StarVaders has got me thinking about chess again. In my defence, we are moving pieces (alright, one piece) around on a grid. There’s even a boss that leads an army of chess pieces. Anyway, it made me think of the satisfaction that comes with successfully pulling off a complex strategy. Problem is, with chess, there are so many variables that thinking ahead becomes frustrating. StarVaders pulls off an amazing trick by making this forward thinking very simple.
I want to get to Point A and Kill Thing B. Here are my cards, now how can I make that happen? It’s great. In fact, this review is probably just going to be me gushing over StarVaders. See, I saw the terms ‘roguelike’ and ‘deckbuilding’ in the Steam description and let out a slight groan. I’ve played a lot of them. I was prepared for a slog. Instead, StarVaders blew me away and slapped a huge smile on my face. By keeping things simple and stylish, StarVaders taps into a well of endless fun.
Invaders From Space
Let me start by breaking down StarVaders‘ gameplay. You start off by picking your class, each of which has a different specialisation. Gunners, for instance, rely on long-range attacks. Stingers specialise in getting up close and personal. Once you’ve picked your class, you pick your pilot – who have unique cards and special abilities. There’s a whole heck of a lot to unlock in StarVaders, to the point that I’ve only just unlocked the final class. Anyway, from there it’s the usual roguelike progression. Pick an encounter for each step, then fight a boss to close out the act.
The fun stuff comes when you enter a battle. The arena is divided into a grid of varying sizes, with you at the bottom and the enemies at the top. The aim is to destroy all enemies before they get to the lower end of the board, where they’ll start generating ‘doom’. Too much of that and it’s game over. To aid with that, you draw cards that’ll help you to move, shoot or deploy a tactic. There’s a large assortment of cards, which differ between classes, so there are a good number of variations, and chaining together combos is quite simple.
In fact, keeping things straightforward is StarVaders‘ best move. The single objective to destroy all enemies means your end goal is always clear, you just need to cleverly use the cards in your hand to achieve it. For example, gunners’ attacks are just plays on bullets and bombs, so I could position myself to ricochet a bullet into a chain of bombs I’d set up. Aside from junk cards, or burned (so unusable) cards, there’s no wealth of complex mechanics to get bogged down in. It’s just: here are the enemies, and the tools you’ve got to play with. Have at it. It’s magnificient.
Deck Your Foes
Note that simple doesn’t mean easy. StarVaders has an impressive bestiary, and each enemy has vastly different strategies. If you don’t counter them, you’ll very quickly get bogged down. The doom mechanic ensures that you can’t take your time, either, with some bosses shortening the clock considerably. That damn chess boss is a bugger for that. But the demand for quick, snappy moves keeps the pace fast. The progression is quick too, with three encounters before a boss. It means that getting back into the thick of things after death is super fast, preventing that repetitive feeling that can plague the roguelike early game.
Anyway, let me take a quick breath here. I do have something of a minor complaint I’d like to insert, and it’s that the story is handled a little inelegantly. Your pilots do have a backstory, which is told after deaths, but it’s literally just dialogue boxes on a black screen. Rather disappointing, given how nice the art is. Even the main ‘plot’ takes a backseat, being quick snippets after successful runs (though these have lovely art). It seems to be a recurring problem with the genre, even as far back as Slay The Spire. Still, what we have is quite intriguing, it just deserved to stand closer to centre stage.
Right, back on to the positives. Part of the reason why I think StarVaders wormed its way into my heart is in the presentation. Everything is bright and colourful, including the card art. There’s a definite ‘cute’ factor to a lot of things too, and the character designs are wonderful. Soundtrack’s a hit too, being wonderfully energising. I’m listening to it as I write this, so Plasterbrain must’ve done something right with the OST. Honestly, my only issue with StarVaders‘ presentation is its name. Sounds like a straight-to-DVD Star Wars knock-off. Ah well.
StarVaders – Good, Honest Fun
If you’re detecting something of a giddy tone to this review, then you’re probably correct. It’s not often that I just gush about a game without thoroughly going over it with the nit comb. But StarVaders has managed to punch through the ‘game critic’ part of my brain, and connected with the guy that just wants to have a chill and fun time in my downtime. Its relatively short length of runs means I can knock off a few before work, or before starting up a bigger game.
Added into that is the deceptively simple gameplay, which is designed so that you usually always knit together a strategy and feel smart for doing so. I’m nearly always flying by the seat of my pants, and I’m loving it. And, hey, if you can’t stitch one together then StarVaders has a handy rewind function to give you another shot. The result is a game that is dangerously fun. Hell, I’m going to play it more after this. It looks great, sounds great and plays great. It’s damn near the perfect package.
