Wargaming.net‘s previous outing, Massive Assault Network 2, had several great features for a turn-based strategy game: a streamlined game interface, a relatively decent early learning curve (but it escalates rather quickly) and a good presentation. I’m happy to say that their latest game, Galactic Assault: Prisoners of Power, takes those great features from MAN2 and blend it together with an interesting sci-fi twist. While the harsh, mid-game learning curve is still present, GA is a rather satisfying turn-based strategy game.
For starters, the visuals are definitely much better than MAN2. I’ve seen quite a few TBS games in my days and one thing that’s usually on the low end, especially with independent games, are visuals — but with GA, it’s good to see wargaming.net add some rather nice touches to the game’s display. Soldiers leave their footprints in the dirt; blowing, dusty wind and clouds rolling across a pale moon. These are just some of the details wargaming.net paid attention too. Overall, things are just more polished than most indie titles.
GA also carries a rather strong single-player campaign, which focuses on a few different races waging war on a planet named Saraksh. While the story itself is not too captivating, the presentation of the campaign is exciting. Objectives are clearly laid out, the map is always focused on your position and the interface just works.
The gameplay is your traditional TBS fare. You carry out move and attack orders during your turns and then wait for your opponents to do the same. During the attacking phase, you can move your units to pre-selected points, or attack enemies as they come from the fog of war into your view. One thing I did like is how wargaming.net handled GA’s morale system. While other games like Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War had some basic elements of morale (which only determined if friendly units ran away) GA offers a rather robust morale system.
First, there’s an initial morale impression which occurs when the enemy first meets your units. If it’s a friendly tank vs. some enemy soldiers, the soldiers’ morale will immediately drop due to the sheer terror of the confrontation. But that’s an extreme — let’s take a standard squad of enemy infantry against friendly infantry. While both squads are firing away, soldiers who die will affect their squad’s morale. In turn, the affected squad will begin to do less damage and have less accuracy due to their comrades falling in battle. Eventually, if the odds are truly against them, the remaining enemies will retreat.
All of these additions — which are good, quality additions — seem to dwarf in comparison to the game’s presentation, though. In MAN2 I thought the story was good, but made note that the presentation seemed to lack in style. Missions were varied in the single-player campaign, but there was something lacking in the game’s presentation.
At first go, I was rather timid about the impending experience but luckily, it wasn’t too bad. GA is actually a very solid game and is a good treat for TBS gamers looking for something outside the box. While the sci-fi story may be overused (I still found it neat…), Galactic Assault is good turn-based strategy game. Just don’t expect anything groundbreaking.
