Rolling Hard Sixes in the Preview of Battlestar Galactica Deadlock

In the middle of the first Cylon war, the Colonial and Cylon forces reached a stalemate. In this Deadlock, a new fleet of Battlestars are created to try and gain the upper hand. After a surprise Cylon attack on Picon devastated Colonial high command, you must lead the damaged Colonial fleet against the Cylon threat. Currently in an early beta, Battlestar Galactica Deadlock is slated for release at the end of the month (August the 31st).

A turn-based strategy title, Battlestar Galactica Deadlock gives you a 3rd person view of the battlefield, where you can order your various ships to engage the fraking toasters. Battle takes place on a mainly 2D plane, though you can order ships to go slightly higher or lower on this plane. Your ships have fire control and will automatically open fire with their turrets at their best target, though you are able to override this to focus fire on a dangerous enemy.

Along with your turrets, most ships are equipped with side-launched, guided missiles which can be useful for ripping through Cylon armour. Ships are categorised as cubes mainly, with armour on the left, right, front, back, top and bottom, and also a general hull health bar which determines if they’re in one piece or 40. Different classes of ships will also have turrets, the primary offense weapon of most ships on these 6 sides, so take care to not run broadside attack runs using a Manticore frigate with guns on the front and back.

To back up your long range cannons, you have a variety of other weapons to fight with; Long range torpedoes can be fired from most ships, and can do a large amount of damage to any ship they hit; vipers, launched from carriers and larger ships, specialise in haranging smaller enemy craft and defending against enemy raiders; Larger craft such as battlestars also have the ability to launch flak on their left or right side to disrupt enemy raiders or stop incoming torpedoes. This is a very useful ability and interesting in its denial of area, preventing any fighters movement and blocking any missiles from passing through. Blocking off sections of the map like that can create some really interesting tactics.

Currently Battlestar Galactica Deadlock has a colonial campaign depicting the first Cylon war (Set before the miniseries Blood and Chrome I believe) putting you in charge of an invigorated and aggressive Colonial fleet. Also included is a skirmish mode where you can pit various fleets against each other. While I was not yet able to test out the multiplayer due to lack of players, it appears to be similar to the skirmish mode, allowing multiple players to send fleets against each other in co-op and vs. modes.

While it is still in an early state, BSG Deadlock has a lot to offer, with superb gameplay and an attention to detail. Deadlock has firmly established its place in the canon, accepting what has already come and expanding on it with new story and materiel, with many new ships, such as the Manticore frigate which was designed for the game. Other such points of connection build on the idea of military families in the BSG universe, with several familiar families appearing in the game, such as Lucinda Cane and the appearance of an ‘Agathon’. Battlestar Galactica Deadlock is a very interesting strategy game that leans heavily on its source material, and does it well.

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