3030 Deathwar Redux - A Space Odyssey

It's surprisingly good:
- open world with 30 systems to explore (multiple stations in some systems) - so far I spent almost 5 hours in the first system alone, but you can move to other systems faster, I just had stuff I wanted to do there
- NPCs to talk to on stations (you can walk on beautiful pixel art stations) with main and side quests, which make you think of classic adventure games, also cutscenes for the main plot
- EVA - you can fly to some wreckages and explore them for loot in your space suit
- plenty of references to Star Wars, the character looks similar to Indiana Jones, some references to other stuff like X-Files, etc.
- great soundtrack
- many different ships to buy - some focused on hauling cargo, some on taxi missions, some on combat, some on speed, etc. (AFAIK you can only own one ship at a time - you get 90% value of your old ship when you buy a new one)
- buying upgrades for ships, which transfer over if you buy a new ship
- lore and tutorials in a form of articles you can buy on stations
- jobs terminal with variety of missions on every station
- like developers said in the description - it's a mix of classic Elite and Lucasarts' finest adventures

I'm sure I'll spend more time with this game.

Has a rare style and charm. We really need more games like this.

I didn't like it.

Normaly space sims are on of my favorite genres and deathwar actualy has a quiet good foundation in that aspect but everything else is just incredebily mediocre. The space battles are clunky and not realy engaging, the UI is cluttered and confusing, you can set waypoints on systems and stations but no where else and 90% of the missions you get are basicaly "go to that place and maybe push a button if we are in a fancy mood".

The FTL traveling in general is incredibily boring and concidering you spend like half of the game in deepspace that is a big problem, why is it that you have to go out of a split jump to chage direction, why can't I do that while jumping, that puts compleatly unnessesary stop in the gameplayflow, dodging nebulas is realy akward that way.

The game also has a terrible introduction where you start flying your big fancy ship for 30 seconds, then dock on a station and then instantly loose it, after that you get bombarded with dialog that is just terribly written, neither funny nor engaging, its just playin boring. After that probably 10 minutes of nonsense you basicaly start at zero and slowly have go claw yourself back to your wealth and status which on its own is engaging enough but the actual plot progression is atrocious, it realy does a bad job of teaching the player about game or mission mechanics, either introducing them too late or not at all(no one ever told me what a nebular is). The plot even comes to an complete standstill after a while where you have no main missions available until you get contacted out of the blue per mail, I legit thought the quest system broke. I realy didn't care for the story anyway

I feel bad ranting about this game because there are good things as well, I realy like that the galaxy feels alive due a lot of random events, the com link calls of pilots offering deals or assistance. It gives you a lot of freedom and things to to from the get go like the salvaging which was an ok minigame that gave more variety to the game and the music is top tier.

But everything put together and deathwar just manages to be mediocre, everything it does, another game (even indigames) probably does better.

3030 DeathWar Redux is a lot of words for a game that plays like a early 2000's flash game. Its a game from the days of yore and you can feel the 2000's AVGN influence in both gameplay and story.

This game was made in 2007. It is very old

really nice game, im dying for a sequel

I finished this game yesterday and I think this is one of the best space sims out there. Sure, the graphics are a little dated. But it's a seven year update of a 17 year old game. And it's still a joy to play. That alone is a huge achievement. It just does everything right: Fetch missions, passenger transport, bounty hunting, and exploration navigation. Everything is nicely done, with the flair and humor of classic point-and-click games thrown into the mix. Fortunately for me, there is still enough to do in the game to keep me busy. Time to earn more money and get one of those bigger ships.

If you are looking for a good time in space, you should give this game a chance.

Thoroughly charming.

Well written simple dialogues.
Everything so far works well and shows an attention to detail.

Beer-and-pretzels fun.

Played this game to completion back in 2017 and it's still living in my head rent free 7 years later.

Fun gameplay and a sublime soundtrack. Recommended.

Pretty good.

A unique game with a funny name, this one speaks to a lot of segments of gamers and features delightful pixel art and an outstanding soundtrack. If you were a fan of old-school Privateer, give this one a look.

In gaming, space is interesting. It's limitless and yet somehow jam-packed with games set there. You name the genre, there are thousands of space games in it already. It's a crowded field and a lot of it is mediocre at best. But occasionally, a really good game peeks through. A game that checks off a lot of boxes without feeling forced. This is such a game. Enormous universe to explore? Check. A variety of ships you can buy and pilot? Check. Lots of upgrades for those ships? Check. Good graphics, great soundtrack? Check and check. Lots of aphids to smash? Oddly enough, check.

What do you feel like doing?

This is one of those games that says "open world" and means it. Much like the grandfather of the genre, Wing Commander Privateer, 3030 Deathwar Redux lets you forge your way as you see fit. Mine asteroids, ship trade goods, run transport contracts, salvage derelicts, hunt pirates, be a pirate - it's all up to you. Make your fortune the way you choose. If you're the self-determining type, mining is a good path to riches.

Salvaging derelicts isn't a gimmick; it's fun and profitable. The game shifts you out of top-down spaceflight mode so you can navigate through the wreck in a spacesuit, picking up worthwhile salvage, recovering bodies, and if you're particularly lucky, saving survivors - all of which is worth substantial money.

Combat is somewhat simplistic but it's fun. With only two dimensions to work with, it's straightforward and doesn't require spatial orientation skills. Get your enemy in sight and pour fire on them until they explode. Some targets are easier than others, and wanted pirates are going to give you a tough fight (as will security forces if you decide to go the pirate route) but with adequate tools and talent, you can win out.

Where a lot of games fall down is that you can make a lot more money than there are things to do with it. 3030 Deathwar Redux largely sidesteps this problem: you have a large list of ships you can choose to buy and upgrade. It's not perfect - more on that later - but there's a lot of leg to the shop.

And the soundtrack. Oh, the soundtrack. If you've never heard of The Kyoto Connection, don't worry, this game will fix that. The soundtrack meshes perfectly with the tone and tenor of the game and is one of the few I don't turn off. Along with that, the game's audio design is also spot on for what it should be.

Oh, and the aphids remark above? Not a joke. Space stations aren't known for cleanliness, and there are aphids on the computer consoles from time to time. Just do everyone a favor and smash them. (Don't worry if bugs aren't okay with you; there's a menu option to disable them.)

What don't you feel like doing?

Okay, so 3030 Deathwar Redux isn't a perfect game. Very few are. Fortunately, the problems with this game are few and, for the most part, not really problems.

The biggest issue is that this game gives you very little direction. If you're the self-starting, self-guiding type, that's fine. But if you need a clear overarching story in your games, well, you're going to feel lost in this one. Is there a main quest story to follow? ...maybe? It's not really obvious if there is, but there's so much to see and do that if you're the explore-and-interact type, it won't bother you.

The game also doesn't explain some core concepts very clearly. The design intent appears to be a "try things out and see what happens" philosophy, but that could feel a little uncomfortable if you're risk-averse. (Fortunately, as long as you're not running a mission you can save whenever you're docked, so save before trying something new in case things go sideways on you.)

There's a substantial list of ships and upgrades, but upgrades unlock slowly. So you will often accumulate cash faster than you will unlock things to spend it on. In a way that's nice because you don't feel like you're falling behind, but at the same time it doesn't give you much to reach for other than the belief that there's more to buy coming eventually.

The Bottom Line

This is a fun game. If you liked Privateer, you'll probably like this. If you like semi-lightweight space games that give you a lot of freedom and good music to enjoy while doing it, you'll probably love this. Is it $15 good? Actually... yes, it is. If you can get it on sale, great, but it's worth full price.

3030 Deathwar Redux - A Space Odyssey is a jack of all trades title but master of none, except atmosphere. The atmosphere is absolutely phenomenal. For example, as you look through the trade screen within a station, little bugs usually cross the screen, which you can crush with your mouse pointer. Sometimes a lizard crosses the screen too, as if it's going after its next meal. This has almost no effect on gameplay but are just there to set the scene. Before docking at a station, you need to hail them and, if you want, you can ask further questions. Why? For immersion. While inside the station, there are full of little things going on that immediately catches your eye. When you visit one of the bars in a station then you can banter with many others for no other reason than world building and for fun. Hell, you can even eventually buy a bio-scanner and then scan everyone at a station just to see their details. You can hail other ships, explore wrecks with all its debris inside (specifically to gather map charts for the nebula), shoot debris in space, tractor in items, upgrading specific parts of your ship, take advantage of the game's economy (e.g. sell high and buy low), taxi others, and many more. Items found when exploring ship wrecks will usually have their own eye catching little story or description (e.g. tons of unique and bizarre magazines). Whenever you enter or leave a wreck or station, a little animation plays, sometimes specifically for the ship your flying. There are so many jobs one can take, buy ships specifically for what you want to do (e.g. fight, trade or a mix) and there are even numerous reputation systems. And I must say, the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic, which really sets the scene. I'll sometimes just fly through space a little more just to jam to the song currently playing.

Unfortunately, the controls and UI are clunky, which can make exploring or doing a mission really frustrating. Sadly, after touching on many of the gameplay aspects, it would be nice to have a really indepth system to really sink my teeth into, but this title lacks this. However, as a 2d Han Solo-esque space adventure with a bit of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy it really has so much charm. One can attempt to get more involved within this universe but I think the story and atmosphere are where its strength lies. And, it's not every game where you can fly in space, salvage a wreck, hunt some pirates (or others) and then dock in a station (or pirate space station) to sell your loot or pay someone to change the licence plate and then banter with the NPCs. It would be great if this type of interaction existed in games like Starsector. I would love a sequel or more games like this.

I highly recommend this title to any and all interested in this genre.

I hurt my neck bopping to the music.

Great soundtrack, fun combat, with an amusing storyline.

It doesn't seem to sync such that it works across systems when I save and run on a different computer.
However, the game is fun enough to disregard the lost progress across saves.
There are also crashes when there are lots of objects (like when you get into a dogfight with many ships and fire constantly), so mind your saves (usually when it locks up, it locks up the whole computer...but you get a good bit of playing time before it does that).