Game Reviews

Strikefleet Omega

Star onStar onStar onStar onStar off
|
| Strikefleet Omega
Get
Strikefleet Omega
|
| Strikefleet Omega

Imagine if the team behind Flight Control was commissioned to create a game based on the relaunched Battlestar Galactica IP. The unusually brilliant result, we suspect, would look rather like Strikefleet Omega.

As it is, Harebrained Schemes's new iOS strategy game has nothing to do with either property, but it doffs its military cap in all the right places.

The story concerns a future space-faring mankind being all but exterminated by a sudden alien attack. You take command of a tiny fleet of warships in a bid to make like a BeeGee and (hah-hah-hah-hah) stay alive.

Space opera

If you're rolling your eyes at the sheer over-familiar sci-fi nerdiness of this premise, don't worry - exposition is lightly handled and the sharp comic book art-style is spot on.

Besides, the story's merely a setup for one of the freshest strategy titles we've played on iPhone and iPad (where it's most at home, although we would have liked a zoom-out option for the tablet) for ages.

Given a birds-eye view of your fleet, you must issue commands to your small fighter squadron in familiar line-drawn fashion. These fighters will then patrol their routes, engaging any enemy units in combat should they cross paths.

That's not all you have to do in your bid to fend off enough enemy waves to warp out of each stage. Once you've purchased a new ship for your fleet you can warp them into play at a moment's notice - provided you have the resources.

Resource space-hog

In order to accrue these resources you have to purchase and deploy a mining ship, which will gather ore from nearby asteroids.

Other ships include additional fighter carriers of various shapes and sizes as well as artillery craft. Once warped in, the latter allow you to fire directly upon enemy units simply by tapping on them.

The range of enemy craft makes each of these ships a necessity at various points, and changing the make-up of your fleet on the fly is one of the many tactical considerations you must make.

We'll even concede that the developer has done a reasonable job of balancing Strikefleet Omega's in-app payment system.

You don't need to spend a penny - you just won't have access to some of the more interesting and downright powerful ships on offer. Having said that, accruing a useful amount of currency is a little too expensive for our liking.

Regardless, Strikefleet Omega is an engrossing strategy game for iOS devices, and it's absolutely free. Warp on over to the App Store, pronto.

Strikefleet Omega

A fresh and well considered space-bound strategy experience like no other, Strikefleet Omega even manages to escape the IAP asteroid field relatively unscathed
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.