As always, here's a little excerpt for you:
"The deep space station Chiron has been taken by surprise by the colonial rebels. At that moment began the civil war between Earth and its colonies in the Centaurus constellation. Welcome to the Centauri Rift!"
Centauri Rift is a very tactical space themed skirmish game. In it, players choose their ships and battle it out in space, around asteroids, planets and a few others. Now, I know this sounds like a lot of other games out there so you're probably asking "Ok, so what's so special about this one?"
That's where I'm happy to tell you, this game has a few things different from other games in it's category.
First of all, there are 3 planes(Think of 2D - 3D whereas the planes are "levels" of flight) to this game which means you can pass Under or Over another ship! You can even occupy the SAME space as another ship provided you are not on the same plane.
There are asteroids and planets that can BLOCK your line of sight. So instead of having to go around them and take extra movements to do so, You can simply go OVER or UNDER them! It really adds a whole new level to space combat which has been needed for a LONG time.(No pun intended)
Speaking of movement, this is another great thing about the game. In most games of it's kind, you have to move X spaces and stop. Then next turn spend more action points or what have you to move ANOTHER X spaces.
In Centauri Rift, it doesn't work like that! It takes a more realistic approach to space movement which is ALSO something I feel adds to space combat that has been missing for a long time. So, let's say you use two energy points(or action points) to move 2 spaces. You spend the points, and move the 2 spaces. Now, on your NEXT turn, you don't have to spend more points to move 2 more spaces!
Why is this? Well, because as we mostly all know, when you're in space there is no direct force applied to objects moving through it. So, you only need to "fire your thrusters" to Start your movement and speed. From that point on, you KEEP moving because there's nothing to slow you down(like gravity).
This is a brilliant thing to add to a game in my opinion because now, that eliminates the need to waste points to move EVERY turn but you MUST be careful to keep in mind that you still need to apply points to slow down. This is because of what I just mentioned above, there's nothing to stop you so how are you going to slow down? You fire your forward facing thrusters and apply some reverse force to slow your movement or completely stop.
To cover a little about attacking I've taken this section from the rulebook since it describes it perfectly:
"All shots fired within range and with clear line of sight are hits. Since each turn in Centauri Rift represents a captain’s decision to take a course of action, attacks are simple. There is no rolling of dice or counterattack. Captains rely on their advanced electronic targeting systems for sure hits. The attacked ship may only retaliate on its captain’s next turn."
Now, I don't mean to be "lazy" here and just quote from the book but it really is the best description about how important and easy attacking is.
The game in and of itself is a masterpiece in my mind. There are a few things the dev is working on but they're small things. This game is great as is and I HIGHLY suggest you check it out at the link below!
Lastly, Check out all the great components this game has! It's DRIPPING with theme and I hope it can get picked up soon, I'd love to have it on my shelf!
TABLETOP GENERATION LINK
GAMECRAFTER LINK
On to my opinion:
Game Art: The art is nice, It's nothing too fancy and I'm fine with that. That being said, the planets and other art is equally amazing. I think the ship art and the rest will also get better as this copy is a personal prototype of the Dev. Being as such, I'm being a little lenient here with good reason. If the design of the game itself is any indication of how well rounded and informed the designer is, I can only imagine that he's going to have wonderful art made for this game as it moves along.
Game play: Right now, even though I'm a fan of this game, game play can seem a bit stale at times. Now, this isn't the Dev's fault. It just depends on the opponents you're able to play against. While I'm all strategic and tactical, people I've played are not so it kind of takes away from the game.
Game Quality: As I mentioned, this is a prototype copy. The Quality reflects as such. It's an expensive venture to make a prototype to send out into the world on it's own and again, this is understandable. I'm perfectly happy with the quality of the game as is but again, I also know that the quality would be higher in a finished product.
That being said, none of the things I mentioned are directed at the actual game but more so the general feel for the game. Would I play this again? You bet! I would also be careful who I choose for opponents as it has a niche group of people who will REALLY love this game to be honest.
Overall verdict: Well, since it's not on the market yet I can't say whether or not to buy. I WILL say that if you like having EVERY choice available to you in a game then this is for you. You're not restricted by dice or cards for your choices and you can do as you please. This is a great thing because if you lose, it's only because of one thing... YOU! :P Be sure to check the game out if this pertains to you. It truly is a game that I feel has broken the mold of the theme and I can't wait to see where it leads!
As always, thank you very much for reading and take care! :)
-Tim
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