of how the game functions. It will take no more than two minutes, but provides critical information. That said, once you get the basic idea, the game really opens up. As you advance, you will make it farther and farther until you are beating the game outright. The difficulty is hard but fair.   With just a little knowledge, you can discern the right choice fairly often. FTL is definitely a game that takes pleasure in rewarding you for overcoming the difficult tasks it sets forth.

  

At the beginning, you choose what ship you want to use. There are nine different options available, but only one is unlocked when you first begin the game. The other eight need to be unlocked through playing the game and completing specific challenges. Each ship is interesting and has its own perks that make it unique and useful.

For the most part, FTL's gameplay stands on micro managing your crew and the different aspects of your ship, such as power, consumables (fuel, missiles, scrap, and drones), your ship's systems (weapons, FTL drive, shields, etc.), where power is allocated, and how you upgrade your ship. This may sound simple and it is, but it operates with the philosophy of, "simple to use, hard to master.”

You start with a ship and a crew. Your mission: to get to the federation and deliver valuable intel, while racing to get away from the rebel fleet at your back. You move through the star systems by using a star map. Every star map is different and every star you visit has a random event, but I’ll talk more on that later. Towards the end of each star map, there is an exit point that will lead you to the next one.  FTL's 

formula is simple, but it works to its advantage.

This is my ship. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

The most addicting part of this game is the randomization.  Each game is different.  You may start with a basic ship, but your journey can change without warning.  Each star system is random. Every event is random, the rewards are random, and that makes for a truly enjoyable experience. There are a myriad of choices for upgrading your ship and based on the items you acquire throughout each game, you will upgrade your ship differently. For example, if you find an amazing weapon, you will have to upgrade your weapon systems and either allocate additional power or upgrade your power supply to use the weapon.  FTL has a fun “pick up and play feel” thanks to a lot of well implemented randomized elements.

Each star that you move to and its randomized event are either a ship to fight, a quest to accept, someone or something that gives you valuable items and consumables, a store to buy items and consumables at, or a situation where you make a choice that has seemingly randomized outcomes that can be either positive or negative. The system works very well. The rewards are always helpful and the punishments rarely feel too punishing. I did however find it frustrating that my control over whether there was a positive outcome was left up to a hidden dice roll. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, because sometimes that same hidden dice roll will give you an amazing upgrade.  Leaving it up to chance can be part of the fun, too.

Most the gameplay takes place from a top down view of your ship. You have control over your crew members and the different systems of your ship. You lose when your ship runs out of health or all your crew members die. You can view all your available systems, weapons, health, resources, and manage all of them from an easy to understand heads up display. You can pause at any point with a tap of the space bar.  This is a function that makes the game act like a cross between the turn based strategy and real time strategy genres.

The power!  It calls to me!

You can direct your crew to do different actions, such as operate systems, repel boarding parties, fight fires, and repair damaged systems. Their actions are context sensitive, based on a well mapped out hierarchy of need. As the player, you only need to send them into a room and they will act on their own. I have not once yelled at my screen because one of the crew members did something out of character. They always act exactly how you intend.  Combat against boarding parties is also simple and easy to understand. Your crew members fight until death or you tell them to exit and heal. It is not randomized and happens at a decent pace, so you feel like you have control. The use of the pause button works well with this system as well. There are also different races with their own strengths and weaknesses. This diversity allows you as a player to build an eclectic crew that is different every single play through. The longer a crew member operates a certain system, the more proficient they get with it. That means that you will end with a weapons guy, a shield guy, a pilot, and an engine guy at the end of the game. The only part of this I found lacking was using your own crew as a boarding party, because that's also an option. I mostly didn't use it. I boarded an unmanned drone, only to find it had no air. This was one of those “of course” moments, but it was still frustrating because I lost two valuable crew mates. It is also a mistake I haven't made since. Managing your crew is also a rewarding endeavor, especially as they gain levels.

Ship to ship combat is also fun and well designed. There are many ways to approach this form of combat, and it's the main part of the game's action. The primary way to attack is by using weapon systems that can range from lasers to beam weapons and missiles, each with their own unique specifications. These can target specific systems and damage them, rendering the system useless until your opponent repairs them. This includes their weapon system, which will make your enemy unable to attack. Shields protect from most forms of attack with the exception of missiles. Your opponent can target your own systems as well, meaning your crew will need to be sent to repair damaged areas, hull breaches, and put out fires. Drones operate as a hands off type of unit, being specialized for either defensive, offensive, or utility roles. The catch is that as a player, you have no control over what a drone does, meaning they just function automatically. I found that managing where power was sent to different parts of my ship is also a very interesting dynamic. “Put all weapons at maximum power!” However, sometimes I felt like the ship to ship combat had massive difficulty spikes. This was largely in part to the amount of shielding the randomly generated enemy ship had and whether or not I had weapons that could punch through them.

Bang bang! Bang bang bang! Oh my, I am on fire...

Your playthrough won't carry over to another one and each game is self-contained. The only part that will carry on is any new ship unlocks and ship layout unlocks you may have earned. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it is one of the reasons FTL works. There's no lasting connection to a particular crew or ship, so if you lose, it doesn't feel like a total loss. You can just start over.

The only real problems I had with FTL are the extreme difficulty spikes and how certain random aspects of the game deeply affect your experience. For anyone new to FTL, you might be turned off by how hard it is at first.  But if you stick with it for any length of time, you'll definitely get the hang of it. Another problem I had was that some of the random aspects of the game can be extremely unforgiving. For example, you might lose a crew member by choosing a bad option. “Board the ship and search for survivors” or “hail the ship from afar" are great examples of good intentions that can go horribly awry.  If you only have three crew members, this is extremely detrimental. However, this doesn't take away from the game too much; in fact it serves as a stark contrast to some of the really cool instances where you randomly get one of the best weapons in the game from a friendly space station, just for showing up!

Here are my final thoughts:

For the most part, FTL is a thoroughly enjoyable game. For $9.99 on Steam, it is well worth the money and as a bonus, it's almost always on sale.  If you like RPGs and enjoyed games like Binding of Isaac and Don't Starve, then you owe it to yourself to buy this game as well.  The game has solid foundations that are supported by innovative gameplay. The "random" aspect of the game provides a welcome distraction and it has a certain pick up and play aspect that is refreshing. I highly recommend FTL and if you are like me, you will find yourself lost in it for hours at a time.

+ Addicting game play

+ Unlimited replay ability

+ Affordable price

- High learning curve

- Some penalties are a bit extreme

The Judgement:

I give this game an 85/100.

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