Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Sep 2, 2014

  Edit: 1/10/2015 Since I started playing the game again after awhile, I thought I'd update my review on this game. (It truely deserves an updated review) First of all, the dev has CLEARLY put in a TON of effort into the game. Although, I find it hard to fault a game that has such a devoted creator, this game gets the best of both worlds with addictive gameplay and constant updates. The game not only runs smoother than in the past, but actually has a battle editor now, with tons of new units and more to come. Even the clunkiness I mentioned in my original review got attention. The only thing I feel is missing now is multiplayer, as I would LOVE to play this game with friends. So heres a bit about the game: You are essentially a commander that can give orders like any space RTS style game, only you can take manual control of anything from the largest capital ships, to the capital ships indivdual turrets, to the smallest fighters (Either built or launched from a carrier). The whole feel of the game is very unique, and it has newtonian style physics. The models are all pretty detailed, and the gameplay is what brought me back to check out how this game has been updated. I love games like Sins of a Solar Empire, Homeworld, and Elite Dangerous, and if you like any of those games, you will love this one too. Just be sure to go through the tutorial when you buy this game, as there is A LOT to learn. Conclusion: Its addictive, its refreshing, and I'm glad I payed $15 for this game. Buy it without hesitation if you see it on sale. If you like space games, you won't regret it. The devotion the dev has show towards improving his game, as well as the actual improvements made to the game makes me want to update my score out of 10. You don't get many indy devs who will show that they care about their game (if you keep up with gaming current events, you know what I'm talking about). That is why, for $15, I am updating my score to a 10/10 (up from an 8/10). You will probably get more hours out of this game than some AAA titles for a quarter of the cost. Original Review: This game IS NOT 100% finished, but it is still a fun game to play. Keep in mind that pretty much all of this game has been done by 1 person (if I heard correctly), so my review is rather forgiving. The story is fairly challenging, the UI, however, is rather complicated. There are some things in the game in terms of camera movement and overall functionality that make playing it somewhat of a hastle. EG: double clicking a unit both centers the camera on it and selects all similar units, which makes you move your camera back to where you want to give them the order to go. Another example of this is trying to give an attack order on a unit that is very far away. You basically can't right click said unit because the detection area is so small (or non existant in some cases), so you have to manually move your camera over so your view is closer. Clunkiness aside, if (or when) this game gets multiplayer, I will definitly be buying another copy to play with a friend. I like the graphics and the overall feel of the game. If you want a completely done and polished Homeworld 2 only with the ability to directly take control of every craft, this isn't the game for you. Though it definitly feels inspired by Homeworld, it lacks quite a few finishing touches. Like I said, despite the thousands of hours put into making the game, there is like literally 1 person doing all the work. Reading all of the patch notes the developer seems really devoted to making this game a success, so I will definitely be following this game as it progresses. All in all, I am having fun playing the game, and if you like space battles as much as I do, you probably will too. It just needs a few finishing touches, but a lot of the game is there. 8/10, Always glad to put a little extra money in the pocket of an indy dev.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 13, 2014

  This game is a total must buy for all homeworld fans out there. Also, the dev is commited to the community and his game, unlike other games in the Early Access program. Each update brings new content and refinements to the UI. If you a space game fan, just buy it!
• gamedeal user

  Jan 19, 2015

  An absolutely fantastic entry into the very short list of games who are RTSs but can be played in third person. (And are fast and fun that way.) Seriously, what else is on that list? Battlezone? Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising? We get a new game like this about every 5 years, so it's reassuring to see the care and attention and just plain love that was invested into the development of this one. I can confidently recommend this game for RTS fans and also for space combat fans. You really can play it either way, and the freedom to hop back and forth means that it never, ever gets dull.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 21, 2015

  I bought this game as soon as it was released in Early-Access. Since then the developer constantly updated the game while listening to feedback and staying in close contact to the community. All games in EA should be developed like this game did. Now that it is finished this game is one of my favorite games. + low price + lots of awesome ships from drones to cruisers and carriers + everything can be player controlled + partly newtonian physics (if you want to slow down point your engines in the other direction or use forward trusters) + lots of control modes for ships (just take one turret and let the crew do everything else, control everything, fly and let the crew shoot...) + great rts part + easy to use editor and instant action missions + encouraging unlock system for everything to use in the editor - takes some time to learn the controls (not a problem if you don´t expect to master the controls after 30 minutes) - very challenging in the later story missions.... + .... which are awesome if you don´t give up immediately If you like space games you should absolutely buy this game... if there is going to be a sequel, it´s already on my personal wishlist.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 21, 2015

  My first foray into the hybrid FPS/RTS was Battlezone, and I've not encountered anything that compares to the unique experience it provided - until I played Void Destroyer. The combat feels tight, the RTS gameplay rewarding, and everything in between just -feels- right. Bravo on a fantastic game, a truly worthy successor to my Battlezone experience! EDIT: Incredibly sorry to hear that VD2 didnt reach kickstarter goal, but I certainly intend on purchasing through steam! Keep it up!
• gamedeal user

  Jan 24, 2015

  This developer is awesome. I've made two overly rude complaints about something I don't like about the game, and suddenly there's options to make it work. This guy seriously listens. Just starting to play the game now as it seems the blockers (for me, anyway) that made me complain were fixed, and it looks awesome and rich. Ver much recommend.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 26, 2015

  A wonderful mish-mash of Battlezone and Homeworld. The UI can feel awkward, but that's more a symptom of the game being a hybrid of two genres that are typically fairly heavy on the controls, and generally the game does a good job of preventing this from becoming a serious inconvenience. The intial learning curve can seem a bit on the steep side, but this only hearkens back to the days of Homeworld, a game that was no pushover by any means. To the developer's credit, both aspects of Void Destroyer (I'll try my best to refrain from using the acronym), RTS and space sim, feel tight and function how you would expect them to, and there's satisfaction to be had in the immediate availability of a variety of vessels to pilot at your discretion, each with enough differentiation to make hopping between them more than worth the player's time. Also to the developer's credit has been his conduct on the Steam forums: always-courteous and informative responses, that are, very frequently, remarkably prompt; it's the kind of behaviour that should be help up as an example to any other developers and publishers that may wish to exhibit their wares on the Steam store, and to all those that currently do.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 26, 2015

  It's been a while that I was as frustrated with a game as I am with Void Destroyer. The problem is that I really want to like the game, it has a lot of stuff that it's cool or fun. If it was simply a bad game I simply would uninstall it and forget I ever bought it. But there is so much potential and nice ideas in so it ends in a love-hate relation. That's why the frustration. Void Destroyer is a RTS space combat game very similar to Homeworld so whoever played one of those will instantly feel familiar with it. The interesting part is that you can take direct control of any ship in your fleet and fly it yourself in 1st or 3rd person mode, blasting away at enemies like a space combat sim. At the same time you can use a tactical mode to manage your fleet and bases. You can research new stuff there, build ships or gun platforms, form fleets and have an overall view of the battlefield. However that's where the problems start: The interface, while nice looking, has it's kinks. So you cannot, for example, select all ships of a type to form into groups. The only way to select several ships is by dragging a box or shift-clicking one ship after another. You also cannot remove ships from an already selected group (at least I haven't found out how). The fact that there is no tooltip for anything doesn't help finding out what all the clickable commands really do. Forming formations also is quite tedious as some ships simply ignore that order or they leave the formation at a latter time for no apparent reasons. All in all keeping all your stuff doing what you want them to do is like herding cats. It more or less works but it is way more exhausting that it should be. My biggest gripe though is with the difficulty spike. Since your fleet is consistent from one mission to another and in several you are unable to re-build stuff you are forced to optimize earlier missions to be able to beat later ones. In addition many missions seem to have triggers for enemy reinforcements and if you trigger too many while being not ready no strategic genius will save you from doom. In addition in some missions the enemy bases are so close that the battle turns into a totally confusing free-for-all as you cannot move one step without drawing more enemies after you. Other missions where the enemy is not reinforcing infinitely are then in contrast rather easy and allow you to finish without losing anything. Even while the Dev is trying very hard to be helpful in the forums and seems to constantly answer questions and improve the game this is a playstyle I simply can't stand for long. While there are tactics to deal with certain enemies the only strategy seems to build more stuff faster than your enemy and if you cannot build anything then you have destroy the enemy's capabilities to build faster than your fleet dies. Perhaps it's only me that has problems with that, perhaps I'm too stupid to play Void Destroyer, but this game is simply too much frustration for me. Summary: While it has many neat features and looks interesting there are simply too many frustrating problems I have with Void Destroyer to be able to really recommend it. Which is sad, since the game really has potential and the dev is active and helpful. Perhaps it's only me that has such a hard time with the game but you better make sure which category of player you fall in before you buy it. I do not consider myself too casual a player and I have played strategy games since Dune II or Warcraft I but Void Destroyer gave me The Finger.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 5, 2015

  Homeworld with Freelancer style flight controls for jumping in one of your ships and getting into the fight. Borderlands-esque graphical style. Brutally hard and expects you to learn its rules fast and keeps throwing new challenges throughout the campaign. Mission 1? Angry limped drones. Mission 2? Giang drill ship that chases you through a massive space melee. Mission 3? Minefields. And so on. But to its credit it's fun enough that I keep beating my head against whatever brick wall the game has thrown at me this time until I learn to climb or dig. Biggest thing I can say in support of this game is the developer has been releasing patches almost daily since launch. DAILY. This game isn't a job or a hobby, it's an obsession. Never seen post-launch support like it.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 20, 2015

  An excellent game, and a true dream for space fans. This game is COMPLEX. If you can't handle complexity, especially complexity of controls, skip this game and don't buy it and write reviews like "This game is too complex / I can't learn all the controls." The game is complex for a GOOD REASON. Beside the fact that there are TWO game modes strapped into this one game, namely RTS and space sim mode, there are MANY ways to control your ships in space sim mode. And it all makes sense too! After all, there are different types of ships: single-purpose fighter drones that you point and click (game lets you play point and click), and larger or capital ships that require separate movement, turret, and main weapon control (game lets you play this way too!) Combined with the ability to queue multiple commands, including waiting, rotating etc., allowing you to do complex formations, and with a time dilation (time slow down) feature to get it all in, what you can basically do is issue all your commands via RTS mode, then jump in and make a difference by controlling whichever ship you want! Switching between RTS and ship mode is seamless, and switching between ships is good as well (it even automatically slows time during switching between ships so that you won't be missing out!!) Excellent concept, two game modes marvellously put together into one game with good execution. CONS: Complex amount of game controls. You have to play the keyboard a little like a piano, with multiple ship control modes and commands in ship mode. That said, don't buy this game if you are averse to all that, and are simply going to write a bad review saying "This game's controls are pretty complex." YOU WERE WARNED.