Star Warfare 2 – Payback is a game from Freyr Software I came across in the Apple app store. Right away, it looked like something interesting. This game is a fairly simple sci-fi shooter with a variety of game modes. The story is that a space-faring organization called the UNCC discovered a revolutionary substance on a planet where they already have a colony established. Soon after its discovery, large aliens begin attacking the colonists, forcing them to defend their home.
Lots of good things to say about this title, there’s a variety of different enemy types, such as charging, shooting, hunting, flying type aliens and more. The settings are nicely crafted, they have a off-world colony, alien wilderness and space-ship settings. There is also a variety of space-age armour, weapons, robotic companions and armour modules, some with different functions.
I find the gameplay to be satisfying, it has single-player (offline mode), three player co-op, team deathmatch and player controlled boss battles. In co-op, you’re blasting aliens and scrambling to collect coins before the other players. The aliens can be some nasty customers, they always have me closely watching my back, Team-deathmatch is very unique, players have all various types of armour and energy weapons, it can be challenging for first time players, however. In the scope of the game’s story I wonder what their motivations are for the colonists to be fighting among themselves, perhaps the immense value of their mining operations.
Some may find this type of game to be repetative, also, there’s no in-game communication, it has the typical features of free games on the App Store and I think it would be an improvement if each alien had its own animalistic sound. These minor complains aside, I’m really enjoying Star Warfare 2. The simple storyline allows my mind to wander about it’s grey areas, while delivering on a solid HD sci-fi shooter with lots of modes of play, smooth controls and good hit detection.
Final score – 8/10