We’d actually seen Spacebase Startopia before, and previewed it back in October.
It was nice to see that the game is coming along well, with a lot more of its unit/building types now in place. The demo we saw also featured a lot more units on screen at once than we saw during our session in the summer, so we also got a glimpse at how the game performs when there’s a lot going on at once.
Playing through a few scenarios taken from the game’s campaign mode (it also features a sandbox mode), we got to see a number of problems that were unfolding on board of our space station, and various ways of tackling these. Besides the usual menus and visuals hints (we saw a LOT of upset aliens with flames raging above their heads), the AI narrator also helps/urges you on – often with hints of sarcasm as Spacebase Startopia is meant to be lighthearted despite a certain degree of challenge.
The final game promises to contain elements of RTS as well, but we didn’t see any big scale confrontations yet. The demo did contain short scenes where immediate action was required and robot units needed to sent over to a danger in need of destroying, but the overall impression felt more like a fun sci-fi city builder than a real time strategy game – though the line between those can be thin. Developer RealmForge is approaching the beta stage for their game, which should be out in the fall.
The video below shows a good section in in-game footage, which is the first time we’re getting to share this with you.
