Battlestar Galactica Deadlock Review (Switch)
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock for Nintendo Switch Review
Developer: Black Labs
Publisher: Slitherine Software
Release Date: October 8th 2019
Price: $29.99
Platforms: Switch (reviewed) PC/Steam, X-Box One, PS4
Black Labs Games’ Battlestar Galactica Deadlock is based on the Sci-Fi Channel “re-imagining” rather than the 1978 original. It does an excellent job of recreating the look, feel and sound of the show. Even the camera angles in the optional post-battle replays replicate the series camera angles and visuals.
Having said that, it’s not what is interesting about this game. For the first time in ages someone came pretty close to a home run in a space battle-line game and its actually available on the Switch I say “battle-line” as there have been tons of fighter based games and honestly I remember playing Wing Commander in college wishing that I was flying a viper instead of Wing Commander’s ship of the week. But true fleet-level capital ship action has been pretty scarce and mostly unknown on the Switch which is known for serving up lighter fare. There are lots of wannabes usually one or two ship tactical affairs on the order of Star Fleet Command rather than something to satisfy your inner Admiral Nelson.
Colonial Frigate laying down a flack belt.
Deadlock is a bit unusual. A turn-based strategy game, on the order of the classic X-Com or perhaps the even earlier Cosmic Balance. Like Cosmic Balance both sides issue orders and resolve their turns at the same time rather than merely taking turns one after the other X-Com style. Each turn represents 15 seconds or so of real-time, pausing after each so that you can issue fresh orders.
Atlantia Death Squadron.. Arm and Attack!
Deadlock is a sandbox campaign with 14 main story missions interspaced with randomly generated secondary missions and skirmishes. You start off with a mobile shipyard, the Daidolos, and as with X-Com, you must keep the support of member nations (Colonies) to fund bigger and better fleets as you prosecute the war against the Cylons. Pretty soon you are flitting about putting out fires while being limited by funding and the game’s stellar geography and FTL movement rules. Unlike X-Com, you never get the feeling that the game actually hates you. This would have been an appropriate touch given the nature of the foe, for example, if fewer than six of the twelve colonies are still supporting you, the game backs off a bit to allow you to catch up. As you start defeating Cylon fleets, recalcitrant Colonies can be won over and return to the alliance, a governing body known as the Quorum.
While you have to have it, the Daidolos shipyard can be a pain in the butt. This shipyard is your only way of building new ships, and you lose the game if it is destroyed. But in battle, it’s kind of useless, offset a bit by the fact that it has two fighter squadrons aboard and will resupply ships in the same fleet for free. But, after the first couple of missions, tuck that sucker away somewhere safe. Leaving it above a colony can yield political and practical benefits depending on which Colony it is. Extra resources, cheaper blueprints for new ships and weapons, etc. The campaign can be a bit of a slog at times, but thankfully, even the random skirmish engagements are replete with tactical options and stay somewhat fresh. Failing that you still have skirmish mode and online multiplayer, of course. This is extra fun for all you geardos as you get the entire ship roster to play with without unlocking them in-campaign first. As in the series, the Cylons are masters of Electronic Warfare, but just like the series this is superficial “hacking” of computer systems and lacks the depth and complexity of real-world EW, which I thought would have made for a more in-depth and difficult game. it’s one thing to have the Cylons hack your ship and reverse all your toilets or whatever it is they are trying to do. But it would be another altogether to have EW jamming missiles and spoofing radar contacts.
There can be no survivors. So long as one human remains alive, the Alliance is threatened.
The only thing I can’t abide in this game is the control setup. This is common in ports from a PC original to consoles, but trying to run a fleet with an inconsistent menu driven by two joysticks, an arrow pad, and eight buttons and Jay Jay, the drunken lemur. (oh wait the drunken lemur was me) is frustrating. Adding insult to injury, once you are past the tutorial, the interface drops all attempts a queuing, and you end up randomly pushing buttons. It goes something like this: To fire guided missiles, stand on your left foot while long-pressing X and singing “I am the monarch of the sea,” then select a target by manipulating the left joystick with your nose. For the first few rounds this was so frustrating I began to suspect my controller was a Cylon and attempted to strangle it. Fortunately for the controller, my wife intervened and restored order by administering a liberal quantity of medicinal spirits.
Despite the altercation with the controller, which I would totally have won, the game is good enough to justify such outrages. I would typically have stopped right there, but I really wanted to play the game, and it was worth it. Battlestar Galactica Deadlock isn’t perfect, the story is superficial, the control scheme is poorly adapted to the Switch, and strategic and political aspects of the game aren’t well explained. That being said, this is the best officially licensed BSG product since the plastic toys in the 70s that launched little plastic missiles that you could choke on or fire at your cat. It’s an excellent task-force level tactical game and a passable fleet-level strategic game. But I have to wonder how the controls work on the PC version. So if you have both a Switch and a PC check out both versions. If you have a Switch and no PC and like this sort of game immediately run out and buy it, once you get the controls figured out, its pure tactical and strategic fun that on the Switch at least is scarcer than a photogenic sasquatch.
The Good:
Excellent concept and execution.
Artwork and music are fateful to the series.
Non-linear play style, there is more than one way to kill a Cylon.
The Bad:
Byzantine control setup.
No robotic daggetts, feathered hair or Rick Springfield.
Too few main campaign missions.