Overview

Developer: Nexon
Publisher: Nexon
SG official page: http://www.sgalaxy.com

Metamorphosis

Shattered Galaxy has been a new experience for me - I've had the chance to see this game grow up over the course of a year. Nexon, a small independent game developer you've never heard of, decided to allow the public view the growing pains of a game by keeping it in a state of open beta while under development. Dozens of patches, hundreds of server resets, and thousands of beta testers from around the world later, Nexon finally had a product ready for store shelves -- and damn, it's good.

The idea for Shattered Galaxy has been around for a while - massively multiplayer real-time strategy. The problem is no one's been able to pull it off yet. A lot of credit will go to Nexon for being first, but they've done a lot more than just that. This game rocks.

The Logo

Gearing up for battle

Pegasus are going to die

How does a MMORTS work?

The logistics of Shattered Galaxy require some explanation. First, you create a hero and join a faction. Your hero can walk around the planet, buy/equip units, and participate in faction politics. Resources come in the form of tributes every few minutes (the more land your faction owns and the more you participate in battles the larger your tribute). Tributes eliminate the need for resource gathering, and since there's no building management, you figure out quite early that this game is all about tactical engagement and micromanagement.

When your hero walks to a territory that is under dispute, the game breaks away into a squad-based strategy game. Your hero is replaced with a squad of six to twelve units in a battlefield along with a number of enemy and friendly forces, each under the command of another player online. You and your teammates fight the other factions for Points of Contention (POCs). To control a POC, a ground unit needs to stand on the POC for 45 seconds straight. The faction controlling the most POCs at the end of the battle (20 minutes) claims the territory. Attackers win instantly if they control all of the POCs at once; Defenders if they destroy all of the enemy units. If all your units are destroyed, you can reinforce with fresh units 75 seconds later.

The world map

Defending a POC

The council awaits appointment

As you win battles your units gain experience and levels. As they level, your hero levels. Each time your hero levels up you can assign attribute points (Tactics, Clout, Education, and Mechanical Aptitude). Higher attributes and higher unit levels allow you to buy better equipment and units.

Sounds simple, but it's not. More on that later, let's talk about graphics first.