Spaceland

science-fiction
space-fiction
3d
30.09.2019
switch pc

About The Game

Kaliningrad studio Tortuga Team is already known for its fantasy series of turn-based role-playing strategies Braveland, designed to revive the ideas of the classic Heroes of Might & Magic. The games turned out to be simple, but fascinating and designed mainly for mobile players (although the projects were released for PC and Nintendo Switch, among others). 

After that, the Tortuga Team decided to recall classic turn-based strategies of the nineties like Incubation, Laser Squad and XCOM, transferring their style and sci-fi atmosphere to a new engine. As a result, they got Spaceland is a turn—based role-playing turkey with a sci-fi setting. I played her version for the Nintendo Switch and I want to share my impressions.

The plot

According to the developers, a game "in the best traditions of science fiction" was supposed to be waiting for us. But the plot turned out to be simple. A group of space rangers received an SOS signal from one of the scientific bases and went to check. It turned out that the base had been attacked by aliens and now something had to be done about it. In general, the narrative is as simple as possible, without unexpected and dizzying twists. Dialogues between the characters, on the contrary, add interest — in them you can find gamer slang like "sweaty skating rinks" and references to memes. The localization of the game is without flaws, although Russian may have been the original language, given that the developers are from Russia. There are also fourteen other languages.
Developers follow trends

Gameplay

There are seven characters, each of whom has two unique active skills (like traps, grenades, teleports, mines, etc.) and can carry main and secondary weapons. Different missions allow you to take a limited number of characters, sometimes imposing them — it's not very convenient if some character was uninteresting, you didn't upgrade him and now you have to manage him.
Creative mob killing on the bridge

Missions consist of a number of tasks that must be completed. No one forces you to kill all the enemies on the level — the main thing is to activate the plot triggers and advance to the next plot point. Despite the fact that the actions are slightly constrained by the script, the gameplay is dynamic, plus all the tasks are diverse and you don't have time to think "damn, I've already seen this." 

Each mission can be completed "simply" without setting challenges. But there is an opportunity to work on the result — the game takes into account the number of moves made, surviving characters, killed opponents and found secrets. All this turns into bonuses after completing the game. On average, the first missions lasted from five to ten minutes, but then the time increased. I went through some episodes for about forty minutes. By the way, there are only two difficulty levels.
There may be a surprise behind every door

There are a lot of opponents (21 characters), each with its own specifics: armor, damage protection, health, range and attack power. At later levels, all sorts of nuances related to the environment appear. All this, as well as the skills and weapons of the heroes, provides a wide range of tactical options for completing the game.

During the battle, you have to save ammo — there are very few of them and it's better to shoot when there are no other options left at all. Or calculate the moves so that you periodically replenish the ammunition in the boxes scattered on the map.
Demonstration of skills

Outside of missions, squad members can chat among themselves, revealing the facets of their personality and telling the story of the game world. This, as I understand it, does not affect the gameplay. But fans of reading dialogues will like it.

It's nice that the game introduces its mechanics gradually. The big advantage of such training is that you have time to try and experiment with everything you have, gradually increasing your arsenal.
Skill combination

Feelings and thoughts

The controls on the Nintendo Switch are great — very simple, you get used to it quickly. Thanks to the turn-based combat system, there is no rush. It is important to note that the game is integrated with high quality, it is possible to control the touch screen without using joycons at all.
Opening new levels and moving through the schematic map

It's a pity that the Tortuga Team abandoned the hexagonal grid — it would have given more opportunities in battle. But this definitely cannot be written down as a minus, because in its current form the game is excellent.

I did not find any New Game + modes to repeat the passage with a new portion of motivation. And although I can go and replay any episode I've already completed, I won't get any rewards for it. Unless you complete some challenges during the first pass, you can replay the tasks and get bonuses.
There are levels with small logic puzzles

I liked the musical accompaniment, the tracks complement the atmosphere of the game well. The special effects of shots and explosions are also nice. I liked the graphics too, no 8-bit pixels, clean models and good animation. 
 
Extinguishing lava and rescuing a new partner

Pros and cons

I will briefly list the pros and cons of Spaceland. I'll start with the pros:
  • Turn—based battles are active, spectacular, and require calculated actions.
  • The characters are charismatic, unique, and engage in dialogues with each other.
  • The atmosphere is cartoon sci-fi, everything is colorful and attractive.
Minuses:
  • Perhaps the plot is not so deep and ingenious. But if the developers hadn't used the phrase "in the best traditions of science fiction," no one would have noticed. After all, the plot here is good enough to give motivation for passing.
Clever use of game mechanics saves time and effort

Conclusions

Is a good turn-based strategy game with humor and dynamic gameplay. It is sold only in digital form for 790 rubles. I spent several evenings going through it, and I think it's worth the money. Perhaps the game is a little more suitable for portable devices, not everyone will want to sit in it for hours at a computer. And playing while lounging on the couch or killing time in transport is ideal. I really want to continue the story, or at least a New Game + with the addition of time, new weapons, etc.

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