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We’re living in pleasant times where many well-known franchises are taking steps into the modern gaming landscape. From the spice-induced lands of Dune: Awakening to the crime-infested streets of RoboCop: Rogue City, it’s been one surprise after another. However, when I attended a Dotemu press event, I was not expecting one of the best sci-fi franchises to get a video game this decade. Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes brings everyone’s favorite fleet to a roguelike adventure mixed with strategic gameplay and tough decisions, which will make even die-hard fans such as Dwight Shrute jump out of their seats.
Repeat Until You Escape
Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes takes a what-if approach to its setting, similar to Dune: Awakening. The Cylons won, and humanity is on the run across the vast cosmos, which, in turn, paves the way to the roguelike aspect of the game. This title combines different genres into a sci-fi amalgam that works surprisingly well. First, you have your roguelike aspects. You start each run trying to run away from the Cylons. There’s a timeline at the bottom that progresses with each action you take. Once a specific number of turns have passed, you fight an enemy fleet and need to survive until the FTL jump is ready.
In every system and before the battle, you need to manage different things. There are events you can complete that provide you with currencies and materials to upgrade your fleet or solve issues. You’ll also get random situations that need your input and will affect your standing with various factions. Your fleet will also get VIP characters that can help you complete events without spending a lot of your resources.
Once you manage to escape a system, you’ll get different options that will help your run. You can get free repairs, a weapon upgrade, or some buffs to your next event. This adds to the randomness element of the roguelike systems and makes every run even more engaging. If you meet your demise, you’ll get currency that unlocks permanent upgrades that allow you to start a new run with more resources or bonuses.
All in all, Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes feels like a combination of a proper roguelike but with management systems similar to Frostpunk, with some 4X mechanics and combat on the side. In truth, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well they paired with each other, especially since all these systems were easy to grasp.
A Fleet’s Crises
The cherry on top of it all, however, is the drama, or crises that occur as your run progresses. Besides the events that appear in each system, you’ll also get a few crises in some turns. Some of these situations happen when your influence with one of the three factions is at a certain level.
For instance, at one point, I had a terrible relationship with the Military faction. Because of that, a smuggler entered and started stealing supplies. You’ll get different tasks to solve these crises, which usually take two to three turns. Once you complete them, you can decide the outcome, which will affect your standing with some factions. Throwing the smuggler out of the airlock might make the Military happy, but it will affect your relationship with the workers, and so on.
One thing I loved about the Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes demo, especially since it combines many systems, is how approachable all of them are without removing their depth. Often, many games that incorporate a lot of genres tend to overwhelm players with dozens of mechanics. However, it didn’t happen here. The crises were easy to follow, the combat with its tactical pause system was easy to manage, and the events were a breeze to manage. All of that without taking away the intricacies of a roguelike with several strategic layers.
A Legend Reborn
Ultimately, I’m glad to see Battlestar Galactica get some love these days. It was one of the best sci-fi phenomena of the early 2000s, and one that video game studios should explore due to its rich lore and intricacies. Fortunately, Alt Shift is doing it, and it is going down an intriguing direction. When it comes to roguelike experiences, this one is certainly unique, and I’m excited to see how everything shapes up before its release. Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of its systems and gameplay aspects soon because I can’t wait to take the fleet for another spin as I dodge the Cylons across the galaxy.
