Gratuitous Space Battles

Gratuitous Space Battles Review

by on July 28, 2012

A game title like this suggests mindless Michael Bay-esque explosions and death, and GSB delivers this with aplomb, so what are you complaining about? You’re placed in charge of a fleet of spacecraft plonked opposite an enemy fleet, and, simply, it’d be rude not to watch as the inevitable spectacular combat between them unfolds.

While the premise of the game is simple, playing it isn’t as straightforward. This is partly because the user interface isn’t always as intuitive as it should be, leaving greenhorns wondering at times how to navigate the various menus. rnrnA major part of the gameplay experience is building your own ships from scratch, but – once you’ve digested a lot of the statistical details – this is massively satisfying. Playing as one of four galactic factions, you first select a hull (a frigate, fighter or cruiser among others) and then equip it with a vast array of weapons and modifications. The range of widgets – including guns, torpedoes, shields, additional crew quarters, engines and so on – is mind-boggling, and every little gadget you add has a subtle effect on the ship’s performance in battle, even to the point where if you try to slap on too many shields, they begin to become less efficient, so you can spend countless hours re-building and trying out your creations.

Once you’ve built your fleet you then deploy it and watch on like a proud, weeping parent as a spectacular space battle explodes before your very eyes. You can see in minute detail how every little module you chose performs in the field, and it’s glorious. Essentially, it is gratuitous, but c’mon, it’s a big toybox full of cool space stuff that you can mess around with – the more victory points you earn, the more stuff you can unlock. It might even have scored higher, but for the menu quibbles and the price.

Download this app: Gratuitous Space Battles for iPad

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Review courtesy of Tap!