At a glance...

Strike Suit Zero preview

At this year's Gamescom I got to play Strike Suit Zero, an arcadey space combat game currently in development by Born Ready.

Strike Suit Zero centers around a conflict between Earth and its colony planets. The colonies discovered an alien artifact known as the Relic, and used it to fashion a weapon which they now intend to use to destroy Earth. Researchers from Earth, however, have discovered the Strike Suit, a transforming spacefaring mech, based on the same technology as the Relic and now the last hope for Earth's survival. Within the game, the story is conveyed to the player through in-game messages from their allies. I anticipate chatter between wingmates, orders from higher command as well as changes to orders and dramatic mid-mission revelations. These messages will be fully voiced and recorded in English, French and German.

While in ship mode, the Strike Suit flies and controls like a normal fighter, able to pitch, yaw and roll with forward firing guns and missiles. When it transforms into Strike Mode, it becomes much more deadly with a powerful cannon and swarm missiles which can lock onto multiple targets. In addition, movement in Strike Mode is much more versatile, allowing the player to quickly shift sideways to dodge enemy attacks and strafe around slow moving craft.

While Strike Mode does put great power at the player's disposal, the Strike Suit does have a few drawbacks. Firstly, to transform into Strike Mode requires a resource, provisionally named Flux, which is gained by taking damage or by destroying enemies. While transformed, the accumulated Flux is drained and when it runs out the vehicle reverts to fighter mode. Secondly, while in fighter mode, the Strike Suit isn't particularly strong or fast when compared to standard ships and so proficient use of the Strike Mode will be necessary to complete more difficult missions. For this reason, the player will also have a choice of three standard ships but although the game will be completable without using the Strike Suit, mastery of the Strike Mode will be necessary to achieve the highest scores.

The campaign will consist of 13 missions, each of which will last 15-20 minutes. At the start of each mission, the player can customise their loadout, choosing which ship to fly and which guns and missiles are fitted. This allows them to choose a loadout which is more effective against the enemies they expect to face, or which better fits their style of play. New customisation options can be unlocked by completing challenges within the story campaign such as destroying a certain number of enemies.

I'm pleased to report that the pre-alpha build of Strike Suit Zero which I played was joy to pilot. The ship responds quickly, guns and missiles are straightforward to use, the guns feel effective and enemy ships explode in a satisfying way. You can designate a single enemy ship as your current target which highlights it in your HUD . This displays a lead indicator showing how far ahead you need to shoot, as well as shield and armor indicators which provide good feedback as to how much damage you're doing.

I played through a Fleet Battle mission, which is a shorter, more focused mission separate from the main campaign which depicts an event from earlier in the Earth-Colony war. After testing out all the controls, I was quickly chasing down enemy fighters and blasting them to bits with my plasma cannons. Holding down the Right Bumper for a few seconds allowed me to gain missile lock on another target which was then easily dispatched.

As the mission progressed, we found our capital ship under attack by an enemy frigate. Each type of capital ship has its own strengths and weaknesses and the missions are set up so that the player can take actions which complement the capabilities of their fleet and turn the tide of battle in its favor. In this instance, the enemy was firing torpedoes and when I saw them early enough, I was able to target and destroy them before they hit our capital ship.

This game does a good job of making space look beautiful. Dogfights and fleet battles take place against the backdrop of different nebulae, asteroid fields, planets and stars and the trails left behind by fighter engines help to distinguish quickly between friend and foe as well as adding another layer of colour to the scene. The look of the game at this pre-alpha stage, very closely resembles some of the original concept art.

Strike Suit Zero is headed to PS3 and Xbox 360 early next year but will launch first for the PC on Steam this autumn, with full joystick support and customizable controls. I very much hope it doesn't get lost in the pre-Christmas rush of games as this promises to be a game which shouldn't be missed.

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