Beyond Space Review (PC)

Beyond Space is another entry in a genre that has struggled to gain a foothold in the realm of gaming in recent years, combining fast-paced space combat with a bit of drama and a lot of... well, not much else.

The hard part about creating a convincing adventure set in a background that doesn't yet exist is first of all establishing a believable and functioning future. Making a game about World War 2 dogfights is easy, you just have to open a history book and do some online searching.

Making a game about conquering the vast reaches of space... that's something entirely new and a whole lot more difficult, because you have to invent pretty much everything by yourself instead of relying on decades of crowdsourcing from the human race.

Granted, there are a ton of space opera novels that can be used for reference materials, from very talented individuals who have already done most of the speculative work, but it's still an uphill battle.

Beyond Space casts you as a gun for hire that enters a contract with the Alliance of Planets and starts shooting stuff in the vastness of space, without much fuss regarding world-building.

Gameplay

Beyond Space is basically a 3D arcade space shooter game with a bit of fluff thrown in between missions. You simply fly around and shoot stuff, from one waypoint to another, without many surprises along the way.

Enemies come in waves, which makes it all seem very natural, especially when you're alone against six of them and have to die over and over until you manage to find the right combination of ship and weapons.

There are several ships to choose from, but they end up kind of samey

This is increasingly frustrating due to the fact that the controls aren't too good either. Simply put, the ships seem to be the kind of vehicles that encourage pacifism, not the massive potential for destruction that a spacefaring race might be harboring.

The missions seem overall disjointed, due to the fact that they're largely separate maps and quite linear, not offering you much leeway when it comes to what and how to do.

Things are better during the missions when you have your space buddies with you, because you have a fleeting sensation of something bigger than your own self happening in the colossal nothingness of space, but the fact that you're not really involved in anything bigger than taking down 3 enemy ships squanders that pretty fast.

There is no cohesion, not between you and the almost non-existent supporting cast, not between you and the other pilots flying around, not when it comes to the world you're living in.

You just feel like it's an arcade shooter with bad controls, where you can't be bothered with any depth because that would mean less quarters fed into the machine.

The interface is lacking, there is hardly any automation, hardly any options besides shooting dead in front of you, and the mouse doesn't turn the ship, it moves a reticle and the ship nose follows it, which is not the way you do things in space if you want to score a lot of kills or generally survive.

This means that you'll have to deal with a lot of inertia when it comes to aiming, which, of course, translates into tedious battles where you're a sitting duck while struggling to get a few hits in, while your target's buddies are free to score shots on you.

The controls are limited to shooting, doing a barrel roll and a confusing U-turn that takes you out of the cockpit and leaves you confused in regard to whether the enemy that just darted past you is up or down.

Shooting stuff in space has more lens flare than JJ Abrams' movies

Progressing through the missions unlocks more ships, weapons and special equipment for your craft, but all the ships feel largely the same, with the only difference being in hit points and how fast you can turn.

You usually unlock the ships in classic arcade style, defeat a new enemy and you get to pilot his ship, but it feels unrewarding as there is no context, the new designs simply show up in the hangar.

The weapons are pretty much the same, the only difference being between how fast they shoot and the range at which they're usable, otherwise being different colored blobs missing their target while you try to get enemies into your crosshairs.

Although half the fun of space combat sims is aiming and shooting, it's incredibly unrealistic that professional military outfits would rely on manual aiming in a distant future, and Beyond Space reflects a reality where, since the days of Wing Commander, nothing seems to have changed.

You're still a sniper firing from the hip without a spotter, but thankfully, the AI is not that great, so you'll usually have plenty of time to chase each of your enemies down by yourself, in the same way that Bruce Lee was able to defeat room after room of nameless henchmen.

Although there are some areas where the AI seems to actually pull off coordinated strikes, when squadrons are engaged in combat, it mostly comes off as random movement.

Taking down enemies is a bit tricky, since fortunately, they seem to know the meaning of "evasive maneuvers" to some extent, and you might even find yourself enjoying chasing down elusive enemies, employing thrust boosts and swiftly changing direction, but overall, the experience is more tedious and chaotic than rewarding and exciting.

Starting out in a ship hangar and having to return to one at the end of the mission would have made for a more immersive experience, but that's hardly the worst of the game's sins.

You don't know where you come from and where you're going, there's not enough substance to dress the lame space battles into something more than just spontaneously spawned waves of enemies.

There's little content aside from some pretty monotonous shooting, so if you're expecting a space opera game, you'll be sorely disappointed, even if you're the kind that can roll with dated visuals.

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Visuals and Sound

One of the good things about Beyond Space is the fact that its dialogue is voice-acted in its entirety, which I admit was a pleasant surprise. It's not stellar and you won't burst into tears, but it's definitely a nice touch.

As usual, given the likely very low budget of the game, a lot of time the voices miss the mark, and sometimes the acting will be cringeworthy, but it's okay, since the writing is not much above that level either.

The game goes for an overall lightweight mood, relying too much on recycling bad drama cliches and drab stereotypes, with some poorly crowbarred attempts at genuine tension and a repetitive soundtrack that will get muted pretty fast.

The graphics are better, though, even if there's not really much to see, space is not that empty and some of the ship models are pretty good.

It's not going to wow you in any way, because you'll be staring at distant planets and small dots and shapes that you have to shoot down for the most part, but it's not that bad either. Functional and pretty clean, even though it doesn't look that good on big monitors and large resolutions.

Furthermore, the fact that you can't play with any visual options, including resolution, might put off some people who are into these games for graphics. There is some eye candy, but don't expect anything mesmerizing, as the game is, in all fairness, ported from mobiles.

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion