Space Pirates and Zombies

[zespri]

Anyone played "Space Pirates and Zombies"? The screenshots  look very attractive, and the whole space sim thing is nice, however I do not like the arcade-like base mechanic where you maneuver your sprite-like 2D ship in space. Feels like, say, Freelancer, but in 2D.

[Orelius]

True, it's fun, but I felt it was based upon the expectation that I would be able to command a fleet of ships, but you only get to command a maximum of four.  And you only get that fourth ship near the end of the game.

Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed.

I think transcendence (a freeware game similar to this) was probably a better game, with more content.  But, hey.  SPAZ is still in the developmental stage.

It's probably one of the games that would be great to check out in six months or so, not so much right now.

[Ixiohm]

I have 

Bought it on Impulse (even if it's still in beta), a while back and quite like it.
But, as you say, it´s mostly a arcade game and there for lack any substantial tactical depth. The way you can influence the battle outcomes some what is whit the hulls, weapons and modules you choose for your ships. Anther downer for me is that you frequently have to mine asteroids to afford rebuilding and refitting your ships.

However, if you like these kind of games I would recommend you take a look at Starfarer (http://fractalsoftworks.com/). It's also in beta, but I think it has greater potential than SPAZ. You can choose to take control over your flag ship or play out the whole battle from the tactical map, or something in between. But, even the arcade mode is more interesting than the one in SPAZ, as you have to switch between weapon groups to be effective and also in the heat of battle risk overloading your weapons if you fire too many systems at once  

[BobTheJanitor]

SPAZ is fun but it gets very repetitive after a while. Each system is about the same, upgrades aren't really frequent enough after a while, and even when you get those upgrades they're not terribly different from what you've had before. I played up until I got to the area with the eponymous zombies, but even that seemed pretty similar to what I'd already been playing for hours. I haven't really given up on it, but it's not holding my interest enough that I go to it any more when there are so many other games to play instead. I'm hoping further patches will introduce more variety.

[Wingflier]

Check out Starfarer, it's still in alpha but it has all the great things about SPAZ while adding onto the things that are lacking. Someone has once defined it as Gratuitous Space Battles that you can particpate in. I already pre-ordered it, I think it will turn out great. SPAZ was a huge disappointment for me.

[BobTheJanitor]

Check out Starfarer, it's still in alpha but it has all the great things about SPAZ while adding onto the things that are lacking. Someone has once defined it as Gratuitous Space Battles that you can particpate in. I already pre-ordered it, I think it will turn out great. SPAZ was a huge disappointment for me.

I'm probably going to get that, but I'm holding out until more gameplay is there. I'm kind of tired of buying beta/prerelease versions of things and getting bored with games before they're even finished.

[Wingflier]

I still haven't played it, I'm just supporting the company

[Cyborg]

starfarer, I have that. And it's pretty good, even with just the missions so far. I'm struggling with one right now, trying to figure out how to attack the problem. That's a good sign.

[Mánagarmr]

I finally had time to sink into this game. It's not as deep as I expected it to be initially, and it seems to have some balance issues as regards to different weapons and defense technologies, but it has so far kept my glued in front of my computer for days in 7+ hour sessions. I'd say that's as good of a recommendation as I can give it.

I bought it pretty much back when this thread originally started, but I just haven't had to actually play it. Definitely a recommendation from me!

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, Space Pirates and Zombies is probably the game I've sunk the most time into over the past 12 months, but it's been a while since I cracked it open (was in the final part of the campaign, never finished it).  It didn't get less interesting (indeed, significantly moreso), but after 40+ hours I'd just had enough of that particular kind of gameplay.  Which isn't a negative about the game, it's just that appetites have limits

[Wingflier]

I agree and disagree with Keith here.

I agree that the game gets boring, I disagree that it's not a flaw of the game itself.

I played it for about 30-40 hours, got to the "Zombie" part (inner worlds), and quit forever.  It's pretty much the same story for every person I've talked to.

The game might be worth $5 or so, but it gets old very fast.

[Hearteater]

I go by the $/hr when I decide what to buy.  30-40 hours of entertainment is worth much more than $5.  I can rent a 2 hour movie for $1.50, which is my rough guide for games.  30 hours/2 hours*$1.5 = $22.50.  So I'd probably class it as a $19.99 title if that's the amount of time I enjoyed playing it.

[Oralordos]

I follow roughly that pricing pattern as well. I don't think it works too well on Arcen's stuff though. According to that, AI War would cost about $75 for me at this time. And I don't really play AI War as much as most of the people around here. AVWW would probably be roughly the same. That's about 100 hours btw.

[Wingflier]

Following your pricing structure Hearteater, I owe Arcen a LOT of money hahahahaha.  (And maybe I should throw money at Valve for the thousands of hours I'll be playing DotA 2 over the next few years? )

In all seriousness, I agree with your pricing structure in most cases.  1/hr is pretty reasonable.

Still, I wouldn't pay any more than $5 for SPAZ knowing what I do now.

[Coppermantis]

Following your pricing structure Hearteater, I owe Arcen a LOT of money hahahahaha.  (And maybe I should throw money at Valve for the thousands of hours I'll be playing DotA 2 over the next few years? )

Speaking of which, DotA 2 will be free.

(Haha, a topic was made about this while I was posting  )

OT: I played the demo. Was fun, but not on my immediate buy list. If I find myself with lots of extra cash I'll probably pick it up.