Spaceland, a game developed and published by Tortuga Team, is a tactical shooter that contains elements of RPG character development and JRPG storytelling. While the story is rather straightforward and told in a style that is very reminiscent of JRPG cookie cutter games; it is very effective in providing a base for some solid game play and an entertaining experience, especially at the price point.
The game opens with a straightforward narrative, you are Space Rangers who picks up a distress signal from a remote planet. Your ships descends to the planet and is damaged in the process. However, you manage to land the ship next to an, apparently, abandoned based. With that, game-play commences. More on that in a moment. The unfolding narrative will see your group grow as you find other people on the planet. This group will explore the base and the planet itself; seeking to solve the unfolding mystery behind the monsters who have proliferated across the planet and the disappearance of the personnel and military units who were stationed there.
Tortuga team advertises this game as being similar to X-Com 2 in tone and tenor and this is true to a point. While the X-Com games are more polished and provide more features, Spaceland certainly does deliver a tactical shooter experience that adds new wrinkles and enemy types as the game progresses. Each character has a unique weapon type, varying movement speeds, different levels of armor, different secondary weapons and auxiliaries that range from swords to dynamite. The main weapon types range from mini-gun to shotgun. Many missions provide you two or three characters you must bring and then allow you to add the final member of the team. This choice is often vital to success or failure in the mission as the weapon load out for particular members can be vitally important. Spaceland also has a rudimentary cover system that is functional if not sexy. Players and computer controlled enemies can take cover behind large blocks that are destructible. While the cover system and POV mechanics are functional they are not as developed as in a game like X-Com, but this is to be expected from a smaller game like this. One more note on tactical game-play. Spaceland has a rather deep selection of explosives and secondary weapons. This was surprising and much appreciated. Dynamite, teleporters, grenades, healing modules, pistols and more are all available and greatly enrich the game.
In addition to tactical game-play, Spaceland offers a rudimentary character progression and crafting system. After each mission, players will earn money and upgrade chips which can be redeemed between missions. Each character has different traits that can be upgraded using upgrade chips. These upgrades can increase speed, increase healing abilities, etc. The upgrade tree is mostly linear but it does provide some customization options depending on your game-play style and favorite party members. Additionally, as you progress through the game you will find various schematics which allow you to build new equipment and armor or upgrade items you currently have. Unfortunately, each character is locked into what armor and weapons they can use so the crafting system really serves as another way of upgrading the characters. That said, the upgrade system that does exist is rather advanced for a game of this size and is one more thing that adds to the value and entertainment value of this game.
Finally, let’s talk about graphics, sound and music. There is nothing that really stands out on any level in all three of these categories. The graphics are fairly cookie cutter for a game this size which is to be expected and is not a knock on the game at all. In fact, many of the cut scenes have an impressive amount of animation for a smaller game and the visuals are not unpleasant to look at. Conversations in the game are scripted and presented with character portraits and text bubbles in JRPG style; again, completely acceptable. The sound is also adequate, using stock sound effects but avoiding a pew pew aesthetic which would take away from the experience. The music is much the same and can be repetitive; leading me to turn it off early on the game as is often my habit.
All in all this is an enjoyable game that is good value for it’s money. If you are looking for a reasonably priced game that will give you 16-20 hours of fairly straight forward game-play then this is definitely worth a look.
Game Mechanics – 3.5 of 5 Stars Graphics – 3.5 of 5 Stars Music – 3 of 5 Stars Sound – 3 of 5 Stars Replayability – 1 of 5 Stars Value – 5 of 5 Stars Estimated Play Time 16-20 hours Game Difficulty – Moderate
Overall Score – 3.2 of 5 Stars
Developer – Tortuga Team
Publisher – Tortuga Team
Available on XBox One (pictured), PS4, Steam, Nintendo Switch and Apple Arcade
Find out more about Tortuga Team and their other titles on their website.
Author Profile
Nemesis
Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.
He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
