Rebel Galaxy (2015)

In Rebel Galaxy you fly around the galaxy battling from your ship, trading resources for upgrades, and very slowly working through a story.

The majority of the gameplay is space combat, but it takes place on a 2D plane. This could just as easily have been sailing ships battling in the ocean as space ships battling in space.

The ship upgrade process is interesting and the story is told through static dialog once in a while.

While the gameplay loop is fairly fun, the game is meant for you to grind through it over and over again with little variation. I enjoyed it for a while but eventually I was

3D space games are often a bit too complicated. That makes sense because you need to be aware of your surroundings and have to maneuver a ship in an omnidirectional space. And shooting at enemies can be a pain.

Therefore, I like to play Rebel Galaxy for a change. Having reduced maneuverability lets me focus more on other important things during gameplay. And shooting at enemies is very simplified.

This simplicity suits the game very well because every other feature in the game is also uncomplicated and visually clearly designed.

I am thankful for Rebel Galaxy because to fly a ship in other 3D space games, I need a complete pilot training.

Thank you for reading my review. 🧡

Ricci

I love the game in theory, but it didn't click with me. This space exploration sandbox game has a ton of depth in the economy and trading, but it is very weak in the narrative and combat. The game really needs a better tutorial explaining how all the systems work. The game never explains about the commodity market, how to mine for resources or how the faction system works. It just kind of assumes that you've played these kinds of space exploration games before. FYI, there is no leveling up, the only way to get stronger is to earn money and upgrade your ship. Sadly, the story is kind of weak and it's mostly going from one point to another. The combat is almost all automated, outside of using broadside attacks and turning on your deflector shields.

Rebel Galaxy nails the space trucker vibe. It's the kind of game where you turn off your brain, play your favorite podcasts/music and travel from one point to another. I would definitely be into this game more if I had all the time in the world, but I would rather spend the time with more narrative heavy and/or challenging games.

This is free in the Epic store this week:

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/rebel-galaxy

They previously gave it away over 2 years ago. Can you believe it's been over 2 years and their launcher is still a piece of shit? Wow.

Also was given away by GOG at some point.

PS: This is a fairly simple but fun arcadey space combat game with broadsides like in pirate games such as AC: Black Flag & Rogue.

Meh. It didn't hook me at all.

The 2D broadside combat is uninteresting, but the worse part is that the mission structure is the typical go here, talk to a guy that ask you to deliver some cargo to the other side of the map, kill some dudes, rinse and repeat. The issue is that the huge distances are filled with literally empty space which is only punctuated by annoying asteroid fields that take you out of hyperspace, and meaningless random encounters which become a chore instantly.