More Gameplay

Time for class

Battles are nothing without your units, obviously. Unit equipment is a tricky beast and quite complicated. For example, to buy or upgrade units you need to have enough influence (your level in that type of unit + Clout/2). The more exotic units and stronger Alien units are only available if you have high Clout. If you decide to go for a high Clout score, you won't be able to put as many points towards Education, Tactics, or Mechanical Aptitude. Thus, you'll have units with higher base hitpoints (Clout), but weaker weapons (Education), less armor (Mechanical Aptitude), and fewer battle units (Tactics). The same RPG-esque checks and balances apply if you want to spend your points on the other attributes. If you decide to average your attribute points among all 4 stats, your units won't excel in any one rating, and will get trashed by a similar player with stacked stats (I'm going to get flamed for that one!).

Unit development screen

Bigger aliens = more Clout

Chimeras holding the frontline

We liked the fact that you have a lot of options in choosing your units and equipment. There are currently over 50 units in Shattered Galaxy, and Nexon can add more at any time. There are hundreds of armor, engines, computers, weapons, and special items to equip as well. Weapons are specialized for one unit, but there are still hundreds of combinations possible. Units usually have a specific function in battles - fast, lightly armored units are good for hit-and-run tactics, but can't capture a POC under heavy fire; artillery pack a punch but are fragile and slow. I personally like to use units that kill, kill, and kill some more. That means I'm put most of my attribute points towards Education (that's an "Edu whore" in SG speak). I have more than just brute force units however; you never want to be in a situation without the right units. The hundreds of options allow you to play Shattered Galaxy the exact way you want to.

Balancing the scales

The attribute and unit equipment system sounds too complicated to achieve acceptable unit balance. However, with a lot of adjusting armor, weapon strength, and tech levels during the beta, it turns out this isn't much of a problem in Shattered Galaxy. If you throw same-level units at each other, the battle will be even. Now before you flame me, it is difficult to tell what a unit's level/equipment is (unless you ask) and most fights occur between units of different levels. Your Behemoths may utterly destroy two squads of Imps without taking damage, but another squad may come along and burn you to a crisp if they're 15 levels above you.

So what's to stop a level 50 player from wiping out an entire faction of newbies? Shattered Galaxy features multiple planets, separated by hero levels. The newbie planet is for new heroes through level 12 heroes. The second planet is for level 12 through 30 heroes. The third planet isn't open yet, as the majority of players aren't level 30. If you're on the first planet, you cannot level past level 12 unless you transfer to the second planet.

Milling about in the capital

Caving

Laying airmines

With all this said, Shattered Galaxy is a bit rough on new players, since the learning curve may discourage many would-be heros. The tutorial takes the player through most of the game functionality, including how to use units in battle and how to equip them at the Unit Development Facility. This, along with the excellent manual, will help most get over the initial, "what the hell am I doing" phase. The best way to figure things out is to ask people in your faction. When in the capital, most players are friendly to newbies. You also have the option to play against computer controlled aliens in caves if you don't feel ready to take on real people yet.