In FTL – Faster than Light, you are in control of a spaceship and its crew. You can run a ship with just one crew member, who is tasked with steering the ship. You can place crew on different systems, where you experience a benefit from their operative skills.
The aim of the game is to fly through different sectors while being chased by a rebel fleet. You jump from one place to the next and suffer “Encounters.” These come in the form of shops, experiences, communications or fights. For example, you may jump to a place where there are pirates to attack you. You may then jump into an asteroid field where you are able to mine more money.
Upgrade Your Ship as You Go
As you fight, you gain more money. You may use your money to upgrade your systems, or you may use it in a shop to buy more equipment, buy more fuel, or make repairs. You may also hire more crew and sell some of your equipment. Balancing what you spend is very difficult because you never know if you should spend up your money now, or wait to see if there are better opportunities awaiting you.
The Pros and Cons of the Game
FTL – Faster than Light is very frustrating, especially if you are doing well and then suddenly you die because of a bit of bad luck. The game is not based on luck, there is a lot of skill and planning involved, but a run of bad luck can turn your advantage to dust. The good thing is that the game doesn’t require a lot of processing power, so it may be played on older computers, and you can play with a windowed screen so you can watch South Park while playing the game.
Pros
- Very addictive
- Many people like the soundtrack
- You can use the sound effects to your advantage
- Hundreds of different ways to win
- A different gaming experience every time
- Play with a windowed screen
- Very low system requirements
Cons
- The graphics suck (but intentionally, for retro-lovers)!
- Unlocking all the ships is like licking a car battery
- The secret stuff is too secretive and ergo unfair
- Walk a Zoltan through your ship and it turns systems on and off
There are plenty of websites on the Internet that offer tips, secrets and gameplay advice for faster than light, and there are pages that explain how to unlock the ships. You are sometimes better off reading how to do things rather than trying to figure it out because some of the secrets are just too hard to crack.
It Is a Little Like Star Trek
They could have improved the graphics and made you a starship captain from Star Trek. Many of the mechanics are the same. For example, you can raise shields, manage your power for your weapons, use teleporters, cloaking devices, and increase power to your engines. Your staff will also gain new skills as they go, which includes different system skills, repair skills and fighting skills.
The Game Is SO Difficult
FTL – Faster than Light is a popular indie game that is still referenced today. People are mostly happy about the fact that when you die–you die, and yet, like the game “Dark Souls” you have a fair degree of control over if you die or not. You can play a very conservative game and make it through, or you can take a few risks and risk death.
The FTL – Faster than Light game is not unforgiving. It is quite forgiving in some respects, but the fact is that you cannot save your progress unless you are leaving the game. If you are doing well during the first few sectors (levels), then you really need to concentrate and up your game during the later levels because you need to exploit your advantage if you want to win.
It is a strange and unique concept within the FTL game, but the fact is that it gets harder the more you play it. The reason is because the last level holds the boss. You have to defeat the boss three times, and it can become viciously difficult. You need to kit out your ship so that you can survive all three boss fights, and each boss will test different strengths and weaknesses.
The reason the game seems to get harder the more times you play it is because you know that the boss is coming. Therefore, you take more risks in the early sectors in order to capitalize on bigger rewards. The trouble is that taking more risks makes the game more difficult, ergo you are more likely to die before you get to the final sector.
Resources for More Information
- Learn about crew members here: http://ftl.wikia.com/wiki/Races/Crew_Members
- Learn the FTL gameplay tactics here: http://www.findoutfree.co.uk/secrets-and-gameplay-advice-for-faster-than-light.php
- Learn how to unlock different ships here: http://uk.ign.com/wikis/ftl-faster-than-light/Ships
- Learn about the different systems here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/664216-ftl-faster-than-light/faqs/69362
Author’s Bio
John Anderson is a creative writer and and apps reviewer. Now he works as a CMO for academic service ScholarAdvisor. He has many tasks related to different digital spheres. As a hobby he is developing a Apps Review project.
