FTL meets Warhammer 40,000 in tactical space sim Void War
FTE!
Ahoy, consumer of PC games! I fear that Void War may be highly relevant to your statistically determined interests. It's a space combat game in which you steer ancient, crenellated starships through a frightful cosmos of blood cultists, imperial zealots, and ravening corsairs. You will warp from node to node on a roguelite system map, with each node harbouring battles, story encounters, and the occasional friendly or at least, not immediately hostile face such as a merchant.
To say that in less: this is Subset's FTL: Faster Than Light but set in something very like the despairing galaxy of Warhammer 40,000. It is flatplan offbrand Battlefleet Gothica. In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only the mood trailer, below.
The full game is out 30th May, and there is a demo on Steam and Itch. I have played that demo for about 20 minutes. Here are some exciting things that happened: I got a new recruit killed during a boarding action; I blew up a cultist vessel crewed by reanimating ghouls and some kind of skull wizard, who kept doing psychic sabotage on my engines; I found some vials of demon worms behind a horrible astral altar, which I am saving for the next skull wizard.
All very enjoyable. Perhaps a bit too familiar? It's been years since I played FTL, but this often feels identical. Engagements unfold in real-time, but you can pause to micromanage. The basic trick is to allocate reactor energy between your ship systems, especially your shields and weapons, while ordering your crew between rooms to operate systems and deal with invaders or hazards like fires.
The art direction is also a bit plain for a project riding Games Workshop's coat tails - I need more grot, guts and greebling, damn your eyes. Still, the setting feels adequately horrendous. For example: I have just installed a cannon that gives other ships the plague. I entertain high hopes of recruiting a skull wizard of my own.
Going by the breakdown of the backer alpha on the Itch.io page, the full game will offer in the region of: 10 playable ships, eight playable commanders, 70 crew types across six factions, 60 kinds of weapon, 50 modules and 19 ship systems, plus 140 crew items. There is possibly a Warhammer 40,000 FTL mod that does some or all of this already. If you know of one please educate me. If you find all this too grimdark, consider playing Breachway instead.