Awesome game!
Brilliant mix of 90s quests (hey, LucasArts and Sierra;), elite-like space sandbox games (Elite itself, Frontier, Space Rangers, SPAZ etc.) and roguelike shoot-em-ups.
Funny and very addictive story and characters. Protagonist is styled like Indiana Jones))
And... MUSIC. Beautiful synthwave/retrowave/electronic vibes! (you can add your own music as well)

You HAVE to buy this gem if:
• you were born in 80s,
  
• you know what "Space Quest", "Monkey Island" mean,
  
• you want to feel those feelings from childhood again.

Buy this game right now!

"3030 Deathwar Redux - A Space Odyssey" strongly resembles a freeware game released in the 90's by Ambrosia Software: "Escape Velocity." This new title builds on Ambrosia's concept with a passion, expanding gameplay while adding lots of modern production value.

The soundtrack is phenomenal, every track an earworm. Best music in a game since Hotline Miami. Perfectly composed and tailor made for an interstellar-faring game.

The writing is literate and clever, without trying to take over the experience. Dialogue and narration are easy skim for game objectives and click through, but also quite creative and thoughtful at times. As a technical writer, I'm pleased to see such masterful execution. Like the music, this element of the game takes a passenger seat, to better help you navigate the real experience, which is...

...casting around the universe's milky nebulae. Running out of fuel between solar systems and making it to the next station running on fumes. Ending up on the wrong side of the celestial tracks, and slinking away from predatory pirate ships. All these great experiences of the imagination I got to have as a kid, done up for a new generation.

Props to the makers of this game, and thanks for practicing your craft so masterfully!

充滿了90年代音樂、電子龐克風格的太空駕駛開放宇宙RPG遊戲。玩家可以自由的穿梭在不同星系的空間站，完成各空間站的各式委託賺取金錢。或者專注主線，揭開外星人阻止主角到殘骸區域搜刮的原因。

特色：
像素點陣風格畫面。開放宇宙。

優點：
俯瞰視角的飛船操控頁面，適合不善於立體飛行遊戲的玩家。
有趣的故事劇情，時常看反派的3個外星人聊天吐槽覺得好笑。
雖然有限，可是可以在空間站行走和NPC對話取得資訊（雖然只有酒吧）以及殘骸飛船內行走搜刮。殘骸飛船內部的氣氛也相當到位。
音樂很有電子龐克風格。

缺點：
任務面板的描述太冗長，關鍵人物和地點沒有高亮標識，尋找會花費點時間。
初期任務就很容易遇上突然襲擊的海盜。雖然可以通過直接停靠太空站來躲過攻擊。
承上，也因此跑商載客也必須有相應的戰鬥能力。
在飛行模式下操控某些界面時點擊鼠標進行選項的同時也會發射武器，不確定是不是bug。
一次只能擁有一台飛船。（不確定後期能不能解鎖）
空間站及飛船殘骸場景千遍一律。
只有英文。

適合：
喜歡太空題材，喜歡劇情，喜歡開放宇宙，喜歡太空戰鬥，喜歡彈幕射擊，喜歡Elite，喜歡Star Citizen
的玩家。

I never write reviews.

This game is amazing. The terrible 90's graphics, the 80's music, the trading, mining, salvage, pirate fighting, yes please. More.

I was sad to see the creators didn't have other games I could buy next

近期少見的太空冒險劇, 別被那個RETRO復古的畫面給騙了, 冒險對話, 宇宙貿易, 機戰動作, 各方面皆恰到好處, 是一款值得輕鬆品味的好遊戲~~

If you are looking for a fun open-galaxy sandbox game to play around in, THIS IS IT!
If you are a fan of games similar to Escape Velocity, then you are in for a treat with this one.
Great visuals, hilarious dialogue, fun story, pop-culture, tons of customization features, this game has it all.
This game is like finding your classic dream car in a junkyard, then having it restored to a thousand times better than original. The developers have put some serious work and love into this game, and it shows.

TLDR; BUY THIS GAME!

Recipe: How to Create a great 2D Space Exploration Game
Ingredients:
1 cup of creative and active Devs
1 cup of Elite
3 tablespoons of 90'S Lucasarts Adventures flair and humour
4 teaspoons of Space, Pirates and Zombies
4 tablespoons of great Soundtrack
3 teaspoons of customization options
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir together until you have 3030 Deathwar Redux. (Don't forget the workshop topping!)

Meet John Falcon, a mixture of Indiana Jones and Han Solo and help him getting through his adventure.
You are free to choose your path - will you be a trader? Hunt down Pirates? Space Taxi Driver?
As it's an open world 2D Elite exploration game, you don't have to choose.
The visuals are very well done and together with the great soundtrack (Instrumental + The Kyoto Connection), the game delivers a great retro-esque atmosphere.
The gameplay is really fun and as the game offers loads of customization options, the fun doesn't stop after you played through the initial quest. I am not through the game yet, as I am on my way saving money to get an even better ship plus upgrades.
The devs are very active and responding, adding new features and getting rid of bugs all the time.
For this reason, 3030 Deathwar Redux gets my vote for the "Labor of Love" Award 2018. I hope the devs will continue their journey through space with us, so I can nominate this game in 2019 also!

The Kyoto Connection sums it up nicely in one of their songs:
♫You need to play this game if you want to stay alive♬

3030 Deathwar Redux (DWR from now) is an open-wold sci-fi space opera title in which you will impersonate John Falcon, a spaceship salvage expert, and undertake over the top adventures featuring extravagant characters to help him get back to his former glory.

The center of all your activities will be the space station, there is at least one in each of the numerous systems on the map. Here, you can access a Trade Terminal, enabling you to trade goods you found, buy weapons and upgrades for your current ship, access the ship catalog to get a new ride, make repairs, and even buy amenities such as magazines you can actually read. Then you also have the Job Terminal, where all the available quests in that station are listed, divided in various types, such as assassination, transport, taxi, space garbage cleanup, container towing, and many more. Each space station also features a Lounge, where you can talk to unique NPCs, some there just to banter, while some others will become contacts and start secondary quests, or trade unique items.

Once left any station, the vastness of space will be open to you. DWR features a realtime map, where all systems and places are in the same chunk, without any loading times except to enter stations or space derelicts. Distances between things are often huge, that's why most ships are equipped with a warp drive that consumes more fuel when used, but is also essential in traveling between sectors. Dangers will be routine, as nebulas, space anomalies, stars and pirate ambushes will just be some of the dangers you will encounter while warp traveling. The interface to navigate all this and get an idea of where you need to go is decent enough, so you will unlikely get lost or stuck.

Aside from questing and jobs, there are also several careers you can engage, such as miner, trader, bounty hunter... there will be specific ships to better suit the needs of each career, but this doesn't mean a miner can't fight, or a bounty hunter can't mine. Player freedom is absolute in DWR. There are no skill trees or anything like that, only your ship, the equipment and your piloting skills will be what makes a difference. Of course, you can also become an outlaw pirate and kill everyone in sight if you wish to do so.

All of this sounds really awesome, and it is, in part, but what I really found DWR lacking about, is game pacing. The game and its contents themselves are not bad at all, but the general pace of quests, combat, dialogues, felt a bit too slow and clunky, and this partially limited enjoying what otherwise has been an all around solid title.

Liked this review, and want to see more of the same quality? Check out Tamaster's Review Archive to see all my Reviews in a single, convenient location.

General Gameplay
Generally, the gameplay of DWR will be divided into Exploration, Dialogues and Combat. Exploration is performed on a persistent realtime galaxy map, is completely free roaming from the start, and features all sorts of unexpected discoveries and encounters around the various sectors. An interface around your ship will advise about what kind of objects are close to you, while the zoomable realtime map is useful for knowing what is where.

Dialogues with station NPCs are surprisingly varied, featuring a good amount of content, and many tales to listen to, some with even some useful information in them. There are no RPG-like choices or checks to pass, as NPCs will simply tell you what you ask them, without any specific requirement in most cases, unless quest related.

DWR also features a minigame of sorts: when boarding a derelict ship the game becomes a side-scrolling shooter, and you will control our fellow adventurer, wrecking abandoned ships apart to loot what may be left inside.

Overall I found the gameplay of DWR to be pleasant as many other space-opera games, the only disappointment being the pacing of it, which was a bit too clunky and slow.

Story
The story will not be very elaborate, but not minimal either. There is a decent amount of content to it, and characters you encounter have good personalities and realization. Side quests and just station banter add a lot to the lore content of the game.


Combat System
Combat is simple enough, but hard to master. WASD to move your ship around, and space to fire: dodging bullets while also hitting the enemy is paramount, while also dealing with inertia, ship module damage, and eventual missiles or enemy turrets. Personally, I found the control system for combat to be not very good, as it is very hard to hit enemies, while foes, being computer controlled, have a marked advantage in accuracy. This said, combat is certainly passable, but not the best.


Content & Pricing
Depending on your play-style, money farming methods, and just how much you want to explore, this game can last between 12-15 to 20-25 hours. For a base price of 14.99€, i'd say it's worth the money if you are a fan of sci-fi adventures and space opera games, while for everyone else, you can aswell wait for a sale.


Balancing & Challenge
Some weapons and ships are quite unbalanced, a shining example being the Ion Cannon, the most ridiculous weapon in the game, delivering insane damage at a relatively affordable price. Combine it with an auto-aim turret, and you have the perfect recipe for death. Overall the balance is not bad at all, delivering challenge and engagement steadily enough. Challenge rating is Medium.





Graphics
Well done pixel art, purposefully low-res graphics, give out a unique style exuding originality from every pore. Good effects, and a lot of little details that summed up, make a big positive difference in quality.


Sound
Exceptional soundtrack, with some of the tracks sticking in your head for days on end. Decent sound effects.


Performance & Stability
Nothing to report.


AI
Enemy AI will use attack patterns relative to their equipment and ship type, expect different styles of enemies as you progress.


Quality of Life
Interface and menus do the job alright, without any major issue.


Bugs / Issues
Nothing major to report, the game is polished good and proper after many updates.



Deathwar Redux is definitely an original space-opera adventure that will be the joy of any fan of this type of game, and also for anyone looking for an adventure different from the regular ones you are used to. While far from being perfect, its charming style and varied situations made me develop a strange love-hate relationship with this game, one that in the end, didn't leave any bitter taste.

I love this game. It's a 2d Space game with a serious sort of LucasArts vibe and you can do almost anything. Want to mine asteroids? You can do that. Space pirate? That's an option. Just want to run jobs for the local consortiums? Yup, that too. Bounty hunting? Sure, why not? Is there a good story here? Sure is! Do I have to follow it? Nope, it's literally an open world for you to explore.

I've never seen a game like this and it's currently on sale for the Steam Autumn sale. This is the best thing I've picked up in a while and it was dirt cheap and a ton of fun to play. :)

(NOTE: This is only my experience, Apollogies if i drifted of somewhere within the review)

The first time i played the game i had no clue what i was doing not gonna lie, and after a few hours i just gave up.

But i recently got back into it and tried 2 ways of playing the game

1. Abandoning the Campaign
2. Concentrating on the Campaign

-------------------------------------------

This is my experience
(NOTE: This is only my experience, Apollogies if i drifted of somewhere within the review)

-------------------------------------------

1. Abandoning the Campaign
Your Free.
You do what you want, how you want to and when you want to do it.

First thing i did was build up to 100k and buy a ship with decent cargo space.
(Doing multiple deliveries/ taxi lifts from one station to the next. MORE income LESS TRAVEL)

Afterwards i salvaged DERILECT ships (White Dots)
(CAUTION: There is a chance that you will encouter delerict pirates, THEY WILL TRY TO KILL YOU).
This is a great way to MAKE MONEY and the UNLOCK NEBULA MAP.
Whilst salvaging i also mined for the most expensive products in that system.

In to time i had 300-400K+ which i used to buy the next best cargo ship worth 300k.
With the new ship i had 110t of space and Turrets which made defending against pirates which was a piece of piss.

After that i concentrated on killing pirates and doing bounty jobs where i got 20-60k per Head. You also get to sell the PIRATES bodies which cost around 7k + the cargo they drop.

At this point i had around 2m worth of upgrades on my ship with which i went to "PLAY" some MoneyBall. There are 6+ pirates playing moneyball at all times with bounties 2-60k+ Per Head. After i got around 800k i bought a ship for 1m+.

OH MY GOD
I felt like a king, dashin around the vast dark space, sizzling pirates, crumbling asteroids, dominating the different systems.

>>>>>
I enjoyed this style of play alot more because it didnt feel like i was restricted to taking a certain path and i could switch to the different jobs quickly and effeiciently.

-------------------------------------------

2.Concentrating on the Campaign
Your locked down.
You do what your told to, you go where they tell you.

I WILL NOT BE EXPLAINING EVERYTHING IN DETAIL AS I DID BEFORE.
==NO SPOILERS==

>>>>>
The story was wonderfull and some of the plot twist are amazing, you always have a good laugh, especially from the stupidity of some characters.

It felt kind of pushy as you were always told what to do and at some points especially towards the end of the campaign it felt like the NPC's were uselses as you never got help in battles or recieved enough funds for the jobs you did.
You do get given a ship at one point and recieve 1.5m compensation after you finish the campaign.


=====================================OVERALL========================
It really is an amazing Space sim, the retro feel and the music drags you inside and makes you feel like one within the game. Hours will fly past when you get into it.

And £10.99 is a BARGAIN

9/10

Although i wish there was something else in the game like Larger bounties for pirates, Maybe even a Bounty Show where you could go on bounty hunts and look for different people.

But i feel like this would only work if you were able to land on all of the planets as this would largly increse the exploration and the NPC's in the game which would make it perfect to be a Bountie Hunter.


Im very satisfied with the game what the developers have done with it.
Simply put its..

PURE