Space Run Galaxy Review

Space Run Galaxy from Passtech Games, like Space Run before it, is a unique take on the tower defence genre, blending real-time ship construction and strategic tower defence elements. The main addition to this sequel is a persistent online setting that ties into the new level structure of the game.

The basic idea of Space Run Galaxy is that you are tasked with delivering goods for various organisations and individuals, these goods take up space on your ship and as you fly to your destination you use the remaining space to protect the cargo and eliminate any resistance with a variety of weapons and defensive modules.

Simple premise right? Galaxy has you taking missions from a variety of characters which entrust you with taking goods of varying volatility from point A to point B, these tasks reward you with experience, money and crafting materials.

There are primary missions which provide story and move you around the solar system, completion of these opens up the next system for you to continue. There are four solar systems with over 50 areas to run between. The voice acting and characters work well for the aesthetic the game builds up, very humorous, tongue-in-cheek and snarky.

As well as those there are also secondary missions which replenish frequently, these generally reward you with crafting materials although you can receive both experience and money from these too. Due to the recurring nature of these there is always a way to get more money and materials.

Experience from missions gains you levels which unlock access to further modules, other areas and profile portraits. Money and crafting materials are used to improve your module selection and your ship.

As you take missions, you’ll notice each possible path has a ranking out of three stars, each star represents how fast you completed that route with the maximum three stars awarded for a Lightspeed Delivery, the times required for these get exceptionally difficult requiring you to come back later after you’ve got more modules to play with.

So what is the actual gameplay like? Space Run Galaxy has your ships made out of hexagonal pieces, your ship starts off with a bridge piece that if destroyed blows up your ship and one thruster. Every other hexagon is a place where you can position various modules, offensive, defensive and utility. Positioning of these and the combinations you use become critically important.

Offensive modules include your regular laser turret, a missile launcher, a transforming twin turret and even an overcharge module which makes connected modules stronger at the cost of taking regular damage. Defensive include shield generators, ion cannons which are week but hit multiple targets and anti-missile turrets. Utilities include repair units which heal nearby units, plasma cannons that slowly shoot but also heal nearby units slightly and extra thrusters to increase your speed.

Once a run begins you head off to the right, and you are informed of the direction of the enemy waves and how long until they get to you. You need to use this time wisely to prepare defences on your ship to protect your cargo. You also need to move relatively swiftly as one of the unique things about Space Run Galaxy is that there is no pause or time slow ability. It’s all real time, all the time. This becomes of huge significance when under fire as panicking when trying to trigger module abilities is the worst thing you can do,.

This combination of having a seemingly peaceful lull whilst you set up your armaments before being put under stress from pirates/asteroids/things is really well done. The game also ramps up the difficulty steadily until it’s actually pretty testing. This encourages you to go back and do secondary missions or try for those three star rankings so you can upgrade your ship or even buy a fresh ship before another attempt!

There are multiple ship layouts you can purchase, each with a certain amount of upgrade room, some are long and thin (good for broadside attacks), some have a bulky midsection with straggly arms (room for plenty of cargo), some look inspired by other sci-fi properties whilst others are just odd. They all let you think about different module layouts and you are sure to find one that seems to let you plop pieces where you want them.

So how does this persistent online setting work then? The basic idea is that you can set up missions for other players to do and can also sell your extra materials to other players. When you complete a mission your rewards are actually located at the planet you are at. Most likely this location isn’t where your other materials are so you actually have to transport them there yourself. Or using these multiplayer features get another player to do that for you.

Similarly, you can accept missions that other players have set up and it’s worth your while to do so. The rewards for doing player missions are substantial and are a great way to build up your material reserves. This online functionality whilst not including any real physical player presence does a good job of making it feel like others are around. And if you enjoy the core gameplay loop it means you’ll always have runs to perform.

Don’t worry if you don’t want any of the online stuff though as the game does let you play offline although obviously you lose access to the online functionality. It’s nice that the game lets you do this though, choice is always good.

Space Run Galaxy is a really fun and interesting take on tower defence and I really enjoyed my time with it. Whilst the difficulty definitely ramps up it never feels unfair and I always felt it was my approach or my reactions that needed beating into shape, that being said it is most certainly a challenging game that might well be too harsh for some.