The first Space Run game launched back in mid 2014, a time where Steam was dominated with a sudden resurgence in games with a space setting, and more than a few tower defense games also. The game actually did remarkably well considering both of those, and it did that through a stylised charm, and the humour and between-mission efforts that the one-man developer Passtech Games delivered.
Space Run spent 15 months being moved onto, and off of, my Steam wishlist – “Oh, hey! I’m not sick of the sci-fi, space setting yet, and I spend most of my time in games of the sort trading and cutting deals” becoming “Oh, hey! Tower-defense game on my wishlist – whoops.” It’s shallow of me, for sure, but there were a few years where it was the go-to genre for smaller developers, and most of them were simply reskinning another game – a Halloween theme, the 100 year wars, feudal Japan – or bumping up the units on screen – and I fell into that trap too many times. As I said, shame on me for making the assumption and not looking into the game earlier.
The original game, as I’d find through eventually giving it some time around a friend’s house, completely exceeded most of the standards I’d come to expect from the genre. For one, as to be expected, enemy attack direction and numbers are fully detailed – however, in SR these enemies can attack from about 10 different directions which means you need to adapt and redesign your ship regularly – rather than constructing a set layout to funnel enemies to their death. A further twist comes in the fact that you are extremely limited in space on the ship to build up your defenses/hold your cargo – admittedly you can increase your ship tiles, and change ship design (which includes a variety of different shapes) but these never amount to enough to build an impenetrable fortress. Balance then, lots of balance.
And, of course, you are hauling through the levels, the more cargo you take the less room you have for improvements, but the more cargo you get through (and the faster) the more money you get paid. It’s a good kind of pressure, one that replaces the simple need to hold out for “X more waves” and it gives you a sense of responsibility should you fail – it’s your fault for taking the gamble.
Most importantly, the game trumped it’s genre because it kept it’s tongue firmly in cheek, humourous stereotypes pun and blunder their way through mission briefings, serving as a nice break between somehow getting the speedy, shattered ship to dock and heading out on your next run.
So, Space Run Galaxy, the reason you’re here. The game certainly looks similar, it retains the first title’s trademark humour, gameplay, and – obviously – setting. The differences come in the structure of the game, it’s 20 years on from the events of the first game, Buck Mann is now your boss, and while you’ll be running jobs for some of the old faces the galaxy itself feels massively larger.
The main reason it feels larger is the galaxy map, there’s four different solar systems, just over 50 zones and spread across them 100 runs. These lines of travel are all shown on a system map, and under each of the different planets there’s icons indicating which services are available. While in the first game you were simply selecting a new run from a menu (sorted by employer) or flicking over to engineering as to spend your credits – in Galaxy you’ll need to move around to find engineers related to the upgraded parts you want, and the fact you move around the map actually gives a feeling of progression – good times.
Amid the additions there’s also a few new bits of cargo – one of the first you’re introduced to being prototype weapons. You’ll definitely want to keep those central to your ship, as if they take too much damage their instability will cost you more than just credits. Rewards are managed differently now as well, with the inclusion of engineers you actually receive parts for jobs which are required to get the ship upgrades – or, if you’re already fully spec’d up you can buy and sell them on the market, another addition which massively changes up the game. These parts will need to be transported around as well, which takes up space on your ship. Another thing to manage, excellent! The market is also useful for another reason, as there’s a player driven economy in the game for goods – managed by a shared server. This means you can make a fair few credits by gaming the economy, if that’s your thing.
The shared server system allows for something else, new and wonderful. There’s dedicated group of Space Run fans in the Steam Community forums, every so often a new post will rise up begging for more content, more levels, and many will rally there. The shared server system actually allows players to hire one another by setting missions – meaning that there’s effectively an endless stream of missions to be played. Bonus.
It’s shaping up to be a massive improvement from the already impressive first game. I’m especially looking forward to toying with the player-powered sections of the game – the player missions, and seeing how easy it is to make an impact on the game’s economy.
As this is a preview I can’t talk too much on my experiences with the game, however I’ve already bumped into a few of the new enemies, and have toyed with the market, ship-buying, and engineering features. I’m also massively enjoying the great effort that’s gone into the voice acting and artwork. But, I’ll detail all of that in our review which is set to go live on the 17th when the game launches, most importantly I’ll discuss the player economy, and player contracts details, as they’re the big game changers.
