Gratuitous Space Battles: exactly what the name implies

Title: Gratuitous Space Battles
Price: $19.95
Platform: PC
ESRB Rating: N/A
Score: B+

The simplest pleasures are sometimes the best ones. In the context of gaming, simple pleasures come in lots of different ways. They’re increasingly hard to find with today’s games growing ever more complex, but occasionally a developer will come along and release a title composed of gameplay mechanics that have been distilled down to their most basic forms. Keeping things simple allows players to focus on one or two core mechanics instead of losing themselves in endless layers of depth or difficulty. Independently developed (and aptly named), Gratuitous Space Battles focuses like a laser beam on several classic elements.

As the name implies, this game is mostly about blowing stuff up. Forethought and strategy will be much more valuable than a quick trigger finger, though. Rather than tasking players with tons of micromanagement and forcing them to baby-sit a fleet of spacecraft, Gratuitous Space Battles instead resolves the combat automatically. It felt weird at first to just sit back and watch as dozens of ships blasted away at each other, but once you get a feel for the game it makes sense that things are done this way. Besides, the 2D graphics are beautifully done, and it’s incredibly satisfying to kick back and relax as your carefully crafted fleet pounds the enemy to dust. Laser pulses reflect off of ships’ shielding while missile blasts create hull breaches and fires. Fighters flit around massive capital ships like insects while tiny point defense turrets track and fire at them. The visuals have a great style to them, and they’re more than enough to keep you entertained, as well as focused on fine-tuning your fleet layout for next time.

If there’s one core component to Gratuitous Space Battles, it’s the constant need for a sound strategy. Players must design their own ships entirely from scratch using a selection of hull types, weapons and other equipment. Fighters, frigates and cruisers can all fill multiple roles depending on how you outfit them, though it’s all kept fairly simple and straightforward. Armor and shields help protect a ship, while various types of energy weapons and projectiles inflict differing types of damage to the enemy. Engines use up power and add weight, but propel you along faster. ECM modules help deflect incoming missiles, but the slot that it takes up might have been better used for something else. The game also features four different races, each with their own strengths and weaknesses that further complicate matters. It’s all a delicate balancing act, but the tweaking and redesigning that you’ll inevitably end up doing is part of what makes this game so much fun. Layer on the multiplayer aspect of the game where your designs will be competing against those of your friends, and you can see why it’s something that quickly becomes addictive.

There’s already a fair amount of content for the reasonably low price tag, but developer Cliff Harris has been doggedly adding requested features to the game since the beta became available several months ago. Though it’s still technically not a finished title yet, it’s hard to tell just by playing the game. Bug fixes and new features as well as improvements to what’s already there have been coming out on an almost daily basis, and it’s truly encouraging to see someone so engrossed in their work. It leaves me no doubt that any remaining issues (of which I’ve encountered very few) will be ironed out before the official red carpet release.

Gratuitous Space Battles is inexpensive, will run on even a modest computer, and best of all was authored by someone who obviously loves what they do. Not only will it grind your mental gears, but the little jokes peppered throughout the title help to keep things lighthearted. It manages to keep things simple yet maintain some depth, too. I’d love to see more games like this one, and supporting small developers ensures that they’ll keep coming. If you’re still on the fence, a demo is in the works for release once the final version has been nailed down. It’s not often that twenty bucks will keep you entertained for this long.