Flotilla
What would you do if you had seven months to live? Go on a round the world trip or get in that last play through of Metal Gear? Regardless, you’d want to do something that you love. In Flotilla, a title developed by Blendo Games, you play as a captain who’s been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Armed with nothing more than a bone to pick and two ships, you’re getting in one last hurrah before it’s all over. Flotilla has style, wit and an intuitive design; it has technical polish, an interesting story and a nostalgic feel. Flotilla is a veritable intergalactic space ballet. It’s an endearing experience that will keep your attention and make you wish we had space faring technology. Who knows what lies out there, but you’re determined to make the most out of it in your last seven months.
You and your Flotilla, which is like a space convoy, are setting out on one last adventure before it’s all over. On your adventure, you’ll encounter everything from military space deer, irradiated glowing toucans, Rastafarian cats and a samurai owl with a karaoke related grudge. It’s a funny game, but there’s also a nostalgic tone behind it. You're going to complete intergalactic bucket list. You travel from planet to planet in search of treasure, parts and people in hopes of making those last seven months memorable and epic. The game works on a turn by turn basis, but each will take you closer to the end of the captain’s life, so you have to make decisions carefully to get the most out of your adventure.
At the start, you’re given two ships and a small tutorial. The tutorial is a funny and an intuitive segment. You’ll soon find yourself in the swing of things, but you’d better be prepared for some fierce battles. During adventure mode, you’ll encounter anything from battle cruisers to fleets of destroyers who all want to take you out and steal your loot. If you’re lucky your Flotilla will grow in size and you’ll be able to gain parts to upgrade your ships. In one play through, I ended up with three destroyers and one torpedo frigate. With just those four ships, I felt as though I could take on the universe. And lo and behold when a military blockade showed up on a planet and their captain demanded my loot I said no, and their battle cruisers fell before my wrath. It was an empowering moment and what a legacy for the captain. These are just some of the decisions you’ll make that will affect his last seven months, so I always remembered to choose the planets carefully. Who knows when Space Madness suffering hippos might strike.
At the end of your journey the game tallies up all of your achievements on a small list. Your choices as a captain are reflected in your point score and that shows how well you spent the captain’s last seven months. You can steal cargo from hitchhikers, take down rabid chicken pirates, spend all your money in casinos or meet a space goddess, but every planet you travel to and event you take part in effects the score you receive at the end. You can end up being anywhere on the the scale from Kirk to Kahn, metaphorically speaking, either way the captain's determined to make of his or her last seven months and maybe get a little schwag for his or her crew. The game lets you go on as many adventures as you would like and encourages you to get new high scores. Flotilla also has a skirmish mode where you can match up six on six ship battles. It’s a lot of fun and provides a great deal of variety to the game.
On my first skirmish, I used three battle cruisers versus one enemy destroyer, you know, the smallest ship in the fleet. I thought, “Yeah, I’ll just take the high ground and destroy him.” This was before I got into the game and learned the intricacies of the combat system. Underestimating him was a mistake. So it was me with three cruisers, and then one cruiser just two seconds in. Something that my brain didn’t think of was that when two giant ships move together they won’t just bump into each other, they’ll collide and explode. The control system can be a little tricky at first. Moving around on the spacial plane requires a lot of camera movement, and sometimes the camera can get a little sticky. You'll have to zoom out to get a good view of the battle field. So after about two minutes, and a bit of struggle, I was feeling pretty embarrassed, but rearing for another fight. This is what makes Flotilla so good.
Skirmishes take no more than five minutes, but each second counts and each turn can lead to a serious turn around in the fight. You have to think on the X, Y and Z axes. The armour on the ships’ front and tops will deflect attacks from other vessels, so you have to attack from behind or below. Unless you're using the beam frigate, whose weapons aren't affected by this rule, you'll have to plan out attacks in advance and anticipate the enemy captain's moves. When you set up a shot you have to think on those three different and intricate scales. The game is sort of like a combination of Toribash, Homeworld and the story from Gazillionaire. Thinking tactically will ensure that each skirmish will be in your favour. For example, you have two destroyers — the smallest ships versus one battle cruiser — sending one high and one low will ensure that you will get hits. It’s an intricate system that requires some thought, but it’s also intuitive and diverse. There's also a replay function that allows you to review your battles. Seeing your ships sped up shows how much thought it put into every move you make and every missile you fire. It's little touches like these that make Flotilla an awesome experience.
With just seven months to live, I’d be sure to spend some of it playing Flotilla. Of all the games that I’ve played this year, I can honestly say this was one of the most enjoyable. The length is perfect, the design is gorgeous and the wit is witty. It’s definitely worth a play. So if it’s not on your bucket list, be sure to put it there somewhere in between sky diving and climbing Mt. Everest.
You can download Flotilla at the Blendo Games website here: http://www.blendogames.com. Try the demo out or buy the full game, it's worth it to experience Flotilla for yourself.
Likes:
- Intuitive design and combat system
- Technical polish and spacey aesthetic
- Nostalgic atmosphere and the hilarious adventure mode
- Glowing toucans
Dislikes:
- Seven months isn't a lot of time, though multiple adventures remidies this
- The camera is a bit sticky
- Top and front armour adds to the complexity of the combat system, but it can get a little frustrating
Review Score
/
The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.
This game is really an amazing game.
It's retro style graphics are actually really stylish.
It reminds me of maneuvers they would do in Battle School in Ender's Game.
I love stuff like this and Darwinia that really add to the value of the Xbox 360, they're classic games that will always be fun diversions