Battlevoid: Harbinger
- February 24, 2016
- Bugbyte Ltd.
- 22h median play time
Get on Steam"Battlevoid: Harbinger" is a hard sci-fi space exploration game that combines roguelike, turn-based, and real-time space battles. As a young commander, you must lead your use strategy and tactics to navigate through enemy territories, defend humanity, and survive. The Special Edition features improved graphics, enhanced UI, more content, and precise controls.
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Reviews
- The game offers a surprising amount of fun, with engaging space combat mechanics and a variety of ships and weapons to customize.
- The graphics and sound design are decent, providing a nice atmosphere for the gameplay.
- The game has a good level of replayability, as players can unlock new ships and weapons through experience gained from each run.
- The game can be extremely grindy, requiring hours of play to unlock better ships and upgrades, which can lead to frustration.
- Combat can feel unbalanced, with some enemies being overwhelmingly powerful compared to the player's starting ships.
- The tutorial is lacking, leaving players confused about certain mechanics and controls, which can hinder the initial experience.
- story155 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 79 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story is minimal and largely serves as a backdrop for gameplay, consisting mainly of generic missions such as "destroy this" or "deliver that." Players navigate a star cluster, completing repetitive tasks with little narrative depth or character development, leading to a sense of monotony. While some players appreciate the roguelike mechanics and the freedom to experiment with ship upgrades, many criticize the lack of a compelling overarching storyline or engaging mission variety.
“Being a roguelike, there isn’t much story, but what’s here is good.”
“Each game consists of 4 main missions (or galaxies, if you will) with a little bit of story tied to it and a main mission which usually involves destroying up to 4 spaceships or bases.”
“You pick up an initial spaceship, you explore the galaxy with a main mission at hand (these vary whenever you start a new game), improve your ship, buy new ships for your fleet, and defeat the opponents.”
“The game is light on game elements, story, music, and even UIs.”
“The story is barely, barely there, and while it suggests some interesting ideas, it's basically just a few totally ignorable text boxes at the beginning and end of each map.”
“It's not a game for someone who actually wants an adventure; it's a game for someone who wants to do fetch quests in space.”
- gameplay109 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its addictive and simple mechanics, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking depth. Many users noted that the controls can be challenging, especially with multiple ships, and that the game often feels grindy due to the slow progression and limited ship variety. Overall, while the core gameplay loop offers unique moments and strategic elements, it suffers from shallow mechanics and a lack of engaging content, leading to a somewhat unsatisfying experience for some players.
“The gameplay is simple, yet elegant.”
“Addictive gameplay and polished system.”
“Excellent rogue-like replayability with solid gameplay mechanics that create a simple yet deep tactical and even mildly strategic experience.”
“Wanted to like this game; however, the content and mechanics are too shallow.”
“It's obvious developers used cheat mode because, for example, asteroid sectors are just dumb. You cannot skip them, so you just sit in front of your computer and wait for about 10 seconds watching nothing happen. You can have multiple on your way, and the maps are randomly generated, so you might find out you are in a dead end and have to travel back through them.”
“The gameplay loop does get a bit repetitive.”
- grinding56 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is widely criticized for its excessive grinding, with many players finding the progression system tedious and frustrating. While some enjoy the space battles and the opportunity to experiment with different strategies, the overall consensus is that unlocking new ships and achievements requires an overwhelming amount of repetitive gameplay, detracting from the overall enjoyment. Many reviews suggest that the grind feels unbalanced and detracts from the game's potential, making it a challenging experience for those seeking a more engaging and varied gameplay.
“The game lost any kind of progress, and now feels just grindy and boring.”
“Overall, it's just not fun to be locked out of higher tier ships based on a grindy progression mechanic instead of how well you are doing in a particular run.”
“The pace can be a little slow at the start, and the meta-progression (which largely consists of unlocking new starter ships) becomes a bit of a tedious grind.”
- graphics51 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as basic, with a retro pixel art style that may appeal to fans of classic games but can feel dated and lackluster to modern players. While some reviewers appreciate the consistent art style and crisp visuals, others criticize the limited ship variety and overall simplicity, suggesting that the graphics do not meet contemporary standards. Despite these criticisms, many agree that the visuals serve the gameplay adequately, even if they are not the game's main draw.
“Visually, the game looks good, thanks to a consistent art style and distinct ship aesthetics.”
“Good graphics, sound, and overall a fun game to play.”
“I really dig the graphics.”
“Graphics are lacklustre, 2D, retro, almost pixel looking, despite being released in 2016.”
“The graphics look like 1990s clipart, and again, even the slightest effort to maintain a cohesive story or worldbuilding beyond the opening paragraph would have been appreciated.”
“The graphics were very substandard, considering the price.”
- replayability26 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
Overall, the game offers significant replayability due to its random map generation, diverse ship and weapon combinations, and unlockable content, making it enjoyable for multiple playthroughs. However, some players note that the experience can become repetitive over time, particularly after unlocking most ships. Despite this, many find the tactical gameplay and variety in each run to provide enough incentive to return.
“Can't forget to mention the whole board you play on is randomly generated each game, it's highly replayable.”
“Excellent rogue-like replayability with solid gameplay mechanics that create a simple yet deep tactical and even mildly strategic experience.”
“Loads of replayability as each and every time you play, the map is much different than the last.”
“The replayability of this game may not be to everyone's taste due to the monotonous battles, which on occasion can be very difficult.”
“It's a good game on the first few playthroughs, but the replayability is poor.”
“I admit, once you've unlocked most of the ships, there is not much replay value later on, but the way to get there took me more than 20 hours... well worth it!”
- music16 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it pleasant and ambient, while others describe it as repetitive and forgettable. While a few appreciate the soundtrack for enhancing the gaming experience, many suggest that it lacks depth and originality, often preferring to listen to their own music instead. Overall, the music is seen as a functional backdrop rather than a standout feature.
“Namely, I find that I mostly enjoy this game as a 'zen experience.' Just play through and tune everything out, letting the music and sound effects pull me away.”
“An initially addictive gameplay loop is accompanied by nice music with themes for the different races you face, and the graphics are somewhat reminiscent of ye olde Master of Orion 2 in both good and bad.”
“The game has a lot of variety and is really well-made for such a simple premise, but there's a good variety of ships/loadouts, fairly decent snarky humor, and the soundtrack in particular is sublime.”
“The soundtrack is nothing to write home about, but it never becomes bad, just typical.”
“The music helps create an ambience, but it's very limited and repetitive, so it can get annoying after a while.”
“I played arcade games in the 80s with better music that was less repetitive.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game is heavily criticized, with users noting intrusive advertisements for the developer's other game and a strong emphasis on microtransactions, suggesting that the game prioritizes profit over player experience.
“The monetization model is fair and doesn't feel overly aggressive, allowing players to enjoy the game without feeling pressured to spend.”
“I appreciate that the game offers a variety of ways to earn in-game currency, making it accessible for players who prefer not to spend real money.”
“The optional purchases enhance the experience without being necessary to progress, which is a refreshing approach to monetization.”
“This feels like the sort of game that is really designed for microtransactions rather than something you actually purchased in full.”
“Initial startup - an advertisement for the developer's other game which takes you to their website.”
“Still receiving red flashing emails with advertisements.”
- stability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized for being significantly affected by bugs, making it difficult to play at times. Users report frequent glitches and slow performance, indicating that the overall execution is flawed.
“Not a bad concept, but the gameplay is not great; very buggy to the point where you can't really play.”
“Can be a bit buggy or slow at times.”
“There are a lot of bugs or simply poorly implemented features.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players praise the game's optimization, highlighting the smooth animations and the effectiveness of carefully optimized ships, which contribute to a feeling of invincibility during gameplay.
“Sometimes wiped because I felt invincible with my carefully optimized ships.”
“Butter smooth animation, well optimized.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game features a well-crafted blend of snarky humor and variety, particularly highlighted by its clever references and engaging ship/loadout options. Players appreciate the lighthearted tone that complements the overall experience.
“The game has a lot of variety and is really well-made for such a simple premise, but there's a good variety of ships and loadouts, along with some fairly decent snarky humor (go Matrix celestials!).”
“The humor in this game is top-notch, with clever writing that keeps you chuckling throughout your playtime.”
“I love how the game balances its serious moments with hilarious dialogue and quirky character interactions that never fail to make me laugh.”
