Time to Beat: 11 Hours
Long ago I played the popular Creeper
World series by Knuckle Cracker on Armor Games and Kongregate.
Originally created for the Flash engines, these series featured a
wave of particle like enemies, which oozed across the screen toward
the player.
In Particle Fleet:
Emergence the player begins with a flagship. This HQ ship has
a few unique features. It is the only ship which is self powered.
If damaged to the point of destruction it protects itself by
automatically retreating off the map. During its absence, all player
controlled power sources fail. After eighteen seconds the HQ
returns, and power with it. The flagship is only one of two ships
equipped with a Lathe, the only weapon capable of unlocking Energy
Sources (among other things). Energy Sources are the source of all
energy aside from the Corporate HQ (which can only use its energy to
unlock Energy Sources). The power from an Energy Source builds the
common turrets from the previous Creeper World, called Omnis. These
can only be placed on land, which is pretty rare, as roughly ¾s of
each map is open space. Energy Sources also build spaceships. To
win each mission the player has to destroy the Particle Sources,
which emit deadly red particles for which the game is named.
On most maps the player starts in a
defensive position with only one Energy Source nearby, and another
nine or so spread around the map. The enemy and the player build
their strength, with the player's main goal to establish a
impenetrable defensive position. Once achieved, the player continues
to build their fleet before beginning a slow but steady invasion of
the particle territory.
Even built ships need energy to
resupply, and each Energy Source has a limited range. A ship out of
range will be unable to fire weapons or power its engines. Ships
beyond the range of an Energy Source can be supplied by Tanker Ships
which extend the range of Energy.
There is a story in Particle
Fleet: Emergence, and each mission builds upon it.
Victory leads to the deployment of new enemy forces, like better
ships, cannons, and particle beams. In reply the player unlocks
additional ship models. Though each mission allows the player to use
a custom fleet, winning with a player designed fleet doesn't unlock
the next level. Only victory with the predetermined ships allows the
story to advance. Fortunately, Emergence includes a variety
of ship types, each with their own specialty. Aside from the HQ and
Tankers, Emergence includes Destroyers, Cruisers, Lathe ships,
Carriers, Battleships, and others. One ship, the Grabber, focuses
and redirects friendly blue particles as beams to attack the red
particles. The player also unlocks technology to integrate into
their strategy. For each of the fifteen missions, the player is
allowed to rechoose their technology.
But while there's an escalation of
power on both sides, the story's energy dissipates. It's delivered
in dully composed dialogue bookending each mission. The
conversations between the ship's crew doesn't inform the player of
anything worthy knowing for the mission. It satisfies only the
barest purpose of a plodding story.
The biggest weakness of Particle
Fleet: Emergence is that once the player stabilizes in
the first minutes of each map, it's nearly impossible to lose. The
particle enemy doesn't attack as much as put a diffuse pressure on
each part of the player's territory simultaneously. Once
established, the player only needs to deploy their entire fleet as a
concentrated power to destroy Particle Sources, and reclaim land with
Omnis. One by one the enemy's defenses fall as the player
methodically moves from one to the next. The first step is the
hardest, but each becomes progressively easier. Each map doesn't
lead from the easiest part to the more difficult, but the reverse,
meaning that each map is beaten in the beginning.
In conclusion, one shouldn't expect
more of Particle Fleet: Emergence, than of the
Flash games of Creeper World it descends from. While
the ships offer some level of variability, the levels all play out
the same. Once the player finds an appropriate defensive position,
the game is won, and then the player must play through a painful
forty minute slog to complete the mission. Each mission doesn't have
enough variability, and ends in the same way, with complete victory,
and every objective completed. While Particle Fleet
might have been suitable for a quick Flash game, it isn't enough for
a full game.
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