Many European and American manufacturers nowadays like to make some "small games". Last year, "Son of Light" has a good reputation. This type of product is low in cost and fast in effect. It can also test the market's response to the gameplay of related topics, which facilitates manufacturers' decision-making and transformation. "Sidmer: Star Warship" is such a star-themed turn-based strategy game from 2K GAME. In fact, as early as last fall, the new expansion pack of the Civilization series, "Civilization: Space", has begun to pave the way for interstellar themes. So how much connection is there between the two? Is "Star Warship" a mediocre assembly line fast food, or can it be called a fine small dessert?下面就让我们来一探究竟。
The story background of the game tells that human civilization expanded colonies to various galaxies after the "sowing" era, but as time goes by, many colonies gradually lost contact. Suddenly one day, the galaxy where the protagonist is located receives a distress signal from other planets. People who have enjoyed peace for too long decided to form a new expedition fleet and embark on a new journey to unknown galaxies.
The only forces in the game are "humans" and there is no racial difference. They are divided into three camps: "Supreme, Harmony and Pure" according to their beliefs: those who walk with the supreme are to save the fate of mankind through tools and technology; those who believe in harmony can perfectly fit their mother star; while those who pursue purity are to adhere to the history and mission of thousands of years ago and spread common human nature in the universe. These are actually consistent with the settings of "Civilization: Space".
The game's perspective is the same as most turn strategy games, that is, a 2.5D screen that cannot rotate or switch view angles. The opening of "Sidmer: Star Warship" is a common "comic-style" cutscene in low-cost games. After all, compared with high-cost CG production, this American comic form is neither straightforward nor inconsistent, and can achieve a good balance between cost and effect.
The setting options of this game can be said to be "very simple": we can only adjust the game sound, window/full screen and tutorial switches, and we can't even change the resolution of the picture. Probably, the producer believes that the strategy game that does not use the picture as a play point does not need to be redundant, but it may also be that the game needs to be logged into the iOS device at the same time, and the development of this aspect needs to be consistent as much as possible.
The overall picture style of the Star Warship is very simple, even monotonous, the material and details of the model are also very ordinary, and the special effects and scripts are relatively simple. For example, when the unit explodes, the model is intact at the beginning, and then suddenly disappears. The UI of the mission interface has a very beautiful 3D cartoon with a sci-fi 3D cartoon.
The whole game has fewer musical elements, the BGM style is solemn and magnificent, which is very consistent with the theme background of the stars and seas. The soundtrack on the title interface even has a HALO-like epic feeling, but since there are not many songs included, players will inevitably feel bored after a long game; the dialogue between characters is matched with dialogues.The sound is also considered to be careless. The "smart voice" that has not changed for thousands of years of time is probably the standard configuration in interstellar-themed games, and basically uses the same post-processing effect.
Look at the core gameplay of "Sidmer: Star Warship". The entire game system basically copied the civilization series under 2K. At the beginning, players will be asked to choose leaders and beliefs to determine their early advantages and development directions. The conditions for victory are divided into population, domination, technology, and miracle victory - these are exactly the same as the civilization series.
But compared with the Civilization series, the internal affairs of this game have been greatly simplified, and players have less to worry about. They only need to use 5 data to understand the development of their galaxy, namely: points (currency), energy (related to combat), metal (architecture and miracle), technology (combat technology research and development) and food (related to population). All trivial factors such as public security, plague, people's hearts and other trivial factors are thrown away. Players can focus their energy on the most exciting "battle part", after all, the game is called "Star Battleship".
The formation and development of troops are also very simple, because in this game you can only have one main fleet, and you cannot create other squadrons. The research and development of warships and purchasing new ships can be carried out intuitively through the lower panel; the team members also have the settings to upgrade their ranks, which can improve their skill effects.
The battle part is the highlight of the entire game. The board adopts the most popular hexagonal grid in the turn-based strategy game, a typical civilized style. Each round, your ship can perform a movement and an action. Movement includes both position movement and direction movement, because the direction of this game is very important, and the damage of being attacked on the back is much higher than that of the front; actions include the most commonly used attacks and the display of various abilities obtained through research and development, such as releasing small fighter jets, launching torpedoes, stealth, reconnaissance, etc.
The battle is more affected by the terrain. The asteroid belt will hinder the attack effect of both sides, and will also form a limited-time surprise attack secret passage, as well as a space teleportation point that can help you or your enemies escape from the birth day. At the same time, different planetary environments will also bring different states to all troops, some can weaken the shield, while others can accelerate repairs. In addition, a battle card that can only be launched once in each battle, and the card effect is extremely powerful when it is activated, which is one of the keys to turning the situation around. It can be said that this game gives me the feeling of fighting that is not as dull as the traditional civilization series, but rather more interesting and refreshing.
It is also worth mentioning that the "torpedo" weapon in the game battle gives some real-time operation elements in the turn mechanism: you can control the flight and detonation of the torpedo in real time, allowing it to give the enemy the heaviest blow at the most appropriate time, and can also seize the buffs on various time bars, giving yourself the greatest advantage.
The mission system in the game is also particularly important because it is the first step to gain trust from a planet and ultimately control it. Tasks of different difficulty levels will have different colors to remind you,There are also several types of tasks. Some let you chase people, some let you escape, and there are many modes such as escort and guard. So don’t think it’s OK to eliminate your opponent. It’s the key to clarify your goals before the war begins. At the same time, the mission rewards given by each planet have their own characteristics. Players should clarify their development ideas and selectively perform tasks.
In contrast, the diplomatic part of "Sidmer: Star Warship" has no highlights, it is nothing more than "start the fight!" or "give money...", and it also depends on the mood of AI. After all, diplomacy is only a temporary stopgap measure. It is unlikely to gain advantages and victory through diplomacy on high difficulties, and there is not much playability and operability in this aspect in the game.
