Space Pirates and Zombies

Game validated by the Holy Ordos, free from the stain of heresy.

SPAZ is a charming, difficult, but ultimately fun - a game that, while not perfect, was something I thoroughly enjoyed - in spite of it's flaws. I admit, I am biased, because it does contain the VA of the late, great TotalBiscuit, but even with the fond memories that voice entails, I can't help but love this game, as much as i've cursed it.

Visually, SPAZ is surprisingly clean. It's detailed, but not too detailed. The particle effects are disdinct enough to recognise an attack or projectile, but not so overwhelming as to become visual noise. The soundtrack is inoffensive, but the sound design is a bit better than that. Together, the visuals and sounds come together to make a really solid impression, and really sell the feel of the game for me. It's easy to get lost in, and the way the dischordant biological elements contrast with the sleeker mechanical ones is really nice.

In terms of story or characters... well... it's not exactly stellar. I mean, it works, and it's not *terrible*, but you can tell the narrative was stitched together to give the player a sense of progression and gradually unlock aspects of the game. While every story is utalitarian, this one feels more so - though, the characters do tend to stick with you some more. The unexpected heel turn kind of comes out of nowhere, though, it's not entirely unprecedented, and the Mechanic Lady is by far the best character because if I was stuck in a spaceship with that loon of a scientist, I'd want him dead too. But that's about it as far as interesting characters go, and while they try to build up the side characters, they just don't end up feeling very memorable. The factions are also completely characterless - there's almost no time given to making them feel disdinct, and that's not the end of the world, because ultimately the narrative isn't the focus.

But in terms of gameplay, SPAZ shines - though, it isn't a gemstone without flaws. The controls of the ship, while making sense, do take some getting used to - even right at the end i was having trouble sometimes with staying in one place reliably, or not moving incorrectly based on where I want to go. You have to learn how to orient your steering to where your ship is facing (which is a bit of a challenge for me, because I used the Sunspot, and that's a circle). The tutorial is solid, but there are some features that don't get mentioned - such as holding shift to stay still (sort of) and manually move your turrets. There's also some issues with balance: Missiles, aside from gravity missiles, are basically worthless, as are Mines and Bombs, Drones require heavy investment to be good, and a lot of the ship templates are just... awful. There's such a disparity in power between ship sizes that there is never, ever a reason to not be using the biggest ship of it's class - and usually, in that class, the bounty hunter ships are king because of how much firepower they can put out.

Combat against enemies, however, is what I'd call frantic. You always feel close to destruction, especially on the highest difficulty, because enemies can and will kill you. If you're not prepared, not thinking ahead, you will get stomped. But, if you can't plan well, you can always grind. No matter how hard the game is for you, if you sit down and grind for a dozen hours, you will overpower things in the end, which is honestly refreshing. It's balanced in such a way as to mean that while some fights are never winnable, the vast majority can be - and all of them can with the proper planning, effort and cunning. There's seldom a *wrong* choice, and if you're determined and fixated enough, you can make almost anything work.

That being said, however, the game most certainly has a problem when it comes to some of it's later stage balancing. Chapter 4 is a sore point for the game for me, because while the new strategic elements and planning get emphasised, the constant attacks on your mothership vary between challenging to downright impossible (especially since they're always at huge size past the first three, and will keep spawning even when there are no zombies). There is no counter to three ZOmbie Manta Ray. Sometimes they spawn two back to back, and your mothership *will* die. Fortuantely, when you reload the save, different ships spawn, which does prevent softlocks. It's one of those things where I know it's the difficulty's problem, and since you can reload and solve it, it's not a massive issue - but if the game decided to fuck you then, you are getting fucked. There's no workaround, and no real counterplay. It's just simply more DPS than you can output before it kills the mothership.

Overall, however, in spite of a few flaws and some questionable balancing, SPAZ is a fantastic game. While I wish the issues were ironed out, and the story was more involved and complex, compromising on that front to deliver the gameplay that I experienced is a sacrifice well made. I had a blast, and I highly recommend playing this game if you have any love for space, or a good challenge. While it's not one of my all-time favorites, SPAZ was definitely worth the investment for me, and I can see myself coming back one day - and taking my space fleet up against the mightiest of the galaxy once more!

Though, not on insane.

It's a decent space shooter, but didn't get into that much. Well done and worth a play on sale.

Played this game back in my childhood, and i love it. played this in my gramps house when i was elementary back then and now i'm about to go to college finding this game again. it's only been 5 hours of play when i'm posting this but i'm sure this is going to be and experience. love this game!

Revisiting Space Pirates and Zombies

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Space Pirates and Zombies back in the day. It was a fun and engaging game that offered a unique blend of space combat and resource management. However, coming back to it nowadays, it's clear that many of its systems are quite shallow by today's standards. As much as I loved SPAZ, I have to admit that Starsector has effectively replaced it in my gaming library.

Starsector shares some similarities with SPAZ in terms of space combat, exploration, and fleet management. However, it takes these concepts and expands them with far more depth and complexity. One of the standout features in Starsector is its fully simulated economy and market prices. Every trade, every cargo haul, and every supply run feels like it has real consequences in a living, breathing universe. The dynamic economy in Starsector makes trading and resource management a much more engaging and strategic experience compared to the more static systems in SPAZ.

Another area where Starsector shines is in colony management. The ability to create and manage your own colony adds a whole new layer of depth to the game. It's not just about surviving and thriving as a lone captain; it's about building an empire, defending it from threats, and managing its growth. This system offers a level of long-term progression and strategic decision-making that SPAZ simply doesn't have.

Then there's the combat. While SPAZ's arcade-style space battles were fun, Starsector takes things to a new level with bigger, more tactical engagements. Fleet composition, ship loadouts, and battle tactics all play a crucial role in determining the outcome of a fight. The battles in Starsector feel more intense and rewarding, with a greater sense of scale and strategy.

In summary, while SPAZ was a great game for its time, Starsector has taken the core ideas and evolved them into something much more robust and satisfying. If you enjoyed SPAZ, you'll likely find Starsector to be a worthy successor that offers more depth, complexity, and long-term engagement.

Great Game

Space? Check.
Pirates? Check.
Zombies? YEP.
...and Bounty Hunters? Ooooooh yeah.

Got this game ages ago as I only had a macbook at the time - recently booted it back up and man is this fun. Very charming spaceship shooter game with a surprising amount of depth, difficulty, and content. You can turn your brain off and grind, mess around with different ship builds and blow stuff up!

I also really like the progression curve in this game - different star systems have different levels, so when you get new gear or unlock new ships, using them makes previous content trivial and lets you access new systems at an appropriate challenge level. Having these big jumps in power is something missing from modern games with dynamic level scaling. Getting new upgrades feel super exciting as a result!

Also, the endgame is surprisingly stout, and rewards good preparation before starting. Totally worth the money in 2024.

I liked this game a lot, simple but fun.