Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game

This team knows how to make an RPG. Setting, storytelling and background lore is always on point. They enjoy creating the game that is in a sense more realistic - That is going in guns blazing, swords slashing into every encounter is likely to make you dead fast. It was this way in Age of Decadence and it is so in Colony Ship.
While that is true the game still allows you to feel powerful, it just gives you a suite of options to round out your character in a way that you enjoy that can handle situations in different ways.

I think they handle the psychology pretty well too, if a little optimistic. Being on a generational ship in cramped quarters with what is likely all that's left of humanity is and would be nothing short of a powder keg. The differing political, ethical, and moral ideals would create such striation that I don't personally think this mission could ever be a success in the reality.

It's a compelling tale and I think they tell it well. If you've needed a good story with high stakes, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Hopefully they can make Colony Ship 2 so that we can see what happens in the next bit of the story.

Colony Ship is a wild story of a uniform culture gathering together and reaching their goals, then falling apart generations later where you come in. You're a scavanger in post apocaliptic situation on a ship that's going to another star system. You'll never see the sun. Any sun really and never walk on grass.

The question is, are they going to tell good stories about you when you're gone?

If you're into classic Computer Role Playing Games this is one you need for your library.

Fantastic CRPG in an original setting with choices more challenging than its combat.
I love the atmosphere of this game, the story and all the characters who are just drudging through the misery and rust of their setting.
It's an rpg where your build really does matter, which I always appreciate, and where if you build correctly and really think about your dialogue choices, you can go the whole game without experiencing actual combat, which speaks to just how much depth and confidence Iron Tower place into their games, they give you the ability to skip entire mechanics, so long as you can master other ones.

Colony Ship has a compelling story coupled with a skill based and/or guns-ho approach.
The world is plausible and draws you in and you can make multiple runs to see all the game has to offer, so it is well worth a shot.

They finally released it, and thankfully added a little custom difficulty slider. Without that the game plays more like a puzzle where you need a guidebook - "which sequence of quests or battles do i take to get my persuasion to X, so I can do Y in chapter Z"? Or which sequence of doors do I need to click to get lockpick to 9 to unlock a box in ABC?

Do yourself a favor and set the custom skill gain to +50%, maybe limit the enemy crit to 5% and you are all set to finish the game, *without* it being a puzzle game.

I feel the real test for a game is how many hours you are willing to play it.
Let's face it, everyone has competing priorities in life.

Any game that can hold my attention for 40+ hours is a great success in my book.

Love the atmosphere, the neo-Christianity setting, the combat, the multiple paths one can take.
Yes, I did restart 3 times, but found it still enjoyable as I was learning from my mistakes.

Thanks Iron Tower Studios!

The game is amazing, enjoyed every bit of it. Love the story, characters, combat and the setting. Highly recommend. Loved Age of Decadence, too, so give that one a shot as well.

In this world of gaming, it can be hard to find PRGs that provide a rich story, challenging play and enough variance to make me want to replay a game more than once or twice. This is especially true for games developed from smaller companies. Every once in a while you find a diamond in the rough and Colony Ship, to me, is that diamond. To say I enjoy this game is an understatement. At this point I have completed the game three times using different character builds and honestly, I am planning on playing another run through soon. If you prefer a strategic leveling and equipment system, without the constant grinding, then you will find this game to be an enjoyable use of your gaming time. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys fun and challenging RPG experience. Looking forward to future projects from this team.

I would absolutely not recommend this for any fan of casual or "fair" tactical games.

This game is like Shadowrun Returns with the combat difficulty of X-Com... except your characters are not random soldiers, they're actual NPCs with personalities and backgrounds, so losing them is more than just losing a soldier. And unless you min/max every aspect of the game, from your stats to how you use your weapons and skills and rely on consummables a lot, you -will- lose them.
If you play on Underdog difficulty, that is.

If you play on Hero difficulty, the game is just too easy.

And the Custom Options don't allow for much in-between.

Colony Ship has many aspects that make it an amazing game and I can say that it is one of my favorite games. The concept of the story is awesome, the fact that there are multiple generations of people living on a space ship is kind of scary and interesting. The soundtrack for the game is good too, as well as the creators other games too (Dungeon Rats, Age of Decadence).

Another fun part of the game I enjoy is the combat system, and the many difference item options and combinations there are. Each weapon in the game has different sound effects too, and a cool description to come with it.

Overall I love the work that was put into this game, I never have seen so many small patches for a game like this and for the cost too. The small updates they did, like adding in extra quests, and areas to explore show that the creators love their games and I think that's really cool.

This game, is a great tactical squad based RPG game. if you enjoy games like pillars of eternity, baldur's gate, divinity of sins. etc etc all these great games. you will absolutely enjoy this game. this game does have multiple different endings and your choices do impact what happens. I've only seen one, and I will one day see the others.

bottom line, TRY THIS GAME! you wont be disappointed if you like the games like the ones I mentioned. its a hidden gem, that shouldnt be a hidden gem!

A game for those that enjoy table top rpg style mechanics, isometric old school crpg party based games, and strategy combat, all bundled together with a reasonably well written sci-fi dystopian story.

Overall. 4/5. I would put this game as a solid contender in the genre that does a good deal to get the job done and satisfy you. Some failure points, but this is a solid game you would put enough hours into to get your money back.

Combat. Very in-depth mechanics. This is probably what you are initially coming to the game for. You will need to experiment and problem solve a bit to figure them out, but afterwards, it will provide some recurring satisfaction and rewards for your understanding.

Gameplay Difficulty. Can be changed up, but really, if you put the time into understanding the combat mechanics, LOOK at what the enemies are doing AND LOOK at what/where they have items equipped, you won't have a problem on any difficulty. As a player, you just have to be observant and problem solve a bit.

Writing. Has some failure points, sure, but overall is much better quality then you will find in similar, or larger games.

Party/Companions. Varied enough to care about and be interesting. Each have there own related quests.

Lone Wolf Play Through. it is challenging, but most of my time playing the game was figuring out how to do this and the executing.

Choices Matter. They do matter at the level you would expect with a tighter story with a couple of factions to choose from and the game being from a smaller studio. Endings are more varied then, "you get a different colored explosion", so you will feel like the story path you choice actually made a difference in the end.

After hearing that this studio has not made enough from this game to pursue an ambitious sequel, i've decided to leave a review to increase visibility. I'm not the most articulate, so I just want to express that both this game, and Iron Towers' previous game, Age of Decadence, are incredibly underrated RPGs. Mechanically complex, sometimes unforgiving, but rewarding both in combat and story and roleplaying. Iron Tower are the kind of studio that RPG players should want to keep thriving into the future, pushing the envelope and exploring new settings. More people should be able to experience what they have to offer.

I'm a Brotherhood of Liberty guy btw.

Colony Ship is an all around excellent RPG! It has a little of everything that makes games like BG2, Fallout, and Wastelands great and totally replayable. I really wish that some of this could have been voice acted (I'm really asking a lot for a small indie developer), but that just speaks to how well designed and written the game is.

Set on "easy" that game is fairly simple to navigate. On hard... man, you better save OFTEN! All in all, this is a love letter to the genre and does it proud!

- The combat is really bad and awkward
- non charisma builds are non viable
- it's hard to gauge the difficulty of each sidequest, hope you like save & loading a lot
- some quests are unclear
- bad ui design/interactions
- bad pathing

I had this game on my wishlist for a long time before buying it (waiting for a sale) and feel a bit guilty about that after reading news from the developer. That bit explained that though sales were good (for an indie game), it wasn't enough to pay for a subsequent project as large/ambitious as they'd prefer. Well, I'll do my part to help change that:

I absolutely loved this game and only neglected to write a review because I played it so long after launch that I figured everything had already been said that needed to be said by other players. This is just to say the story, writing, atmosphere, setting, game-play, combat, all of it, was extraordinarily good. I played to completion and was disappointed things were over... after 70 hours of playtime. This game is well worth the full price. If you are worried by previous Iron Tower hard core games, this one has options to reduce the brutality. The game has plenty to give in other departments: I did not miss it.

A really well-made tactical Sci-Fi RPG with hardcore combat that can actually be beaten without any combat at all (there's even an achievement for that). If you're an experienced gamer, this alone should tell you a lot. For a triple-A product made with a huge budget, I'd probably find a thing or two to complain about. For an indie product? This is a masterpiece.

Buy it if you:
1. Like good old-school RPGs that actually let you role-play your character (choose to be a hero, a psychopath, a mercenary, a religious fanatic or something in between; no holding your hand, no preferences for being a 'good guy' aside from your own conscience).
2. Enjoy a challenge (the combat is turn-based, yet unforgiving, you'd need to use your brain and prepare; that said, a smart and charismatic character can talk his way out of ANY situation).
3. Don't want RPGs to look like Dragon Age Veilguard and are willing to support talented people, thus allowing them to create good games for us to enjoy.

Recommended without a doubt.

This feels exactly like something that came out next to icewind dale and baldur's gate, but had much better writing.

It's not that old though, it just came out recently. It's a modern classic, in the classic style for CRPGs. If you liked those games or those style of games, you'll like this. Especially if you played those games as a teenager and you're an adult now, the tone is... Appropriate.

Good turn based combat, excellent writing, and a great sci-fi world setting pick it up if your a fan of older turn based rpgs.

First and foremost the 395 hours is a lie. When I play through A game and find it tough to continue I leave it open all day and night until I finish it. While I likely spent at least 20 to 30 hours on this project the rest can be seen as a rough approximation of the number of days I procrastinated finishing it once I decided I would.

Second I can say I have beaten the game and gotten 4 endings, So I am pretty sure I am not missing anything mechanically in my review.

First and foremost if the game started half way through act 1 or even at the beginning of act 2 I would approve of this game despite its flaws. But The one thing that keeps me from recommending this game is that I find the whole things difficulty too tight. It plays like fallout 1, but without the random encounters. Rather than grinding out a few levels/skill points early on when I hit a wall, the game has a bad habit of either forcing you to choose a more pacifist playthrough that strangles you of the combat experience necessary to engage with the game in any way other than as a whipping boy. Especially if I built a failure of a combat character. A problem that seems to disappear if you make it to act 2 with a decent amount of combat experience.

To put it to a point I ended up making 9 different characters in act 1 before I managed to make a character that didn't get hard stuck in such a way that they wouldn't be to terrible to claw a way to the end game. Not just because of combat experience, but similarly with espionage skills, technical skills, and social skills. The game has very tight skill level up paths and if you miss a couple of them you will suddenly find yourself behind on equipment, money, unable to convince someone of not blowing your knee caps in should you not be able to get past the combat wall, or the like.

Additionally if you move to get assistance for falling behind in some way, the only real advice I have seen on the forum is a build recommendation, which I find especially problematic, because building characters Is half the point of a character builder rpg. Net decking your build so you can experience the game is a sign of a poor learning curve. (Side note there is one amazing Guide by Huggybear who will effectively play the game for you giving you the best way to move forward if you do get stuck I used it personally as a way to keep track of when I have done all the quests in the area, although the game is actually good at telling you when you missed a quest before progressing..)

Finally the arena's are in many cases designed poorly for tactical combat. Many of them are tight rooms with few squares and little cover leading to me usually boxing an enemy in with my tank characters before shooting them in the head with my squishys a not very engaging tactic that can quickly just being everyone standing around each other emptying lead into each other heads. But small arena's isn't the worst of it. many times the game will have a combat option that seems straight forward only for it to teleport you multiple rooms away surrounded where all of your opponents start either behind or right next to cover. Only for a different option to start combat give you initiative bonus and give you choke point. Not because any of your characters an ounce of stealth but just because you had the foreknowledge not to pick the fight button (and you might get more xp for it) The most notable example being any fight that takes place right outside the armory. There is also one really janky stealth section in which your party auto loses the fallout fight, if you fail to sneak through an area in a forced failure state that the game just tells you, you lose on and sends you to the next chapter even though your characters might even just be capable enough to win the head on assault by themselves (likely to stop players from getting both combat and stealth exp a horrid crime even though at the 1000 and 2000 skill point mark there is no way that the little bump matters)

Finally when it comes to money the game is super stingy. In many ways consumables in the game are the ultimate savior against some scenerios especially if you don't know the best combos and abilities, yet some consumables can cost your entire life savings to get a single one of and while there may be only 3-4 fights that you really want some of these for someone going on their first time experience it is pretty likely that you wont have one when you need one losing large scale quest rewards and cool narrative moments like when you get your own personally robot up and running

THAT BEING SAID THIS ISN'T A BAD GAME

After you understand what the game wants from you it has really interesting ideas, cool enemy designs in the fungoid creatures and an interesting story of humanity struggling after a war fought by their forefathers. The fight between authoritarianism and freedom and how one can shift from one to another. The level up system is interesting and the complexity by which the game calls upon all your skills is pretty great. I even think many of this games scenerios and battles are really interesting and creative like the heart battle, or end of act 1 siege and the battle against the cyber monks while transporting the goods. I just think in heroic mode they should have shifted the skill difficulty for all skills by 1 point or giving every character an additional feat. Something to make the game more forgiving for a first play through without just making combat easier and nothing else. Notably I beat the game on underdog so none of these would have quelled my own frustrations, but I would also just be an old man yelling at clouds.

tldr: This game would be amazing if it was just a touch more forgiving in all ways. It gets easier once you have an optimized character once act 2 opens up, but that is the exact opposite of what would make me recommend it to someone. Games should start simple and get complicated, not start complicated and get "easy" (the difficulty mostly falls out at the begining of act 3 when your crew becomes a murder machine barring 1 or 2 hard fights or if your character got completly walled and the game refuses to admit it hard locked you.)

Old school rpg with modern graphics and QoL.

Good oldschool RPG with sci-fi lore, nice OST, replayability. Allows for several viable builds, both violence and diplomacy/tech wise. Solo or in party, some stealth, exploration here and there. You have to read and think, plan your resources ahead, read quests and dialogues.

Plays like Fallout2 to me, definetly worth a shot. Try it!

Great game, enjoyed the story and the gameplay.

A great indie RPG. Good variety of choices of factions to join, and ways to accomplish tasks. Combat is mechanically deep, and plenty to do for a stealth-focused or charisma-focused character as well.

One of the most interesting and compelling stories I've experienced in a video game. All throughout the game I was itching to move the story forward to see what happens next, or what lore I might be able to find through exploration. Very much looking forward to jumping back in and playing a different character through one of the other quest lines.

Really enjoy these games!

The stories are fun to work through, and the lore is fun to think through.

My biggest problem with this game is that I expected a step forward in comparison with the studio’s previous game (Age of Decadence).
Unfortunately, game failed badly in this aspect. What I see is 1 step forward in some areas/mechanics, which is immediately hampered by 3 or more steps backwards to accidentally avoid delivering a better production.
I’m disappointed. AoD already proved their ability to deliver a hard but fair RPG in a unique setting. So I don't quite understand, how they managed to fail so badly here.

✅

• One-of-the kind type of setting. You’re on generational ship flying towards Proxima Centauri.
  
  
• Worldbuilding. They left Earth to build their own paradise, but with them came human flaws.
  
  
• Story is decent. Some hidden facts about our ships mission adds additional layer to our quests.
  
  
• Notes providing lore, history etc.
  
  
• Several interesting concepts.
  
  
• Soundtrack is good and fits well the overall theme.
  
  
• Interesting concept of learning some skills via uploading them directly into the brain on special (rare) stations. Very sci-fi and quite original.
  

• Location size. Starting maps are decently complex and provide opportunities for exploration. Unfortunately the further you go, the smaller maps get. Habitat (which should be the biggest “city” in the game) is one massive disappointment.
  
  
• You’re aboard massive generation ship, yet you can’t explore it freely. Only go from point A to B via C.
  
  
• You can’t reset your build. Either restart or use external guides.
  
  
• No dialogue history, so you can’t take longer break from game – otherwise you simply won’t remember who-is-who and where to go.
  
  
• In terms of possible gameplay options, game seems to be a clear step back in comparison to its indirect predecessor. After the initial delight comes disappointment at the artificial limitation of available options.
  
  
• Charisma-based build is viable for most of the game. When it stops becoming viable you hit wall or follow that one path provided by game devs where your build is still possible. Is it against your in-game choices etc.? Yes, it is but it’s also your only option without restarting the game.
  
  
• Main factions looks way too similar to each other. It’s really like different shades of same viewpoint instead of different ideologies.
  
  
• Some game locations auto-teleports you out, when you finish their associated quest. No further exploration possible.
  
  
• Combat is boring and badly designed. Way too much RNG, without taking stats into account.
  
  
• In 9 cases out of 10, the enemies have better fighting positions and you really can't prepare in advance. You can't hide one character under a cloak or throw a grenade in advance.
  
  
• Enemies are combat oriented sock-puppets. Exists solely for their combat encounter and nothing else.
  
  
• No matter how good your build will be, there is always at least 1 enemy which will have higher initiative than you/your party. Going by their equipment, it’s obvious that AI has different rules than you.
  
  
• Stealth mechanics is plain weird. Good concept but quality left much to be desired.
  
  
[*] Psionics is basically uncounterable mechanic. The only way to counter it effectively is with drugs.
So where does the problem lie? Well drugs lasts only 2 in-game rounds and give you a significant combat debuff ( -2 to perception so your hit rate lowers) when it expires. In some fights, you have to take multiple doses to keep the team sane.

I was really looking for that old-school Fallout feel with this game. While it gets someway there it just feels like an inferior version but 30 years later.

A lot of it feels like a puzzle game more than an RPG and while it plays at being open world, you are forced into somewhat of a linear progression because you will get limited by your skill levels, until you train them up somewhere else. The combat is also pretty basic with not much really interesting going on here.

While I think part of my issue with games is that I'm not really jiving with RPGs anymore (Couldn't even finish Baldurs Gate 3) I was hoping this would rekindle those feelings I had playing Fallout, Arcanum, Wizardry, etc, but it falls well short of those.

This game came straight from a parallel dimension in which Bethesda (or the remnants of Obsidian) finally took their heads out of their butts (or never put them there). This game is very serious, though. Almost no campy humour, shenanigans or whacky moments. Yet, it is not taking itself too seriously or desparately trying to be "cool" in a cringeworthy way. Hitting that sweet spot is an achievent in itself. Story is great. Character progression feels satisfying. Atmosphere is on point. Can't ask for a better game in that genre. Sci-Fi is my most hated genre and I still enjoyed every moment. Thanks.

I remember when I first started playing and said to myself, "it's difficult to figure out where things are and to see things on the map". That never gets better and you never get used to it. The quests are generally fairly linear and boring. After the first half hour, the rate at which you get useful items really drops off. You can never use the energy weapons because there aren't even enough reloads to last one fight in the entire first six levels I've played (20 hours). The fights TAKE FOREVER. I guess that's part of it being turn based, but this seems worse than other turn based combat systems I've played.

I guess I got my money's worth in terms of dollars spent to number of hours played, but I can't recommend this game unless you like needing to quick save every 2 minutes and seeing how much frustration you can take.

NOTE: runs fine on Linux via Proton.

It's a bad RPG. If you're here to create a character with the wide range of skills and abilities, well, FUCK YOU. You will make a combat character and you will like it. Don't like it? Well, you can play the easy mode we passive-aggressively named 'hero mode' because we know if you don't want to engage in yet another dice roll combat system, you are obviously just a baby who needs to be a hero all the time. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

It's not like there are no opportunities to use non combat skills - there are plenty, and they are interesting especially as resolutions to quests. It's just that there are many obstacles with only combat based solutions, and if you didn't make such a character you're SOL.

Now, if this had been communicated, or if the player's non-combat skills were limited and the emphasis on non-combat roles were placed upon certain NPC party members this would have been fine, but it isn't. Which is a real shame because the worldbuilding, writing and artistic design is literally the cream of the crop. It's just wasted on the designer's need to wank himself over his game being such a hard and elite sweaty game which is prioritised over the narrative experience, which should be the focus of an RPG.

A deep RPG with effective writing and engaging systems. on the surface iron tower games can seem daunting to new players, it took me a few tries to get into their first two titles but now that I have I would say all 3 titles are some of the greatest games I have ever played. The game has a very clear vision and it accomplishes it immaculately. There is no wasted time in the game and every new step is rewarding. If you haven't tried any of their games Colony ship is a great place to start. The game can be beaten in may ways and I think most people could indulge a play style which is fun for them.

Interesting story, terrible combat.

The game plays statwise an progression wises like Disco Elysium. However, the combat is just bad. Your characters progress via armor, feats, and implants. They then have a slow progression by doing things in combat... but it's randomized who and seemly how much they get. However, outside of armor and evasion the HP pools don't increase.

This leads to the game essentially being built around save scuming because the RNG can allow for a character to be killed before you even get a chance to act. This experience was on the underdog setting, but it doesn't poor design.

Edit for reply to Dev: Appreciate the reply! At least in my two runs, the log after the fight showed no skill point gains for characters that were shot at, shot with, etc. Even when they did the gains are very small for the amount of hits given and taken.

The experience of getting slaughtered turn one happened were always with either a energy shield or distortion field. Energy shield (at least in it's early stages) feels useless. The first energy armor you get seems to mechanically work, but the energy shield far too much damage straight bypasses it. If you pop stims on a weaker character first round, the enemies just shift to the next weakest character. So you end up popping several stims to cover everyone and then it's race till debuff. Grenades work, if the enemy is susceptible to them which mindworms aren't.

The save scumming need feels escalated by the scars mechanic. If you get to turn 4-5 and a character goes down from lucky hits (because they focus fire on the most susceptible) it's basically an auto start over. No sense in dragging forward a permanent debuff, especially when it's HP.

I'm sure it's possible, plenty seem to enjoy it. I guess I'm just just more of a movement and action use strategy than a mandatory consumables strategy person.

Excellent systems-driven RPG with a interesting premise and setting.

I truly believe that Iron Tower games deserve more attention, so here's my first review in a *very* long time.
In Colony Ship you explore, big surpise, a colony ship, which is headed to Proxima Centari to colonize a hospitable world. But there was the Mutiny on the ship and due to this event a lot of old knowledge about Earth history, initial purpose and overall spirit of the mission was lost (as a big part of the ship's functionallity).
I won't spoil any plot details, but the ending left a lot of bitter notes in the best possible way.

But the main question is how is it played? Well, the closest analogy I can think of is a party-based RPG like a XCOM/Shadowrun with a progression system like in Bethesda's RPGs (the more you use the skill, the more you're proficient with it). Story is divided by chapters with oportunity to visit some hub locations, very similar to VTMB. Also, this game has a lot of interesting feats, so if you love character building options -- there is a big room here for your creativity.

I have basically only two big complains about the game:
1. Working for several factions in the same time is not always possible and it least once I locked myself from the option I wanted (it was in the first location of the game, so not the huge deal, but important to mention). From the other hand, in Chapter 2 I worked for all factions I could think of, so this issue is present only sometimes.
2. The game has a guarded content behind skill checks. Not as much as previous main-line Iron Tower game (Age of Decadence), but to clean almost everything I had to replay game once (and I dropped the first run of the game).

If you're somewhat interested -- pick up the demo. It's free and as far as I know covers a lot of content, so you can make informed decision based on that.

Personally, I loved it.

Save your money. I wanted to like this game for the challenge, after the first hour I realized it was basically a linear story with a few story choices but very little else in the way of exploration. So for that reason "easy" mode didn't seem right, no fun in that. So I went to the "normal" mode that "was the way the game was intended to be played" but I ended up just giving up shortly after chapter 2 starts. In the description it claims that the enemy AI has the same chances as the player. All I can say is B.S.! I went for a combat spec and used the proper weapon the entire game and I not only did I miss WAY more than the AI, but my damage was always trivial vs their almost insta-kill damage numbers. If that isn't bad enough, most of the fighting I would get at least one person on my team killed by turn 2. And before you think "oh, he just didn't have good initiative", I call B.S. on that too. I made my character for quickness and even after stripping all of the armor off I was basically in the middle to last in every fight. Play this game if you want to see the story, or if you like an unfair fight to really "challenge your gaming prowess". But skip this if you are thinking it will be an actual challenging game that plays fair.

I hate this game. I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it.
I love this game's themes. I love this game's dialogue. I love this game's storytelling, foreshadowing, and I hate that I hated every single second of the game after I realized I could not beat the Protectorate when they showed up for the device. I could not beat that fight. I tried for an hour. I could not beat that fight.

I had to swallow my pride and take the Protectorate's deal, despite spending the whole game trying to side with The Church. It was the only way for me to continue. I hated that I spent the proceding fight in the tunnels trying to get Cobra killed so that I could take the device to the Church. And the game didn't let me do any of that. The ending tastes like ash to me and I couldn't fall asleep until I got to the Bridge and finished the game.

This is a great, wonderful game and I despise it with every cell in my obese body.

Absolute delight of a game. Decisions matter...and can dramatically affect the endings. But it really doesn't matter...no matter how your game ends you'll have had a great time getting there.

I want to like this game, but it feels like I'm being punished at every turn for the way I want to play and how I've built my character.

I want to play a stealth oriented character, but the stealth mechanics make no sense. Even min-maxing, save scumming, and cloaking device, you're never going to be able to take out all the guards or loot every chest. Once you make sound, it never goes down with time. Guards barely patrol unless you make enough noise for them to investigate, and when they do you're going to be caught because the sneaking areas are incredibly tiny and cover mechanics don't apply at all. If there aren't any guards to stop your sneak, there's no reason TO have a sneaking section because you can make as much noise as you want getting every chest and then out, and all that happens is you're told you can't go back in because you made too much noise, but you already got everything there so why the hell would you need to go back in anyway?

Combat is boring and unfair, but not challenging. Even without statting heavily into it, you shouldn't have a problem with fights most of the time unless you're by yourself, which means you MUST recruit a companion. They offer dialogue for lore and character, which is nice, but pissing them off by going against their beliefs is barely a negative impact. They're just hired guns you can ignore outside of taking its for you. The worst part of combat is that, no matter what, you will NEVER start in any of the limited cover available on the battlefield. For some fights this isn't too big of a deal, especially when it makes sense like you've been ambushed or are storming into someone's base, but it applies even when YOU get the drop on someone. The enemy will ALWAYS start in some form of cover.

Players seem shoehorned into one of two playstyles: talk your way out of things, or shoot first and ask questions later. For what it's worth, these two options seem somewhat equal in their execution. Talking is the peaceful way, sometimes requiring decent checks to accomplish, and you get through things without much of a risk, but you miss out on a lot of loot. Combat is obviously the hostile way, gets you more loot but can be dangerous either in that you bite off more than you can chew or it turns out to be more of a drain on your resources than what you put into it, namely with grenades and stims. The only two downsides I have encountered thusfar with combat is that it does have the option of killing potential companions before you can recruit them, which I personally like, and the second is that the optional combat way to deal with one section of the game sees you going into two large fights back to back only to teleport you away to the next area without getting to loot the spoils you might have been counting on for absolutely no reason.

That leads me to another complaint of mine: the mandatory teleporting after an objective is completed for the area. In the first chapter of the game this is nonexistent, giving the player the freedom to explore every nook and cranny to their heart's content, backtracking as needed if they get a skill to the next level in order to pick that lock they had to leave behind, for instance. That all seems to end once you get to the Habitat (not sure what chapter it is). For instance, should you start to side with the Protectors, there's an entry quest to track down someone in a residential block. Getting into the building, you've got a few corridors to explore and some doors to open or people to talk to. If you hit everything in the order it's given, however, you'll find the person you're looking for before you've explored the rest of the building and, upon dealing with them, are teleported back to the quest giver. You're not allowed back into the building after that. At a later date, maybe? I can only hope so but, even if that's true, why whisk me away to begin with? Why take away the established freedom to explore you spent a whole chapter designing around if it's suddenly not going to apply?

The game isn't terrible. Passable, at best, in my mind, with a myriad of strange and frustrating decisions that will leave you realizing shooting first and asking questions later seems to be the only way to get things done without crippling yourself in other aspects.

This game is fantastic. The combat is tough but rewarding, and the writing is really engaging. I don't often leave reviews but I wanted to support this fun game.

Fun game, but can really use some gameplay overhauls. For example, some stealth missions allow you to reset when you fail while others don't, for no apparent reason. Also, it is a lot of trial and error, and if you're going to make me do the same thing dozens of times in tiny variations, you could at the very least speed up the transitions. Even for those who like trial and error games, having to wait until the fade out and fade in are done is frustrating.

Anyway, I'm complaining because I keep trying.

Good game. If your looking for a unique story based sci fi RPG its worth a good playthrough

warlockracy on youtube said that this isn't a strategy game. Or that you won't employ strategy in it. You'll reload and do the exact same thing as last time hoping for the dice to not F you over. (paraphrased).
I found it to be partly true. Some things are fixed. Your initiative is set. The mind worms will always go first. If your initiative score is 50 you'll go faster than most people. After that it's dice. And if they're rolling more dice per round than you then you're gonna have a bad time. A single miss on your side can ruin everything. Focus firing one guy down before they get to move can be the entire difference.
They sell stasis grenades that put 9 squares into a timeout for three entire rounds. 15 attacks maybe just completely elided while you focus down the less immediately but more annoying bullet sponges. And there are flashbangs that drop dodge to zero, and pulse grenades that turn off tech armor or invisibility. The entire game is knowing when you aren't gonna be able to fight this one out fairly and should probably drop 400 dollars on those two guys kind of standing kitty corner to each other who haven't moved yet.
And you can't craft any and when they're gone they're gone. I just barely ran out as my game came to an end. I was running to the end of the game saying no final fights no final fights please just let me win. I felt elated when I was stopped at the finish line but got to tell a computer i have 10 in my computer score and I didn't feel like fighting anyone.
I probably wouldn't have played through it on easy mode a second time to see the ending if anyone had uploaded them to youtube. I mean one guy did but it wasn't the ending I would have gotten so nuts to that.

Amazing game and concept. If you play on underdog dont expect to be winning fights very often, infact the last stretch of the game i didnt have to fight a single soul because of my choices.

An excellent game which suffers from it taking an annoying amount of time to figure out how best to build and improve characters and what will and will not be effective. Also still shows signs of the designers' hardcore fanbase - it won't kill anyone to have an adjustable difficulty level, for example. But excellent writing, entertaining enough combat, and a light but good-looking-enough engine that they should reuse until it breaks.

A short but very interesting game set in a unique and captivating world with replay value.

Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game offers an immersive and richly detailed experience that kept me engaged for over 50 hours. The world-building is exceptional, with a dystopian setting aboard a massive generation ship that feels alive and full of lore. The writing is top-notch, with well-crafted dialogue and a strong sense of atmosphere, making every interaction meaningful. The character customization and skill-based progression system provide a lot of depth, allowing for multiple playstyles and rewarding experimentation. I enjoyed playing different characters and factions to explore various outcomes, and the game delivers a satisfying level of replayability, especially with its branching quests and choices that significantly impact the narrative.

The turn-based combat is solid, and while it can be challenging at times, it rewards strategic thinking and thoughtful planning. The companion system adds another layer of depth, with companions each having their own distinct personalities and motivations, further enhancing the role-playing experience. After completing the game and achieving near 100% completion, I can confidently say that Colony Ship stands out in the RPG genre. It’s a game that doesn’t just rely on its story or mechanics but creates an experience that feels like a true journey in a well-realized sci-fi universe. Highly recommended for fans of narrative-driven RPGs.

10/10!
The music is nice and sometimes plays in my head. The story and the atmosphere are unforgettable! I have not replayed the game yet, but I have heard that it has great replay value. The combats are good, and they feel like you are trying to solve a puzzle, but sometimes you have to make do because you are missing a piece. I had to retry many tough fights because I'm bad at the game. I really like this game and I hope it gets its sequel.

I thoroughly enjoy playing ITS games, and I really hope ITS is able to produce another game.

Great game, It's style reminds me of Fallout 1 and 2.

problem with this game is it ended , i took my time , but it was fun , to bad cant really make a 2 , the ship aspect was just cool