Those familiar with my work know that I’m not quite the biggest fan of indie games. Being very honest, I would prefer a big ol’ AAA game, from whatever era (whether that be current or something from the 1990s). When Halcyon 6: Lightspeed Edition dropped on my lap, there was a lot of eye-rolling and procrastinating for the game. Just from looking at it, the game didn’t seem like my type.
Then I played it. And, wow! It’s a lot of fun. Here’s the low-down on it:
The full name of the game is Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander, and it is considered an indie strategy game. For this review, I am only commenting on the Lightspeed Edition, which is different from the original game that was released (keep reading for more detail). The game has a tactical element to it as well as an RPG one, which makes it some great big hybrid of a little big of everything. The game was developed and published by Massive Damage, Inc and was released September 8, 2016 for the original version (just to give a time table) and August 10, 2017 for the Lightspeed Edition. This is a Sci-fi adventure that made me think a lot of Mass Effect and the Citadel, where one must reclaim and rebuild an abandoned ancient alien space station to stop an alien invasion (see what I mean when I say Mass Effect?).
Originally, the game received varied reviews. Most loved the game’s overall concept but hated the slow grind of the game. Giving props to the developers, they decided to re-release the game with a much quicker progression. Hence, the Lightspeed Edition was born.
The main goal of the game is revolves around the Halcyon 6 base and how the player can build it up to its former glory. This includes taking wreaked rooms and upgrading them and getting the alien technology working. Basically, the player has to “clear out” rooms, and this can only be done by taking resources from nearby world, while battling off the invading enemies and space pirates.
The player takes turn-based, RPG-style attacks when the aliens or pirates invade. This can either by ground or ship-based attacks. The player can also utilize combos to kick some serious butt.
Overall, for a retro-based game, I thought it was pretty good. The story feels a bit rushed, but I think that’s a product of the style of game, and not necessarily the fault of the developers. The pacing felt right, which is especially good for a game with a lot of grinding. The big deal with the game was that it was fun! That’s what games are supposed to be about, right? It had a lot of gaming elements to it, which gave me some nostalgia in some cases. I prefer to actually play retro games, instead of imitations, but in this case I couldn’t quite come up with something that I’ve played that is similar. The layout reminded me of Star Wars: Rebellion (1998), and that kept me going for just sheer reminisce.
I’m quite positive that I would have never picked up this game if It hadn’t been dropped on my desk, but I’m glad it did. For a retro, indie game, it captured something for me that made me want to keep playing. As I have previously mentioned, this is a huge deal for me because I usually ignore most indie games. I think that Massive Damage, Inc may have opened my eyes a bit to the pros of indies.