In the 16 years since Ronald D. Moore's take on Battlestar Galactica ended its official TV run in 2009, the most surprising thing about the series is that it hasn't inspired many great games. Sure, more than a few releases have carried the Battlestar Galactica name, but none of those have managed to capture what made the 2003 miniseries and later 2004 show so special. That might change early next year when Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes arrives.
Ahead of today's announcement of the game, publisher Dotemu gave the gaming press a chance to play an early build of Scattered Hopes. The first thing you need to know about the game is that it's made by Alt Shift, the studio behind 2019's Crying Suns. Alt Shift doesn't shy away from the fact Crying Suns was inspired by Battlestar Galactica, and the studio's love for the source material shows in its new project. Even in the version I played, which was missing gameplay features and had yet to be properly balanced, Scattered Hopes feels like BSG's three-hour pilot episode recreated in game form.
In Scattered Hopes, you're tasked with leading a fleet of ships fleeing the destruction of Caprica. Like Crying Suns, the game is a roguelike, meaning gameplay revolves around randomized runs and you're expected to fail your mission multiple times before you get anywhere close to success. At the start of each run, you pick a fleet, with each one offering a different mix of military and civilian ships for you to command. Once you're underway, gameplay is a mix of turn-based and real-time strategy as your fleet jumps from system to system to try and outrun the Cylons.
When you first arrive in a sector, you have a handful of turns to carry out scavenging missions, repairs to your fleet and research that will enhance your combat abilities. During this time, situations can develop among the survivors of the Twelve Colonies. For example, on my first run, a group of thieves started stealing supplies from the fleet. What's interesting about these scenarios is that you'll frequently be forced to choose between different factions among your survivors, representing the interests of workers, military personnel and other more shady elements. Often, these groups will come forward on their own to offer you something, but those gifts never come free, and you need to balance the influence of each group, lest one become too powerful.
After a few turns of this, the Cylons will arrive and will always do so with overwhelming force. These battles play out in real-time, though there's a tactical pause in case things get too hectic. At the start of my first run, I only had one Battlestar and two fighter squadrons to fight off everything that came my way.
The goal of these encounters is not to defeat the Cylons, but rather to stay alive as long as it takes for the faster than light drives on your ships to spin up. These battles are the most fun part of the experience. They're absolutely hectic, and I found making it out with minimal damage to my fleet required prioritizing the right targets. That's easier said than done. The Cylons often sent a homing missile or tactical nuke my way that forced me to redirect my fighter squadrons to intercept those, leaving the rest of my fleet vulnerable.
Even in its early state, with seemingly a lot of work left for Alt Shift to do before the game ships early next year, Scattered Hopes is an incredibly fun exercise in crisis management, and I'm hopeful the studio can stick the landing. In the meantime, you can wish list the game on Steam.
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