So, I bought the Humble Indie Bundle 6. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting my first impressions of the 6 games I now have in my possession, starting with the space-shooter S.P.A.Z.
S.P.A.Z. is a space-action shooter where you control every aspect of the game – you build the ships, you choose missions and you try and collect the mysterious Element 126 to provide resources for ship upgrades. I’ve played through about an hour or so of the game and I thought I’d share my first impressions.
When I booted it up, it began loading various files for use in the game. I was dubious of the claim ‘If we load it now, then it will be instant later’ – but, as I found out later, it works rather well! Level changes were rapid and the entire game had a futuristic feel to it.
After the loading screen, the standard developer logos appear. However, there was one unusual addition to this launch sequence, a message from the developers with a quick blurb about the development of the game. It gives you an insight into how hard the 2-man team have worked to get this game into production and sort of raises your expectations a bit, which isn’t always a good thing…
However, my expectations were matched, and then some. After a quick introduction, you are thrown straight into a beautiful world with intuitive controls and fast-paced gameplay. For my first mission, I had to go and collect some Element 126 (henceforth known as Rez). Rez is an element upon which mankind is dependant on – it has bizarre transmutant properties that allow the element to be quickly reconfigured into different forms of matter. As a large amount of pure Rez is meant to be found at the centre of the galaxy, that is where Clockwork (the ship) and her crew are headed.
From time to time, helpful tips (like the one above) pop up with hel pon your next move. After a quick jaunt to a local mining station, I was off to do battle with bureaucracy – the United Terran Alliance, or UTA. The UTA was formed to restrict the possibility of pandemics spreading between different worlds by heavily guarding warp gates (in which you travel, thanks to the wonderful Rez) and screening ships. For a while, according to the backstory, this was successful, until the UTA crumbled under its own weight. Now, each UTA cell struggles to maintain law and order by any means necessary and they hinder a lot of mining operations… so it’s my job to take them out and the other rogue miners.
I really enjoyed my (rather brief) play of this game and I hope to do a longer review when I get the time, but, for now – to another Humble Bundle 6 game!
This is part of a First Impressions series on the Humble Bundle 6 games. The Space Pirates and Zombies website can be found here.