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Review: Captain Forever Remix

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Review: Captain Forever Remix
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Platforms: Windows PC, Steam

Game Name: Captain Forever Remix

Publisher: Pixelsaurus Games

Developer: Pixelsaurus Games, Future Crayon

Genre: Action

Release Date: March 27th, 2015

Captain Forever Remix – What We Think:

Captain Forever Remix is the successor to a series of games based on modular spaceship design and top-down space combat. This remix version brings several new features to the series whilst also updating it for modern systems. Framed within the imagination of two school children, Captain Forever Remix is a roguelike space shooter with a simple but deep ship-building system.

The story is simple but effective; two children are playing “Captain Forever” with you taking on the role of the older sister who is, in turn, playing the role of the eponymous protagonist. Your little brother has vandalized the solar system and it’s your job to stop him and his lackeys.

Eternal Sibling Rivalry

This quest will involve battling from the sun all the way out to Pluto, taking on more difficult foes in each of the stages. Death means starting from the beginning, but as with many roguelikes there, are incentives to replay; in this case you can unlock new kits to build your ships from. These range from melee setups to long range missile designs.

Captain Forever Remix 1

Before you begin a playthrough of Captain Forever’s main mode, you need to choose a kit and build a starting ship. This is simple, as ships can be cobbled together by dragging and dropping modules. These modules can be weapons, propulsion, bulkheads, power-ups (such as an added crit chance for weapons or healing modules) and more. Once your ship is ready, you launch into the first stage.

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Captain Forever Remix – Screenshot courtesy of Steam

Each stage challenges you to defeat an enemy of a certain level; you’ll usually find targets of your own level on any given stage, but there will always be a few tougher than you, and these are the ones you must hunt. Destroying an enemy ship will break it apart, and then you can scavenge their modules to add to your own vessel.

Begging For Space Scraps

Sadly, this often means constructing a ship out of damaged parts, and this may wrangle the perfectionist in many players. I was always pleased to find a healing module so I could repair my ship to a decent standard.

Captain Forever Remix 2

The variety of ship types that you can encounter and build in Captain Forever is impressive; it’s fun to experiment and dabble to find different kinds of builds that work best. There is a delicate balance between maneuverability and firepower to be achieved as there’s not much point in having an arsenal of forward-facing weapons if you can’t turn fast enough to get your enemy in your sights. Captain Forever may seem lighthearted, but there are some satisfyingly deep choices that can be made regarding combat and preparation.

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Captain Forever Remix – Screenshot courtesy of Steam

Visually, Captain Forever has a childish and playful style that reinforces the plot of two siblings playing make-believe. The music is similarly merry whilst maintaining a solid sense of intensity during combat sequences. All of this helps to reinforce the fun-loving vibe of Captain Forever, although some may want for a more serious tone in their ship building undertakings.

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Captain Forever Remix – Screenshot courtesy of Steam

Love You Forever

There is plenty to entertain space combat enthusiasts here, and the roguelike gameplay has enough unlocks to guarantee replayability. There is also a sandbox mode which remembers every ship configuration you’ve built (with an option to mark favorites).

For fans of space battles and deep customization who don’t mind a very playful tone, Captain Forever offers a surprisingly involving experience.

Captain Forever Remix – Official site

Get Captain Forever Remix on Steam

[xrr rating=”4/5″]

Watch the trailer for Captain Forever Remix below: