The Top “Ten” Video Games of 2012 – #4

Since the dawn of games on computers, we have dreamed of the stars, and since the birth of video games, there have been adventures set in space.  It’s no great surprise that then in the higher parts of our Top “Ten” we find a space based game, based around managing all aspects of life and keeping a crew alive in the most perilous times. (A bit like a SquareGo AGM booze-up) Back on the PC and Mac, with this simple looking but entrancing indie release.

Graeme Strachan: Interesting that Si just mentioned Procedural Content,  as next up on our list is……Top “Ten” Video Game of 2012 No. 4: FTL: Faster Than Light

Phil Doyle: YES

Joseph Blythe: YASS

Dave Whitelaw: Oh man

Andrew Travers: Loved it!

Dave Whitelaw: Such a good game… SO GOOD

Joseph Blythe: This game man

Chris Peebles: I have played so much of this game and still never finished it. Jesus that boss

Phil Doyle: Now, this is a game that CREATES stories like no other

Chris Peebles: Those ships…SPACE

Andrew Travers: just the replayabilty made that game

Dave Whitelaw: Still haven’t finished it either.

Alan Williamson: It’s in my Steam list right now, installed and glaring at me because I haven’t played it yet

Joseph Blythe: That boss is such a killer

Phil Doyle: That boss is evil

Dave Whitelaw: Second incarnation of the mothership always gets me

Graeme Strachan: So I should buy it then?

Dave Whitelaw: Yes

Phil Doyle: Yes

Dave Whitelaw: Now Graeme

Joseph Blythe: Buy this right now

Dave Whitelaw: Just buy it

Si Wellings: Not just never played it, but never actually heard of it, believe it or not.

Dave Whitelaw: it’s like someone made the perfect Star Trek board game

Joseph Blythe: I’ve never beaten the first boss incarnation

Andrew Travers: Me neither

Phil Doyle: It’s a beaut, truely a game where anything more than the simple style it has would ruin what’s great about it

Joseph Blythe: Seemed overwhelming when I first played it, but you catch on so quickly

Dave Whitelaw: Genuinely tense at parts too.

Alan Williamson: There’s an awful lot of nothing being said here, you know. Just superlatives and some vague spoilers about a boss

Graeme Strachan: I think somehow in my head I got this mixed up with Mitu Khandaker’s Redshirt, and thought it was about social networking & relationships

Phil Doyle: It’s a game that’s good to play but great to tell stories about

Alan Williamson: “Your relationship will be over… FASTER THAN LIGHT”

Chris Peebles: Just naming your dudes makes you care so much about them and it makes the stories so much fun to tell. This is also true of XCOM

Alan Williamson: Tell me a story!

Joseph Blythe: It let me live out all those geeky dreams of captaining a starship and fighting my way through the galaxy

Dave Whitelaw: It’s essentially a strategy board game where you get to be Kirk in charge of the Enterprise on a mission to deliver a package to the good guys through very dangerous space, all the while being chased by the Rebel Fleet

Andrew Travers: Every playthrough is different

Dave Whitelaw: You are constantly balancing resources, whether they be missiles, crew members, upgrades or, indeed, time

Andrew Travers: and worrying about where your crew members are so they don’t die

Joseph Blythe: It’s a sci-fi rogue-like in space, random playthroughs and encounters, and resource balancing combat

Chris Peebles: The amount of tactics you can use to destroy enemy ships is staggering for such a seemingly simple game. Using different weapons, stealth, boarding. Etc.

Phil Doyle: It’s about decisions; do I buy this weapon, do I battle this guy or run away, do I try to get more salvage to get this from the shop. Every choice needs to be considered and balanced

Chris Peebles: It gets intense when fires and hull breaches break out

Graeme Strachan: What makes it so conducive though? Over the games so far?

Chris Peebles: and the abilities of the different species just make it so enjoyable.

Joseph Blythe: There’s so much to it for such a simple set of mechanics

Dave Whitelaw: It’s one of those games Graeme that when someone explains it to you, sounds madly complex

Chris Peebles: It reminds me of games for the Mega Drive era. Not long, but you play them over and over.

Dave Whitelaw: like it just simply couldn’t be fun because there’s too much to worry about

Joseph Blythe: I was actually put off buying it when people described it to me

Dave Whitelaw: but after a couple of playthroughs, it just clicks

Phil Doyle: I think why it gets so many votes is what Chris said earlier; you get such an attachment to your ship and your crew

Andrew Travers: It’s one of those games where you need to try it

Phil Doyle: Has it got a demo yet?

Dave Whitelaw: the gameplay is such that even the most complex actions are very simple to carry out, you can play it without worrying ‘how’ to play it

Joseph Blythe: It’s funny that for a game where you’ll go through so many ships and crew, each one is like a seperate adventure, and you’ll remember them all

Dave Whitelaw: and again, it generates amazing stories to share with friends

Phil Doyle: Cause when I bought it there wasn’t one and I think it is a game that needs to be played, describing it makes it hard to get over why it’s so good

Joseph Blythe: My Resi themed ship and crew was one of the best gaming stories I’ve had in years

Graeme Strachan: No demo but it’s only £6

Chris Peebles: And I’m sure everyone’s come across Charlie on that one random planet.

Dave Whitelaw: I must have put 40 or 50 hours into FTL

Chris Peebles: And giant space spiders are no joke.

Phil Doyle: Think it was a bit more than that when I picked it up

Joseph Blythe: You won’t find many better ways to spend £6

Dave Whitelaw: And each playthrough is only maybe 15-30 minutes

Graeme Strachan: Sounds like things I’ve heard about XCOM

Joseph Blythe: Really Dave? Each playthrough I tended to sink a couple of hours in

Chris Peebles: I only got it in the Autumn sale, but I’d completely agree with that G.

 

Dave Whitelaw: 2 hours? wow – no, I don’t think I ever had a game go over an hour

Graeme Strachan: Dave plays space like he plays Speed-chess. No quarter

Chris Peebles: XCOM and FTL have similar experiences in the end of it, stories and the like, but they’re definitely different games.

Dave Whitelaw:

Joseph Blythe: Ha, I guess I spend too long worrying about spending scrap

Phil Doyle: FTL feels like a forgotten game from early 90s PC gaming, It has that toughness to it as well; it will kick you in the nuts when it wants to

Joseph Blythe: I can’t begin to stress how addictive it is as well. People have stressed that it’s great for creating stories, but the stories are like the best pulp page turners ever

Graeme Strachan: Ok so aside from the many many many many packaging-quote friendly comments so far….. any final thoughts on FTL?

Dave Whitelaw: Just buy it.

Phil Doyle: Yeah, live tweeting my playthroughs was superb, Better space opera than mass effect

Alan Williamson: It’s the reason you won’t hear much from me over the Christmas holidays, I reckon

Phil Doyle: =D

Dave Whitelaw: Worst case, you’ll hate it and you’ve lost £6. But you won’t hate it.

Joseph Blythe: The best sci-fi game I’ve played in years

Chris Peebles: If you ever wanted to command a starship crew, this is the game for you. It’s just fun through and through and it’s one indie game that I wish I had kickstarted before I knew about it.

Andrew Travers: Such a good and fun game to pick up, and you can easily lose hours playing through it

Phil Doyle: Oh, true it was on kickstarter wasn’t it

Chris Peebles: that was a little too back of the box-ish.

Graeme Strachan: ok…..

Joseph Blythe: The soundtrack isn’t too bad either

 

From Favelas to lonely islands, from 3D mines, to fantastic fantasy worlds, even into the far flung depths of space, the top voted games of 2012 is continuing to be a rollicking year at SquareGo Towers.  With only 3 spaces left to go and over 50 games voted for by our staffers, what will lie in the final furlong? To see who takes Bronze, tune in tomorrw at 5pm!