Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander

Halcyon 6 coined itself as a “retro sci-fi strategy survival game with base building, tactical combat, crew management and emergent storytelling.”, and it hit every single one of those genres on the head, amazingly enough. Too often, a game tries to be so many things at once, and often ends up tripping over itself. The folks at Massive Damage, Inc. have really locked into something with some serious promise, and while the game is technically out of early access, it still feels like there is room for improvement. Unlike the derelict spaceship you make your base of operations out of, it’s a poli...

If XCOM and Heroes of Might and Magic meets Star Trek/Farscape appeals to you (it does, doesn't it?), and you're happy to force your way past some initially confusing issues with the interface, you'll almost certainly enjoy Halcyon 6. I have, despite my gripes, but it's less than the sum of all those parts that I couldn't help but see the edges of as I played, and I was longing for more engaging combat long before the end. Even if the galaxy continues to grow, I don't think I'll return even.

Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander brings a lot of different concepts into one amalgam of a game and it’s shockingly good at doing a lot of things well. Construction and research relies on resource management, which inevitably leads to combat aided by construction and research. It builds upon itself thoughtfully, does well in avoiding making any of these aspects annoying or boring, and keeps the tension going the whole way through. The pixelated look is clean and every ship, race, and officer br...

Underneath this surface veneer, players may feel a little disappointed that there isn't more depth, but there is plenty here that gamers will enjoy. Halycon 6: Starbase Commander is a quick and cheerful, if not particularly deep, tactical game with solid RPG elements. Sci-fi lovers will most likely eat it up, and the game’s humor and personality, in spite of the somewhat dramatic subject matter, will keep it sweet with lots of players. It may lack the depth of games such as Stellaris, but it’s hard to look past it for a bit of innocent space-faring fun.

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