Battlestar Galactica Deadlock...

Battlestar Galactica Deadlock; A game I've known about but never felt I needed till recently. Reviews even in 2017 seemed to be all saying that Battlefleet Gothic Armada(last post here) was a better game to play instead; And so I did just that. Having played both games now I can say those views were wrong for me! Deadlock is a much better game (imho) to play. I get more enjoyment from it's game mechanics than I have from Gothic. Heresy to Gothic I know.

If you've been 'into' the re-imagined TV series like me than you'll be well satisfied by the games aesthetics. Even down to the camera angles and zooms for the after action combat replay feature. The music with the turn based system is uncannily emotive, low and quiet during the planning phase then ramps it up when the turn becomes active. 

I picked the game up in the last summer sales(with it's 8 DLCs) in early July; It's only in the last two weeks that I've started to play it. Putting about 50 hours into it so far. It's got great fleet management/micromanagement to it. It's also a game that's fair. If you go against a fleet it will be an enemy fleet that's a match for you. By design and I like that. Balanced fleet fights don't mean that a player can't be surprised or crushed. Usually the enemy will press hard on any mistake or misjudgments you make. That can work both ways as can a ship getting a full volley of torpedoes to the face that no support ship can aid. Pick your targets, press had, there will be losses.

The save system is also a good one; Be it on the campaign map or in the middle of combat which gives options to replay, redo and retry and get better results. Which is always welcome!

Granted some story line or special missions are different and can be more of a challenge; But I've not been in a fight that made me frustrated. Not yet. There has been fights I thought I could do better and have reloaded a save to try. That said there are options to make it more difficult, it does give a player that choice. The difficulty to fun curve can be made to fit the player. Options are always good and this game has them. For me Commander difficulty is perfect with No Persistent Damage, because whats a fleet for if it can't engineer it's own repairs. The greater the difficulty the more enemies you face and the less resources you get to use with the added 'bonus' of fleet officer effects being less and less beneficial. If your looking for more of a challenge the game can provide. 

https://strategywiki.org/wiki/File:BSG-CyrranusJumping.png

I'm halfway through the main campaign. I've stalled on purpose. I really like games that allow for that to happen(depends on the game). I'm able to wallow in creating ships, building fleets and training officers against the constant Cylon fleets and random missions that pop up. 

It's really a game dependent thing but for me in this game it's working out and it's fun. Fallout 4(many posts about that game) was very much that way where you could pick and choose when to do vital missions that progressed the main story. So it's not really a gaming of the system but like I said a wallowing in it. What can I say other than I'm enjoying it. From harder battles like the one below to others that are more 'casual'.

A Casual Carebear Gamer