Fishlabs’ space opera sequel hits the AppStore next week (27th) and we’ve scored a preview build, just for you!…
It seems like eons ago that Fishlabs released both iPhone and iPad screens for their epic space sequel Galaxy On Fire 2. And now, one week before release we finally have it in our grubby mitts.
Much like the Metroid series, GOF2 starts off with our Hero just as you were in the last outing only to then lose all your power in the opening act, leaving you with just the basic equipment. From here, just like the first game you start out taking odd jobs of transporting goods and clearing space junk, before earning enough money to upgrade your ship and move on to bigger and better things. The original game limited you to a few systems, before opening up the game with more worlds to explore and more missions, but GOF2 seems to offer more from the off, with a generous star map to explore. We’ve barely scratched the surface with the game, but have already visited a selection of Space Ports and taken on various missions.
New to GOF 2 is ore mining, complete with an asteroid drilling mini game where you must line up the drill bit within a target to ensure you successfully mine the ore without destroying the asteroid prematurely, great way to earn money to upgrade your ship when visiting Space Ports. At each port you will also find the Space Lounge. This is like a Cantina of sorts where you can meet travellers and locals to pick up missions or information to the further your quest.
The rest of the game seems pretty similar so far, only bigger and better. The game features full voice acting this time out, and the dialogue writing is a marked improvement over the last game and infinitely better than Gameloft’s Space Battalion. Speaking of that game, those of you expecting GOF2 to be similar are barking up the wrong tree. This game has a much slower pace in comparison, with Space Battalion closer in feel to Star Fox and other linear action games, whereas GOF2 is closer to the classic Elite with more RPG elements than action, spanning a sprawling galaxy with no obvious invisible walls. That isn’t to say that this game lacks action. The many pirate battle you will engage in, while not as in your face or epic as Space Battalion, feel more realistic in scope… along the lines of Star Trek style battles.
Visually the game has seen a jump in terms of quality from the original which was released over a year-and-a-half ago. That game was no ugly duckling, but thanks to the Retina display and extra power of the iPhone 4 GOF2 is looking great, with enhanced effects, and detailed ships, textures and environments. A cool new feature, no doubt inspired by racing games on the consoles, allows you to suspend time in the game and take a photo from any angle. From here you can save them to your camera role. It doesn’t add anything to the overall gameplay, but its an interesting bonus and might start a new craze of budding space photographers!
GOF2 is shaping up to be another quality space epic, and is no doubt going to suck up my time over the next week. It remains to be seen if some of the more lacklustre missions and repetitive story elements that the previous game occasionally suffered from will crop up. And whether the generally long fight times between missions will quicken as you progress. To find out, be sure to stay tuned to TouchGEN.com for my review on release day. In the meantime check out 8 minutes of in game footage below. (please note that for ease of filming the controls were set to touch mode and not the superior tilt controls)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPaYvtJzbU4
