Format: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Developer: Fishlabs
You may be having a little bit of dejavu with this one as it was released last year, but this is the new fancy HD version. The original Galaxy On Fire 2 already boasted some very impressive visuals, but this one blows them away. Finding a good space shooter is harder than it needs to be on the iOS. So I am always glad when one gets the recognition it deserves.
Of course as this is a HD re-release you would expect the game to look good. And you would be right. This game is just pure eye candy. I am sure there are some jaded gamers out there who think this HD re-release may have just been up scaled, but that could not be further from the truth. The space crafts have all been rebuilt and everything else has been greatly improved. The lighting effects in particular are very impressive. My only gripe in terms of the games presentation is that much of the conversation is told through text. This may seem like a harsh criticism, but when everything else is so high quality I would have liked much more speech.
I am a sucker for a good sci-fi story and Galaxy On Fire 2 certainly has that. You play the role of a space war hero called Keith T Maxwell. Who while out on a mission is sent flying through space and time due to a malfunction. He awakens only to find he is over 30 years in the future. And this future is not a nice place. Keith needs to do what he can to survive. It may not win any awards, but I really got into the story and it makes you want to see it out to the end.
AS far as the core game play goes this is a great space shooter. You view your space craft from the back and it is very easy to control. I had absolutely zero control issues with this game. And as a mater of fact it only took me a few minutes to really pick up on what to do.
Galaxy On Fire 2 is a huge game. The developers have boasted that it is over 10 hours long and I can agree with that. The idea is that you fly around doing various missions for people that you will meet in space ports. These people will pay you for competing various missions. The money you make can be used to improve your space craft and buy some new weapons. As well as doing missions for cash you can also mine asteroids for materials to sell. The missions that you do vary and one minute you can be flying next to another space craft acting as security and the next you are required to make a delivery.
You will visit many different places and what is pretty cool is that different places will pay different amounts. So there is quite a bit of strategy involved as to what kind of missions to do and where. Speaking of missions as well as the ones that move the story along there are also a great deal of side missions that will keep you busy for a very long time.
This is a great game. I would go as far to say that this is the closest a space shooter on the iOS has come to matching the same experience that you would get on a console. For a very short time this game is free so download it asap. But even at full price for such a high quality game you really are getting great value for your money.