Developer: Arcen Games, developer of AI War, Valley without Wind, and more
Platforms: PC, out now! Steam, GOG, GMG, and others.
Introduction
An innovative reversal of a traditional 4X game, you play as the last of an ancient race determined to unify seven distinct species under a single federation. This is done by attempting to balance warring sides in a deep simulation. In short, the combat and species-story depth of Star Control 2 combined with the diplomacy and procedural narrative of Crusader Kings 2 (note: no space babies). Maybe a little Populous thrown in for indirect management.
Diplomacy
In TLF, diplomacy is a balancing act. Helping one species too much can lead to resentment from others, or aggression from the now overly strong underdog. Alternatively, you can watch a species crumble and do nothing, ingratiating yourself to the aggressor. Each species has it's own backstory and distinct AI that lends itself to different behaviors. When coupled with random planet features and events, interesting player narrative can emerge (see examples below). Having played it for 16 hours since release, it's surprisingly replayable.
The entire conflict takes place in a single solar system -- 7 planets -- so there's not any navigational exploration, though new space outposts get constructed over time and
apparently planets can be destroyed?
Combat
Although your goal is diplomatic, not everyone's going to bend the knee. Rival federations and anti-federalists pop up to further hinder you. At the end of the day, you need to carry a big stick.
You control a single ship in turn-based combat, but can launch fighters, have allies bring in ships, and so on. You have traditional weapon selection paired with some interesting special abilities (e.g. virus to take over nearby ships, launching garbage out your backside, divert power to shields, heal allies, cloaking, and so on). Each turn, you plot a course for your ship and select the weapon + targets (or special ability), and advance to the next turn, usually 2.5 seconds or so. You can also divert power to shields / weapons / engines turn by turn if you like to micromanage, though a lot of that is thankfully automatically handled.
Right now, combat is fun, but could use a little more work. Although I've died several times, there are forum posts about optimal combat strategies at some of the easier combat difficulties. Given Arcen's track record I expect they'll be addressed shortly.
Features
- Simulation with a nice mix of player agency, species-specific behavior, and the "butterfly effect"
- Turn-based combat reminiscent of bullet hell shmups
- Research or steal technology, give it or broker it to other species
- Acts of sabotage, Treaties to broker, Items for bribing, Pirates for fighting
- Optional IronMan mode
- Great soundtrack (click for OST)
- Humorous tool-tip / faux tweets / flavor text all over the place
So what do you do?
I will spoiler this section for those who want to enter pure and are ready to take the dive. For the rest, in the past 16 hours across multiple playthroughs, I have:
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Convinced a parliament to switch parties to a more industrial one, then told them to build more ships so they could finish the war they started.
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Dueled a warlord to gain respect among his peers
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Grabbed defeated pilots (in escape pods), sold them into slavery, bought bribery items
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Numerous acts of terrorism to convince species to go to war with one another
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Conquered space research platforms and used them to cure vaccines for their enemies
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Determined which species are worthy of the gift of flight and which need to be beaten down like dogs
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Played a pivotal role in virtually every battle I participate
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Watch an entire species burn to dust as their environment became increasingly inhospitable. Due to my sabotage.
Anyways, if it's unclear, check out this gameplay trailer on youtube.
Who is this for?
- Simulation junkies
- Diplomacy fiends
- Player-narrative authors
- Gamers tired of the same thing
Reasons to wait
For the sake of objectivity, here are some reasons you might want to wait:
- Still getting a few kinks out here and there, many of them likely to be solved with the next patch this upcoming week.
- The game has amazing potential and, knowing Arcen, should get better with time
- Eventually, further discounts. Right now the game is listed at $15 (25% off sale) which I think is more than fair for the value.
Reviews
StrategyInformer - "Whole heartedly recommended"
TotalBiscuit - "They really did nail it." (35 min in)
SavingContent Full Review - 4 out of 5 - "The Last Federation marks Arcen Games return to space games, and does fantastic things with it."
James Allen - Full Review - 8 out of 8 - "...The Last Federation is an satisfactory mix of grand strategy and tactical combat."
GAF Impressions
Final Note - Sorry I didn't do this amazing game justice with an equally impressive OT. In my 8 years at NeoGAF I never once felt compelled to create an OT for a game before today, so my apologies if it's inadequate. If more reviews and impressions roll in, I will be happy to add them to the OT.
