If you are new to the trading / space sim genre and want a taste for it, this is the game to play.
Graphics: 9 (lives up to its HD title considering the budget to make it / font size needs readjusting)
Sounds: 7 (decent musical scores / nice sound effects / poor voice acting however not cringe material)
Value: 8 (tonnes of things to do without feeling too repetitive only if you decide to add trade / side missions to your repertoire otherwise it's a dismal 3)
Tilt: 7 (a decent game for this genre)
Actual score: 7.7
Lovers of space and trading sims, there seems to be a shortage of this genre of recent. Granted that the 'X' series is still marching on (regardless of the belated reboot) and the much beloved Freelancer is now a distant past, Galaxy on Fire 2 HD tries to fill in this void. Obviously a sequel however it's the first on the PC platform as the series was originally released on the mobile platform. It's a decent conversion to say the least and surprisingly enjoyable however there's no mention of the two DLCs anytime soon.
The plot is extremely simplistic and it seems that many games in this genre is following the same formula – that is you are from a distant past, something goes wrong causing you to thrust into the future – things change obviously and you have to start from scratch only to realise there's a galactic threat looming on the horizon. A pretty tiresome plot in my eyes but heck, you go with the flow. And to rub salt in the wound, the main plot is remarkably short.
So if you are into storytelling, prepare for a major downfall. However I'm not sure if you able to complete the game without doing any side missions to bolster your ship as there's no way in hell you going to last with your first ship. And this is where the game shines as there are many types of ships to buy accompanied by the many customisations ranging from shields to weapons to increase hull and so on. And the nice thing is that each of the four races has different style of ships so they all look and feel different.
And what's a trading sim without plenty of commodities. Galaxy on Fire 2 HD has a decent array of goods to buy and sell and of course your aim is to make more money by buying low and selling high. The game makes life easier by remembering the lowest / highest prices for the star systems you have visited. Also you can hire wing men / take human passengers to other star systems by visiting the local space lounge. Space lounges are also the only place to grab side missions like eliminating space pirates.
And to add in all of this, there are four factions to deal with. Naturally you belong to the Terran group and the others are Vossk, Nivelian and the Midorians. Each race has its enemy (i.e. Terrans don't like Vossk and Nivelians don't like Midorians) and the more missions you complete for one group will have a negative reaction on the other. Personally I like to keep my reputation neutral otherwise they will attack you upon sight (unless you bribe an official). Who says money doesn't talk?
Where the 'HD' arrives from is obviously from the graphics. Ported from the mobile phones, the game actually looks remarkably beautiful with great choice of colours. Space indeed is a lovely place to see however the distance planets are simply just cosmetics (meaning you cannot enter their gravity field). Also I had very little frame rate issues however I think the guys forgot to readjust the font size to suit the 'HD' as it looks rather small and 'spread out'.
The game has four levels of difficulty ranging from easy to very hard. I played it on hard from the get go and yes, the game can be quite challenging in certain areas. Also it has a leveling system so naturally the more missions you complete, the higher the level yet I cannot see any advantages obtaining the higher levels at all. The most noticeable effect though was the enemies are more numerous so instead of having about two to three attacking you, I have seen eight or more. So I guess that even though you can literally play on forever, the difficulty will ramp up exponentially. The maximum level I believe is twenty six however I completed the game at level sixteen with all ninety two achievements gained.
Galaxy on Fire 2 HD is a decent port to the PC – nice graphics with plenty of things to do and see, this game is not designed for the hardcore fans for this genre. I consider myself as one of the hardcore types (e.g. shields management and reliance on Newton laws of physics to say the least), I didn't felt disappointed in this game considering it was originally made for the mobile phones. Sadly there's no mention of the two DLCs however if you are new to the trading / space sim genre and want a taste for it, this is the game to play.