Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopesis a new PC game project thatDotemuand French developer Alt Shift have just revealed. Based on Universal’s sci-fi series created by Glen A. Larson, the game puts players in the role of a captain to their own fleet and an early build shows a promising demand for careful resource management.
Wandering around Space
While the full game will allow players to choose between various fleets, the build only included the Wanderers, which are described as a balanced fleet. It’s a versatile option that has reduced cost for repairs, which should make it easier to keep them alive.
The game takes place after the Cylons have rebelled and humanity is looking for a new hope in space. The campaign in this early build gave players the goal of rejoining the fleet of the titular Battlestar Galactica, but as the player’s ship is still far from them, it’ll be necessary to deal with some harsh circumstances first.
Survival in space isn’t a simple matter in the slightest, as players must manage resources well and deal with attacks from troops that never stop coming. Even in the early build, it’s already clear how desolate and complicated the situation can be, as even small mistakes may lead to a significant crisis.
Struggling to Survive Demands Careful Management
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopesis astrategygame with randomized elements that put it in the roguelite genre. It’s possible to divide the experience into roughly two parts: a moment to pick your resources and deal with internal situations that are time-sensitive; and another that has players survive the onslaught of enemy spaceships.
The first portion of the game is a turn-based experience that lets players carefully pick what they want to do. Each turn may be used to gather resources, do a specific action or solve an issue before it becomes unavoidable.
For the Wanderers fleet, there are three different resources, each of which may be required for specific circumstances. There are also three relevant personnel members, each of which has their own expertises and may be more helpful in dealing with some issues than others.
The idea is to manage our gains up to the moment the Cylons strike again, which comes after some turns. Once that happens, the fleet will jump to another point in space, which opens new “points of interest” to interact with, generating more resources and refreshes the personnel’s action availability.
Time for Battle
Once the player has reached the Cylons’ attack turn, perspective changes to real-time action, and it’s necessary to use the fleet’s squadrons to withstand the attacks. Going by the build, the point in these battles isn’t to actually defeat all enemy units, but to survive long enough for the next jump to open up.
Battles feel like a struggle to survive against all odds, as enemies just keep coming and the player has to play smart about positioning their ships. Sometimes, moving the ships around may be the difference between defeating enemies and taking so much damage that recovering afterward may be inviable or, at the very least, costly.
Besides the ships that have their own sets of automatic attacks activated when enemies reach their individual range, the player can also use skills. In the early build, there were two options: a single-hit attack and a missile that hits all enemies within a circle area, which is a better fit when a group gathers in one place. Using one of those leads to a long cooldown time, so they’re a precious resource that the player should think about when to use.
Combat is pausable, which allows players to stop and think whenever the enemy waves become more dangerous. Besides choosing to pause at any time, the game may stop when strategic failures occur, like the main ship taking damage.
Battles feel like a struggle to survive against all odds, as enemies just keep coming and the player has to play smart about positioning their ships.
Once enough time has passed to activate the jump, the player must click the button to do it, but it is necessary to first call back their squadrons so that they can all flee together. This adds extra danger time for the player to consider if they want to make the best out of their timing in combat and to avoid unnecessary damage. Instead of trying to defeat the enemy, it’s all about minimizing losses and surviving, striving for the best scenario.
A Strategy Game With Potential
Unfortunately, the build is still too early to get a good look at progression and unlocking new resources. These elements will make a significant difference and impact how good the end game is, but the fact that continued survival demands organization and planning is a good start.
In the build, it was already possible to see an R&D Lab with unlockable branches that the player may use to upgrade their vessels, which will be interesting to check out in the future. There will also be a bar to take a break once in a while and a hangar to adjust the vessels before combat starts.
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopesis a strategy game that aims to put players in dire straits, struggling to survive against the insurmountable and relentless force of the Cylons. There’s potential for it to become an interesting experience if it manages to offer a good progression that strikes the balance between challenge and reward.
