It’s kind of an exciting time for space combat fans, isn’t it? Not only do we have news of a new Chris Roberts game on the horizon, Star Citizen, but we also now have a this gem of a game to play, Strike Suit Zero.
Before we proceed any further with this review, I want to make it very clear that SSZ is not a space “sim;” if you’re looking for something with the pacing of a Wing Commander or X-Wing, then SSZ may appear too “arcadey” to you. Think of it like a comparison between traditional turn based RPGs like Disgaea, and more action oriented ones like Dragon Age.
Like I mentioned in my PAX preview, the term “arcade” is often interchangeable with “casual” these days, and that term has turned into somewhat of a bad word. It has become something for core gamers to turn their noses up at and proclaim that casual games are not “real” games. If that’s your fear, then rest assured that this is not the case. While SSZ is fast and frantic, it offers a fairly deep combat mechanic that goes beyond just pointing and shooting, and it will keep you on your toes the whole time you’re playing.
The story of SSZ, unfortunately, is probably the weakest link, though that’s not to say it’s “bad.” It just doesn’t really offer up anything new that we haven’t seen a zillion times before in a sci fi story. At its base, SSZ presents a story of the Earth government which has been besieged by a band of insurgents, the Colonials, over a deal gone sour many years ago. You play a disgraced former pilot named Adams who is seeking redemption and may be Earth’s last hope. Yup.
But you’re not here for the story; you’re here for the awesome space combat, and in that regard SSZ delivers in droves. Flying around in a ship feels pretty natural if you’ve played space combat games in the past. My input of choice was a mouse and keyboard, though the game also works with a gamepad. It’s all fine and dandy with a gamepad, but it’s just more accurate with a mouse, especially something beefy like the GX Gaming Gila mouse. During combat, you can switch between different guns, missiles, launch an EMP as a countermeasure, and do your typical repertoire of barrel rolls, corkscrews, and whatnot to avoid the enemy.
If SSZ was nothing more than ship to ship combat, it would still be a pretty fun game. But it’s a hell of a lot more than that.
When flying around and blowing things up, you earn Flux Points. Once you earn enough of these Flux Points, you can turn into a mech, which opens up a whole new mess of combat opportunities. I’ve played a lot of mech games, and while many are really cool, most of them involve land-based mechs that stomp around slowly, kind of like a mechanical Godzilla from the classic movies. In SSZ, they went more of a Zone of the Enders route, allowing your mech to be fast, fluid, and completely free to operate in the vast expanses of space. This means you are not stuck plodding around on land; you are instead free to zip about in space, dealing death and destruction from any direction at any time.
In my preview, I described flying and maneuvering in ship form like driving around in a pickup truck, and doing the same in mech form to be like driving around in Ken Block’s Ford Fiesta. The difference is like night and day. In ship form, you can’t really turn sharply or make any lateral movements. Sure you can use your brakes and execute a somewhat tight turn, but go up against any enemy that’s even slightly more maneuverable than you, and you suddenly realize just how cumbersome the ship actually is.
In mech form, you might as well be a gymnast. Screw the EMP or corkscrewing wildly to avoid a missile; as a mech, simply juke the darn thing. The lateral movements in mech form are awesome; at any given time, you can simply “shift” in any direction. Compared to the enemy ships out there; you are Barry Sanders. The sense of superiority doesn’t just come in your movements either. As a ship, you can lock onto an enemy with your missile and let one loose. What’s the mech equivalent to that? Well, how does locking onto as MANY ENEMIES AS YOU CAN AT ONCE sound? How does letting loose with about 15 missiles at once sound to you?
I know.
The only real thing I have to complain about is the prevalence of too many instances where you spend the earlier parts of a level just flying from waypoint to waypoint. I understand that these are the times when the story moves forward, as you’re usually listening to a lot of characters chattering, but on more than one occasion I realized that I just spent the last few minutes flying around doing nothing. It’s by no means a deal breaker, but it does kind of stick out.
The mechs look really cool, which makes plenty of sense considering they were designed by Junji Okubo of Steel Battalion, Appleseed: Ex Machina, Viper’s Creed, etc. fame. In fact, the entire game just looks spectacular. Instead of the stark darkness and emptiness of space, SSZ throws a multitude of colors and effects in your face. It’s an epileptic’s worst nightmare. The colors pop, the effects dazzle, and the ships are nicely modeled as well. Graphically, this game won’t punish your rig like Crysis 3 promises to, but you’d be hard pressed to find something to complain about.
If you have a decent sound system or a good set of headphones, be prepared for an audio treat. The sounds of battle are booming, and even flying through space has a nice “whoosh” sound that’s nice and deep. The soundtrack is very well done and is one of the highlights of the game. Composed by Paul Ruskay of Homeworld fame, the music has a cool electronica/spacey feel to it that fits the overall tone of the game perfectly.
Strike Suit Zero has the potential to revive the space combat genre. Because it’s not a strict space sim and has more arcade elements to it, it has the ability to attract a much larger crowd than if it were focused on being a niche title. I’m as excited for Star Citizen or another Wing Commander game as the next guy, but while we wait for those giants of the genre to make their appearance, give SSZ a shot. It’s a ton of fun, the price is right, and hey…who doesn’t like blowing stuff up in space?
Livefyre