With Valkyrie coming to an iDevice near you on April 28th, we sit down with Fishlabs to find out what we expect…
Valkyrie won’t be a separately released game in the series, but will instead be available as an add-on mission pack to Galaxy On Fire 2. Despite this, Fishlabs CEO Michael Schade, ensures us that the update is massive with a storyline that is quite independent from the main plot of the original one. And so it is not just one or two more levels, or a few new items like in many games these days.
TG: Is Valkyrie a continuation of the Void story and, if so, will gamers need to have played Galaxy on Fire 2 to fully appreciate Valkyrie?
Michael: The story begins right after you have defeated the Voids and it features a lot of the items and methods the player has been introduced during the main plot. This means you have to complete the original storyline first but you can access some new game content, like a selection of weapons and equipment as well as the black market system at anytime though. However, Valkyrie does not continue the plot of GOF2. In Valkyrie we wanted to have a more sophisticated story with less stereotype characters. Actually, some fans have critized the original story to be too shallow which we think is true to some degree if you compare Galaxy on Fire 2 with a full priced PC or console title. We have taken these comments seriously and worked hard on a deeper, more twisted storyline. However, even on iOS today we are still not at full PC or console standards but it is for sure one of the best and really rare fully dubbed stories on the App Store. It also won’t cost as much as an add-on for a PC game would.
TG: Is Keith T Maxwell still the focus of the game, or is it centered around a new hero?
Michael: Cocky but somewhat smart Keith is still our hero. Hard to imagine to have a Galaxy on Fire installment without him. Although, he has a pretty strong antagonist that he has to deal with now. This is a great improvement compared to the original plot as the Voids had been a quite anonymous enemy and consequently suffered from a lack of personality. In Valkyrie we introduce a very strong female antagonist that is challenging Keith in many ways, especially when it comes to his ego which is probably the hardest pill for him to swallow. But once again, he is not all by himself.
TG: GOF2 was far larger a place to explore than the first game. Does Valkyrie feature the same star systems, offer a completely new set of locations, or both?
Michael: In Valkyrie you can visit all the star systems of the original installment and on top of that we have completely new systems with new beautifully rendered backgrounds, planets and some new space stations as well. These new systems also feature some cool new graphical effects that add greatly to the variety of the game. While you progress though the storyline you will have to travel to the new systems but also to some of the existing ones.
TG: Does the game feature that same balance of action, exploration, and trading as before, or does it lean more towards one than the others.
Michael: It is still up to you how you make your living in the galaxy, either as a mercenary, trader, prospector or pirate or a little bit of everything. However, most of the new items are weapons and military equipment so I would say the action got a little more emphasis in this add-on. Although, new systems to explore and new ships to fly is probably for everyone and to have your own station to park your very own collection of ships is not just for wanna-be admirals.
TG: One of the key drivers to playing on after the campaign was over in GOF2, were the many types of ships and equipment to purchase with your hard earned credits. What new tech can gamers look forward to in Valkyrie?
Michael: Oh, there is plenty. Starting from new types of weapons like auto turrets, and especially the remote controlled missile, the “Liberator” for long range attacks, the emergency shield to survive even in ultra critical battle situations, mines that can be used to eliminate chasers on your back or lay out a deadly field of explosives in more tactic battle approaches, to great new inventions like the “Rhoda Vortex”, to slow down time for the player. Pretty useful when things get messy. Of course we also have brand new ships like deadly fighters from the Vossk Empire and ultra high tech vessels from the Deep Science organization with an all new and very elegant design.
TG: We’ve seen the demo of GOF2 running on a Tegra graphics chip, which blew the iPhone 4 and iPad version out of the water. What technical advances does Valkyrie bring to iOS devices, particularly the dual core power of the iPad 2?
Michael: Even for older and the current generation of iDevices we have slightly enhanced some of the textures for space stations and asteroids and improved visual effects like the lens flares, explosions and fog. Despite all these improvements, Valkyrie still runs on the iPod touch 2nd gen smoothly which was very important for us as we still have a significant number of these devices in our active user base. The heavily enhanced version for dual core GPU powered devices will come later this year as we are still working on re-creating all spaceships, stations, hangars and lounges from scratch at true console quality level. We might also come up with a TV-out optimized version for the iPad 2 if we can implement the complex controls in a reasonable way.
TG: What significant changes in terms of gameplay have you made to Valkyrie?
Michael: It is actually the new weapons and gadgets of Valkyrie that bring new gameplay into Galaxy on Fire 2. The skill level of your opponents in the new systems is much higher than before and simply equipping your ship with the best weaponry and lots of armor won’t be enough here. You need to approach battles much more tactically than before to be victorious using the new types of weapons and gadgets to your advantage when attacked from all sides. Also the black market system has quite an influence on the overall gameplay as you now have a spot that provides all the hot stuff. However, that comes with a price.
TG: If there was one complaint I had about GOF2, it was that it could be pretty slow going at times, with a lot of toing and froing form station to station without much action in-between. How has this balance been addressed?
Michael: Well, it is still up to the player’s preference how fast you go progress through the game. HC, our lead engineer needs only 90 minutes for a speed run to complete the main story but he really knows the game inside out, having worked on the Galaxy on Fire series for more than six years now. Also, if you try to travel from station to station in a system that is at threat level “dangerous” you will have a hard time to dock without enemy contact. Perhaps you were just lucky so far? That won’t happen for sure when you have already upgraded to version 1.0.4 featuring the Extreme Mode that we have released some time ago. And actually, when you have completed the main plot in Galaxy on Fire 2 you have the hyper drive to jump to any system directly to bypass lengthy space travels. Don’t tell me you sold the precious little thing just to get a better ship, did you?
TG: And finally, what is the one thing that fans of the original games should be excited about in Valkyrie?
Michael: Oh, that’s a tough one. I love it all, exploring new systems, with an all new graphical look and feel, as well as the new weapons, gadgets, the slick new Deep Science ships, owning my own station and Loma, the black market that serves all your needs. But I am also thrilled by the much darker story driven by a strong antagonist. How can you pick just one? Galaxy on Fire’s beauty is a composition of all the many great but also tiny little things that go hand in hand. You can’t pull out a single thing from Valkyrie like you can’t pull out just one note from a symphony and say that’s my favorite. Galaxy on Fire 2 – Valkyrie is a piece of game art within itself, if you ask me. Oh, you just did 
So there you have it. Look out for more coverage of Valkyrie on the run up to the release day, and our review. In the meantime you can check out Matt’s video hands-on at GDC in March here.
