Pirates in space - it's normal, but with the living dead there is a clear deficit. The case in 2011 was corrected by a small studio MinMax Game , which in addition to them launched into the airless space even robots with human clones. It would seem that with such "participants in the competition" you need to do something easy, arcade and only about fierce battles. However, Space Pirates and Zombies was a game much deeper and more diverse than could be judged by its name. Released six years later, the sequel, which for a long time was in the early access program on Steam, only deepens and expands this mechanics.
Zombies in space
Banal for many games on the theme of the cosmos (and not only for them), the plot about found somewhere miraculous substance, giving energy, as well as fame, money and power, in Space Pirates and Zombies had an interesting nuance - extracting it in different corners galaxy, you can pick up a natural zombie virus and spread it over the rest of the stellar systems. As a result, the zombie apocalypse swept through the galaxy, and in the middle of everything we tried to survive, flying on the pirate flagship, fighting and extracting resources. But not everything is as simple as it seems. In the game there was a lot of interesting mechanics and nuances - here and the modular design of ships, and the complex tactical management of their own flotilla, and multi-level "pumping", and the branchy tree of technology, and relationships with different factions and groupings, and a system of random events. You could even kidnap the crews of the ships that you wrecked and sell them into slavery. And all this - in a randomly generated huge galaxy, which is absolutely free to explore. In Space Pirates and Zombies 2 in general, everything is the same. There is a huge self-developing ecosystem in which we live our lives, fly on our starship, "pump ourselves", improve it, "manually" screw new modules and blocks, fight, trade, extract resources, build relationships with other factions, and so on. But at the same time a number of important changes occurred. First, there was a strategic map. It is here that we move a small figure of the ship through a large galaxy and its numerous systems, we come into contact with the surrounding world, we come across different random events and decide what to do-to fly to that place of the fight and join it, attack someone, to the base or to the source of resources and debris. But the battles themselves are already taking place on a separate screen and in full 3D, and not with a top view, as in the first part.
Secondly, there were other captains of ships, endowed with the same capabilities as you. It is clear that they are controlled by AI, but in general they behave like living people - they communicate with different groups, influence events, develop. They are allowed to communicate, trade, or you can, on the contrary, attack them. Gradually, you get used to someone with all your heart, he becomes your friend, and then it really hurts to see him as a zombie. And you hate someone and just enjoy it.
Sail, tore off the sail!
Competently build relationships is especially important, because in Space Pirates and Zombies 2 all this inter-fractional mechanics is worked out much better with the ability to create coalitions, make allies and enemies, seize and control the territories. In total there are five factions in the game that fight for control of the galaxy. Captains are free to join any of them. At the same time, a complex system of provinces with bases is realized, which, in turn, are connected by trade routes and specialize in different goods and details. Therefore, it is important where and what to buy, which provinces to control. And all this again is supplemented by many interesting details. The main thing - in Space Pirates and Zombies 2 There is a rather complex fleet designer, based on the principle of modules and synergy. And the mass, and the location, and shape of the blocks, and even the width of your ship - all this matters. It comes to that in battle you can literally tear off some module from the enemy, put it yourself and beat the enemy with his own weapon. In addition, you need to configure your own support ships that fly out of the flagship, attacking enemies according to your orders - we are getting drawings for creating new and improving old support ships right in the battle, getting them as trophies. In general, it's really hard to fight in Space Pirates and Zombies 2 - it's far from an arcade. Suffice it to say that the final battle in the plot campaign can last an hour or three! Yes, Space Pirates and Zombies 2 loves patient players who, for example, are not afraid of the prospect of doing a lot of monotonous actions and constantly "farming" resources. Someone, of course, complains about it. As well as the fact that the coalition system is still not fully developed in the game (the allies often behave very passively, forcing everything to do themselves), the "pumping" is much simplified, and the tactical orders in the battles are not as detailed as we would like. But all this is more in the category of wishes, not criticism. And given how well the authors work closely with the community, you can be sure that they will at least listen.
Pros:
a huge self-developing galaxy; complex tactical battles; an interesting modular ship design system; a deep, elaborate gameplay.
Cons:
a lot of routine activities; feeble graphics.
