Artifice Studios
Conflicks: Revolutionary Space Battles
Rating:
5 Stars
Have you ever wondered what would happen to humanity if Leonardo Da Vinci had transmuted egg yolks into infinitely-powerful metamatter in the 16th Century? If you find yourself answering that question with a resounding “yes,” as you should, then fear not for the answer has arrived. “Conflicks: Revolutionary Space Battles” is a mashup of the popular physics-based puzzle genre and the established real-time strategy formula.
After Da Vinci’s astounding discovery, the course of history has been changed forever. Hen houses, as the source of the invaluable metamatter, have now become the most essential resource in the galaxy. As henhouses sprung up all over the world and, eventually, other planets, war followed while leaders everywhere struggled to gain control over the byproduct of the greatest discovery in history. Rumor has it that even the chickens are looking to rise up and take power, and this seems highly likely with the ongoing distraction the war provides.
As one of five lead characters, you fight to bring your forces to the top. Alongside the war comes an internal battle, one of moral struggle over eternal glory and unimaginable power. During this conflict, General Wilbur Pitbottom, Brother Octavio, Léonne d’Artagnan, Kain & Kaan, and Olympia traverse the galaxy each in a unique fleet of ships. Every protagonist takes on a wide variety of characters ranging from Hildegarde Von Chicken and Marquis de Moustache to Sheriff Drinkwater and Barron Pinkblossom. The battle rages on throughout a 21 mission single-player campaign packed full of variety and entertainment. There is also friendly and competitive multiplayer if you find yourself itching for more warfare after wetting your beak in the campaign. The real question is, does all of this add up to a blue ribbon prize or one big, rotten egg?
The Fun Stuff:
“Conflicks” is as goofy and self-humoring as they come. From the opening cinematic to the final battle of the campaign, the game never loses its identity or gives up on the comedy. Beyond the goofy premise, the game is loaded with lighthearted dialogue that deserves the occasional laugh-out-loud moment. From character names to spaceship designs, there are subtle touches everywhere that remind you of the ongoing comedy reminiscent of “Monty Python.”
In fact, this theme carries over to the visual style of “Conflicks” as well. The blend of humor, time periods, and… chickens create a unique art direction only Artifice Studio, the creators of the game, could claim. The game opens with a breathtaking cinematic which sets the overall tone of the game. The game then transitions to being told storybook style with pages that emulate the renaissance-like time period it has claimed interwoven with comic book style pop art.
Speaking of the gameplay, it is as unique an experience as the rest of the game. There are four separate factions with unique ships all perfectly balanced. “Conflicks” builds upon the standard RTS gameplay but throws a major curveball with its physics-based combat. Imagine taking the mechanics of “Angry Birds Space” and overlaying it on the battle system of “Starcraft.” If that makes any sense to you, then you should be eagerly anticipating your chance to play the game.
Once you dive in, there is plenty to experience. As mentioned, the single-player campaign spans a 21 missions. For players who may be new to the genre or find themselves confused by the RTS meets physics gameplay, there is a substantial tutorial available in the options menu which will have you feeling like an expert in no time. The campaign does an excellent job of pacing as you become acquainted with the battle system and fleet of ships available. The missions feature a nice variety of changing environments and interspersed multi-enemy battles. You can change the difficulty before each mission, ensuring you will not ever find yourself bored or dissuaded by the level of difficulty. After that, the gameplay is virtually limitless with the friendly and competitive multiplayer.
There’s also a nifty “Power Progression” system that improves your experience as you play. More importantly, it rewards you for experimenting and adding variety to your attack methods. Various ships have the ability to upgrade as you fulfill unique requirements. Some conditions are as simple as finishing one character’s chapter of the campaign. Others require a significant dedication, such as finishing 1st in 200 competitive mode matches with a particular ship. Ultimately, you end up with greater range in movement, faster cooldowns, and stronger attacks.
On a technical level, the game is flawless. Everything looks great, sounds great, and runs great. Even with a modest PC, the game does not demand much to give you the full experience. As expected, it comes with recommended setting but you can customize to fit your needs without really detracting from the experience. There aren’t excessive load times or poor textures – everything just works.
“Conflicks: Revolutionary Space Battles” is the rarest kind of early access game.
The Frustrating Stuff:
The greatest letdown you will face during “Conflicks” is with the visual presentation. Although everything looks great, and there is plenty of backstory to page through for each mission, it is impossible to get away from one disappointment. The game launches with an incredible cinematic that leaves you eagerly awaiting more and then lets you down by never delivering again. Although the storybook presentation is neat, it does not have the same awe factor as the beginning of the game. It is understandable for many reasons why the presentation takes this route, but you cannot help but wonder what glorious experience we could have had if the whole game received the same treatment as the opening sequence. At first glance, the mission selection scene is incredibly intimidating and confusing. Presented with a map of the galaxy, you have an abundance of things to click on and read. You can get lost in the overwhelming amount of information before becoming acquainted with the basics and realize all you actually needed to do was just press the “start mission” button to progress to the next challenge. The rest is done for you, automatically piloting your ship to the next location before pulling up the next part of the story.
From a technical level, the biggest thing “Conflicks” would benefit from is expanded camera controls. As is, they are not bad (think “The Sims” style controls). They would, however, benefit greatly from an ability to “quick jump” between different groups. Currently, the only option is to use the F-keys to jump between individual ships based on class. This means the F1 key will take you to a random patrol ship whereas F8 will jump to the mothership. Using this method requires you to remember what ships are grouped together. It also requires multiple button presses to jump between squads until you rotate to the one you were looking for.
Again, the current controls are not bad, they are just a little sluggish when you are trying to jump between grouped squads. It would be better to use keys to sort based on the number of ships grouped together. In other words, F1 would return to the mother ship. F2 would jump to singles so you could wrangle up the stragglers. F3 could jump to smaller clusters, such as the Henships (assuming you posted a few guards nearby). This continues up to F8, which would jump you to your largest group, presumably right where the main battle is taking place. Admittedly, this is not a perfect solution either, but it would provide a little less randomness to the controls.
Currently, if you want to zoom in for a more precise flick, you are left in the blind with your other ships. The process of zooming and panning afterward is laborious enough that your ships could easily die in the time you spend trying to get to them for a rescue. This sneak attack can be thwarted by using the Enter/Return key to engage “Tac-Chickal” mode that freezes time, but this also prevents you from attacking or moving until you un-pause. While this may save your ships, it does not cut down on the amount of time needed to navigate the camera.
This becomes exceptionally important during a couple later missions. When playing as Brother Octavio, you are given the duty of protecting your brother, Antonio. He starts under your control, but you eventually lose it if you do not launch an attack quick enough for his taste. At that point, he begins to take matters into his own hands and flies around at free will, aggressively pursuing the enemy. This would not be the worst thing in the world, except that his ship takes the “defense makes the best offense” stance. Antonio’s ship only has a large circular saw around his ship’s edge and does not feature any guns or missiles. This means he can only attack by slamming into enemy ships and sits vulnerable in between flings. Another fun mission quickly diverts into the begrudged “escort mission.” A similar process is repeated later when your brother is imprisoned, and you are racing against the clock to rescue him. These mission are undoubtedly the most frustrating in the whole game, which is why it is fortunate they only last one mission each.
Bottom Line:
“Conflicks: Revolutionary Space Battles” is the rarest kind of early access game. It is a substantial package, excessively refined before its release, and features an incredibly unique premise and design. This exceptional RTS game will have you chuckling, exploring, and battling to your heart’s content. If any early access game is deserving of your money, “Conflicks” is it. In fact, it does not even feel like an early access title. It feels more complete than many recent blockbusters we’ve seen! Above all, “Conflicks” feels like the next game you need to be playing.
“Conflicks: Revolutionary Space Battles” was developed by Artifice Studio. It was released in North America as a Steam Early Access title on August 20, 2015, with an MSRP of $19.99. A preview copy of this game was provided for review by Artifice Studios