FTL: Faster Than Light

[GrumpyGamerLP]

Here is a cool space combat game that just came out on Steam. It let's you control a ship that flies around the galaxy. When combat breaks out you get to control your crew and all of your ship's systems. This game is a fun diversion. Here is a video if you want to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Ri4tMuMBE

 

[Leonel]

I got it. It's hella fun. What'd be cooler is if one could mod it to have Star Trek or other science fiction themes. I got as far as destroying one wing of the rebel flag ship too!

 

[Wolfbeckett]

Best $9 game I've ever bought I reckon. Super fun and addicting. Some have been turned off by the graphics but that doesn't bother me, I'm willing to make allowances for a game that was built by 3 dudes.

Gotten to the last boss once on easy but he WRECKED me. Really had bad luck with wepons that run, I was using an engi ship and never got an upgraded ion gun, and had no defensive drone to block his missiles, didn't see one for the entire game. Had I just had those two things I think the fight would have gone very different, my ship itself was upgraded nicely.

Also as a general rant I HATE beacons that are too close to stars, those fight are the WORST. So much fire. Honestly we can invent faster than light travel but we've never heard of an automated sprinkler system?

 

[Malachi256]

Awesome game. Was part of the kickstarter aspect.

I enjoy the occasional rogue-like, and this is a very good sci-fi adaptation.

 

[GoodGame]

I've been watching some of the different LPs for it and I'm not quite impressed for $10.

 

[Samez]

I bought this game from gog and must say, i have mixed feelings. On the one hand it's real fun and i was addicted to it for ~4-5 hours, on the other hand the difficulty is a bit too random for my taste esp in the beginning(is it even possible to save? Didn't find out how...) and once you reached the final boss (which can be quite fast) the replayability is quite low. Still was worth it's money if you compare it with watching a movie in the cinema.

 

[Malachi256]

That's how rogue-likes go.

I think I went through around 100 characters in Dungeon Soup before I actually passed the game.

There are a million games out there that provide a predictable experience, where once you understand the game mechanics success is basically guaranteed.

Rogue-likes are fun because it's not that simple. It's a little bit more like a good card game - you are dealt a hand, what can you do with it? Will the odds suddenly turn in your favor, or will you have to use every trick you've got just to survive a situation gone bad?

In one game of FTL, I was down to one crew member by the end of the first "room," and nearly threw in the towel... but instead decided to just keep going and see how far I could get. Ended up getting a string of better luck (to counteract all the foul luck I had obviously had up to that point) and I believe I managed to get to the end-boss in that game.

I've gotten the end boss to phase 2, but haven't beat the game yet (on easy). I've only put in maybe 11-12 hours.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

Got the end boss to phase 3 on my last playthrough. Unfortunately I had really no weapons that were capable of penetrating his shields, in order to get through I'd need ALL of my lasers to hit and because of his high evade rate it was basically a crap shoot. And the 3rd phase is insane, he gets an "ultimate weapon" which freaking destroys you. I had full shields, a crewman with full shield skill, rockman hull plating, an augment that makes shields recharge faster, AND a mark 2 defense drone, and his offense still tore me to freaking shreds. Really not sure at this point how you are supposed to pass this guy to be honest, the first 2 phases were long and difficult but doable but this last phase requires to somehow manage to completely max out your offensive power and defensive power before you hit him or you are boned.

 

[Highwayhoss]

I got the game for free from a friend of mine who knows the developers; still trying to finish it but it is fun and challenging. I'd like to see some sort of open ended sandbox mode for exploration though.

 

[GASherbert]

My friend told me about this game, and I've been enjoying it immensely.

It took me a number of tries, but I managed to beat the boss on easy. I didn't think I'd be able to win, because my weapons were not very good, but I used boarding parties to my advantage. I got a nasty surprise when I killed off all of the crew. I countered the 3rd stage superweapon by turning on my cloak right after the weapon fired.

 

[Vylinius]

I beat it earlier today. On easy though so I'll probably be playing again soon. It's a great game and it's "cruelty" would usually put me off, but I still love it.

 

[JtheJackal]

I've been enjoying the game. Always a good sign when I lose and just want to go back. Regrettably I assumed the game was something it wasn't. I assumed it was map of an explorable galaxy where you could do what you want. I was surprised to find it wasn't, just assumed that's the way space games were made. Can't complain considering the price though.

 

[KaiserElectric]

Just got it, this game is really awesome. It's kind of like Dwarf Fortress, only much less complicated.

I'm still trying to work on unlocking more ships though. All I have unlocked is the Engi Cruiser, both layouts.

 

[cardgame]

Ah yes, saw it on Kickstarter. Doesn't really look that great but sounds awesome from all your reviews.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

For $9 it's a must try. It's less than a ticket to see a movie and you can potentially get many many more hours of entertainment out of it.

Still struggling with it but to be honest I haven't been tryingtoo hard to actually win, I've been trying to get the last human achievement. It's hard, slugs are pretty rare for me and of course getting a crystal guy is completely up to chance, usually I end up with something going catastrophically wrong before I get the the chance. My naturally bad luck really shows itself in this game, I can't even say how many times I've had to restart because things went so crappy for me as early as sector 1. This achievement is tough, that's for sure.

Only other ships I've unlocked so far are Engi and Rock. The Engi ship is of course sweet but I can't say I'm a big fan of the Rock ship, I have a really hard time getting off to a decent start with it. It's so focused on missiles that I often find myself running low before I can find any weapons that don't require them. Probably give it a few more cracks soon, I know there must be a way to win with this ship since it starts with pretty good stuff I just need to figure out how.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Beat the game on the 22nd try. (on easy obviously!) Managed this with the zoltan cruiser.

I have unlocked:
The Human ship both layouts: the 6 different alien crewmembers is damn hard to do. That's the achievements i didn't manage to do.
Engi ship both layouts: prolly the easiest 2 ships to unlock.
The huge human cruiser: haven't played it yet since it got unlocked when i finished the game.
The slug cruiser: kinda hard to play with. I have lots of trouble with it. Also i don't understand how i'm supposed to have vision of every room in the enemy ship with the slugs (i have to board?)
Zoltan cruiser: sorta easy, but really hard if you get boarded a lot and early.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Really not sure at this point how you are supposed to pass this guy to be honest, the first 2 phases were long and difficult but doable but this last phase requires to somehow manage to completely max out your offensive power and defensive power before you hit him or you are boned.

Dodge.
In most playthroughs i upgrade my dodge a lot. This is why i think his superweapon sucks as most of the time it shoots it barely passed my level 3 shield.
Or you could just cloak when he shoots.

Also as a general rant I HATE beacons that are too close to stars, those fight are the WORST. So much fire. Honestly we can invent faster than light travel but we've never heard of an automated sprinkler system?

Upgraded door systems work wonders against fires. That coupled with a rockman crewmember or a Sysrepair bot and you won't even be bothered by the fires.

I assumed it was map of an explorable galaxy where you could do what you want. I was surprised to find it wasn't, just assumed that's the way space games were made. Can't complain considering the price though.

That's how the game was originally, but it sucked because you became much too powerful in later stages and it became very boring. I like how it is now.

However what i would like is more variation in random events. Aren't there event packs or smthing to download ?

 

[trader/warrior]

Tried it for an hour or so, passed through four or five sectors. I was quite dissapointed with how repetetive it seemed. Though I guess it's down to luck wethter you get any interesting quests or equipment in that amount of time. Will have to try it a bit more. TBH I expected a bit more of the gameplay than what I've seen so far, even for a 9$ game.

 

[Wolfbeckett]

FINALLY managed to beat this on easy with the Type B Kestrel Cruiser. I was down to 1 HP for like 90% of the last phase but through careful cloak usage and, let's be honest, downright straight up luck, I was able to pull out the win. Yes, my Rockman may have been onboard the enemy ship when it blew up, but his sacrifice will not be forgotten!

All in all a memorable run, not only did I get my first win, I also unlocked both the stealth and mantis ships on that run, as well as got the third human achievement. Third human achievement was actually easier than I thought, when it said "6 unique aliens" I thought for sure that meant mantis, zoltan, engi, rockman, slug, crystal dude. Nope, apparently humans count as aliens now, only needed 5 of those plus my human pilot. Just in case anyone else is looking at that achievement boggling at the amount of luck it would take to pull it all together. Only need 3 more ships, Crystal, Slug, and Zoltan. I also learned that no matter how many missiles you THINK you have, you need MOAR MOAR MOAR for the last boss, that would have been WAY easier if I hadn't have ran out halfway through phase 1.

 

[Dreadnought]

I beat it on Easy after several attempts with the alternate Kestrel layout. Got a bunch of superweapons, Defense Drone II, and cloaking. Took care of it pretty easily.

Though I'm not sure I'll ever play it again.