Flotilla
Systems: PC/360 Release Date: Mar 29th, 2010
Suggested Rating: E for everyone
Welcome to my Flotilla Review kupo! Flotilla is a tactical-fleet-combat game by Blendo games. In flotilla you play a captain of a small fleet who is going to die in a few short months. With that in mind you go out into the galaxy for one last adventure amongst the stars.
The story in flotilla largely stops there as the adventure is randomized every time you play through it; though that’s not to say that there isn’t something to be seen in flotilla as the bits of the adventure you do read are hilarious. You’ll encounter Rastafarian cats, menacing space deer of the federation, and Galaxy idol singing contests. The verity of encounters and your chances of seeing them is a good reason to return to Flotilla even if you just want an easy laugh.
Now to where Flotilla shines, the space combat. Occasionally when you are zooming around the galaxy from planet to planet you’ll encounter some disgruntled crocodiles or maybe you’re on the run caring some hot cargo, someone will want a piece of your flotilla. When this happens the game takes you into a 3d environment and you control your individual ships in a turn based format. After making your adjustments (sending your ships specific flight plans and orientations) you and your opponent move simultaneously and battle ensues.
The simplified graphics are accented well with soft classical music as you unleash countless volleys of missiles at your opponents. But don’t let the graphics fool you the game hides a deep strategy element that punishes the unprepared as everything from depth and ship’s orientation in space is taken into account as the unites move like clockwork through space. Deciding how you’ll place your ships in the 3d space is important as missiles hitting the front of your ship are destroyed while anything from the bottom or sides causes your ship to often explode from only a few contacts.
But you’re not without help. As you progress through your adventure you’ll find ship parts that can help you get the upper hand against your ruthless opponents. Ship upgrades come in lots of flavors from making your ship faster to giving it better armor on the sides and back. These are really important in the beginning of the game as your flotilla only contains two small destroyers (small fighter ships) to hold off whatever might come your way until you add more ships to your fleet through random encounters.
Over all I’d say Flotilla is a deep and interesting indie experience. The adventures are quick (around an hour if the battles are managed quickly) and the humor is top notch, something that runs in a lot of the Blendo games. Defiantly worth it if you need a cheap game to kill some time.
The Breakdown:
[ – ] Story: both a lack of story yet an interesting random element make this decision one that’s on the fence. While there is no cohesive storyline the encounters are well written and generally humorous.
[ – ] Graphics: the graphics are simple but they can get stale rather quickly. With only color differentiating your ships from the enemy as well as silly but repetitive character portraits you won’t be playing this game because it’s ‘pretty’
[ + ] Gameplay: responsive and very deep. The tactical control of your ships in the 3d environment is handled well and you’ll find yourself thinking in 3d rather quickly in order to survive.
[ + ] Replayablity: every time you start this adventure it is different, new worlds new encounters. Some scenes will be encountered over again but at different points during your adventure. Depending on your choices and how you manage your flotilla it creates a different experience every time.
[ + ] Opinion: a fun game that I find myself revisiting from time to time to just relax and blow up some ships. Defiantly something I’d recommend to any fans of space combat and silly jokes.
I rate Flotilla 3/5 Kupo!
The Wayward Moogle 