FTL: Faster Than Light

By: Robert Murphy

You know, sometimes I don't know how I stumble across these certain games but I'm always glad when I give them a chance and check them out. My latest find is a game called FTL or Faster Than Light and it allows you to take control of your very own ship and it's crew to explore the galaxy but things often come at a treacherous cost as space can be dangerous. This top-down strategy game has a pension for not wanting you to survive long enough to reach your destination with all manner of stress causing things to stop you such as pirate ships, aliens, imploding stars, meteor showers and much more. As a ship for the Federation you must survive though and get the vital information you have aboard before the rebel forces catch up to you. And despite it's never ending quest to kill you, Faster Than Light will have you hooked time and time again making you want to make it further than you did before.

Now when I first took my ship for a stroll I was a little daunted by all the different things that I needed to keep track of on my ship but somehow once you go through your tutorial it all becomes a breeze, that is until things start blowing up all at once but we'll get to that. Your ship is the Kestrel or you can name it something else if you wish and you can do the same with your crew if you want to as well. You look at your ship from a top down perspective where you see each room, many of which occupy various ship mechanics like shields and weapons. From here you set out trying to make it from one zone to the next by making it to relay points in each area, you will of course come under attack or have something unfortunate thing happen to you on your journey. As enemies attack you they will either damage your hull or cause the various mechanics of your ship to break and shut down, this is where your crew comes in. You must send your crew to fix anything that goes wrong on your ship or you'll end up dead that much faster, if your shields get damaged for instance they'll shut down and you'll be a sitting duck. But during battle you can do the very same thing to enemy ships, targeting vital functions like the oxygen systems or the ships engines preventing them from escaping your wrath.  

FTL is a game that really tests your compartmentalization skills with all the various things that you have to deal with and somehow it makes it incredibly fun even when it all comes crashing down around you. And even though the game wants you to die it seems, sometimes its your own fault for being the goodie goodie hero of the story. Sometimes you will come across innocent transport ships being attacked by pirates and you can either save them or risk getting hurt helping them. Trust me, I was one of those who wanted to help but I quickly became cynical and said "SCREW YOU" its just not worth the reward more often than not. There's also the supposedly harmless moments where you can check out an abandoned ship or area for resources like fuel or androids that you can sell for scrap and upgrade your ship. This can often lead you to lose your valuable crew members and you think losing one crew member wouldn't be a big deal right? well you will be wishing you had him back your next battle, I guarantee it. 

It's sometimes hard to explain why a game like FTL that offers never ending amounts of deaths will not cause you to smash your keyboard in two or make you want to stop playing all together, I've seen my ship explode more times than I can count but I shrug it off and try again. Death more or less feels like a learning opportunity when you're playing and helps you do better each time it happens. The better you do too allows you to unlock more ships, new weapons and new ways to play or more often than not die. The pulse pounding game play is what makes things so hopelessly addicting and if you can manage all the problems you'll face along the way then you're a much better player than myself. 

Good:

- Endless amounts of replay value

- Solid combat system

- Hectic but oh so enjoyable game play, balancing all you can and hoping not to lose another ship

- Each play through is unpredictable and fun

Bad:

- The endless deaths might not be for everyone and some of you might not want to start over and over again

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10