Space. The last pleasure. Video games have taken the stars for action and adventure since 1962’s Spacewar! And considering the Venn chart of sci-fi fans and gamers, it’s basically one circle, it’s no surprise that the settings dominate some of our favorite games. Mass effect. Dead space. EVE Online.
But there is one title that includes everything a sci-fi fan would want in a game that is tragically overlooked. It has exciting shipping battles. Alien invasions. Intergalactic political intrigue. The fate of mankind rests on the shoulders of one fearless captain (you). And up to February 18, this game is completely free in the Epic Games Store.
I’m talking about Halcyon 6 of Massive Damage. This tactical RPG space sim is currently free until February 18 in the Epic Store, giving you just enough time to jump in for a three-day weekend of tactical splendor, meticulous resource management and a hefty dose of nihilistic humor on par with Galaxy Quest.
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What makes Halcyon 6 such an outstanding title? In a word, balance. There is just enough of everything without there being too much of anything. The game itself is essentially divided into three components. You have an aspect of resource pool / base management along with turn-based battles in both spaceships and as landing parties and, ultimately, managing your base and crew of captains.
The premise of the game revolves around you as the leader of the only surviving human community (think Battlestar Galactica) aboard Halcyon 6, an ancient space station capable of producing powerful spaceships. You need resources to build ships. So you send shuttle buses to different asteroids and cosmic floats in your galaxy to harvest material and deliver it to Halcyon for processing. You need captains for the ships so you can train them at your base and also earn valuable XP in battle. It’s a beautiful circle of resources, creating ships, training captains, then needing more resources for better ships and stronger captains and so on.
One problem – the Chruul. Your typical grunting space monster, the Chruul, is an invasive collective helper on the total destruction of everything. And they come fast. They want to destroy Halcyon 6 and turn a lot of the game around to prepare you for increasingly difficult waves of Chruul penetrating your galaxy. The combat strategy runs deep and you need to pay close attention to status effects and to stack different buffs in order to survive.
The Chruul is not the only threat you encounter. There are a wide variety of colorful intergalactic factions that you can work for, work with or work against. The dialogue with these groups is where the game really shines, with the funniest writing I have ever encountered in any game ever. It raises what normally is a “hold X to skip” level of RPG dialogue into something you’re really looking forward to. Even your reactions are dynamic and add a lot of sardonic flair to these interactions.
The free version of Halcyon 6 This week, the “Lightspeed Edition” is available in the Epic Store, a revamped version of the original game that contains many quality-of-life enhancements that really reduce the grind in the game. According to the developer, you can now complete the game in about 15 hours, though it’s easier said than done. And if you’re a simple sympathizer like me, you spend more than hours making sure you visit every space spacecraft in your galaxy before completing the next major research project that inevitably causes the next phase of the game.
Is Halcyon 6 for everyone? No, of course not. If you are not into turn-based combat or have no nostalgic attachments to retro-style pixels, you will not get much out of this title. But if you’ve ever flashed a Vulcan salute seriously or brought a folding chair to sit at a Con on the line, then you’ll surely find something to like about this game. It’s worth your time and for the next week is worth absolutely nothing of your money.