I’ve slowly become a fan of rougelites for a while now. Growing up, I mostly stuck to RPGs and action-adventure games, but in recent years, games like Hades and even Morsels have shown me how special this genre can really be. It takes one of my favorite aspects of gaming, the storytelling, and builds such unique and fantastic worlds that I find myself quickly losing myself in, while at the same time having this insurmountable obstacle in front of you, while for most having to do it over and over again could seem off-putting at first, but what makes this genre so special is how no two games are really the same, with developers Alt Shift of blending it with an RTS gameplay loop in Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes. At first, it was a bit off-putting to me as I’ve never played an RTS game, but I quickly lost myself in both the fantastic gameplay and storytelling with only a few stumbles along the way.

Follow the Signal

Scattered Hopes has a pretty simple premise. I played as the unnamed commander of a crew. After receiving a signal from Admiral Adama, it became a matter of survival trying to reach the Battlestar Galactica while trying to survive the Cylons chasing close behind. The overall tone of the game is mostly filled with dread, as no matter what I did, the Cylons would be right behind.

Each failed run ends with the destruction of your current fleet, forcing you to continue with another group of survivors in a different part of the galaxy. But even with that bleak loop, there were still small moments of hope. Learning about the crew’s backstories made each new run feel worthwhile at first, as every survivor had something that made them stand out. The more I played, though, the more I started running into the same backstories again. It made the game feel like it didn’t have enough variety to fully support repeated runs. Still, most of these stories were compelling enough that I was able to look past the repetition.

Within the game, there are three human factions: the workers, the military, and the underworld. Each one can either help or hurt you during a run, depending on the choices you make. Helping one faction can damage your relationship with another. For example, siding with the workers might upset the military, causing that relationship to slowly deteriorate. At first, these changes feel minor, but they become more important as the run goes on.

If tensions get too high, a crisis can break out, forcing you to spend turns and resources to resolve it. You can also choose to ignore the crisis, but doing so means accepting a penalty for the next few sectors. That could mean having one less hangar available during a Cylon fight or taking extra damage to your main ship for a while. As a result, each run ultimately is a delicate balancing act. You are constantly trying to keep every faction satisfied while deciding whether a choice is worth it in the short term or the long run.

Choices and Consequences

The gameplay of Scattered Hopes is easy to learn. Each run had me choosing between different sectors that held resources to collect, whether it’s scrap, nukes, or even people. It could be hard to decide to go for fuel over weapons or ships, but this game is about tough choices and what those choices lead to. Luckily, there are heroes to help with all kinds of situations. Heroes are special humans that you’re able to recruit to the fleet to help gain more resources, solve problems without wasting resources, and most importantly of all, man a starship or weapon aboard the battleship to help during each end of the sector.

Each run also starts with two civilian ships accompanying the main battleship; these join the fleet to earn minor resources at the start of each sector and also to help the battleship during battle. It’s worth noting that it’s possible to gain more ships for the fleet, but the maximum number that can follow is five. Leveling up civilian ships also increases their passive ability and health, so it’s another tough decision to choose between a ship that earns resources and one that would help in battle. 

Eventually, during each run, the game reveals that one of the main heroes aboard the battleship is a Cylon imposter who is actively sabotaging the fleet and working in the shadows to undermine all the good that is done. Whenever this part of the game unlocks, the investigation menu is open. At first, it is super expensive resource-wise to interrogate a person, but as the game goes on and more crises appear, the cost is lowered. Eventually, it’s up to the player to either stop the imposter or ignore them. For what it’s worth, I recommend revealing them as soon as possible, though, as the closer I got to the end of the game, their sabotage became more and more extreme.

What I really enjoyed about this part of the game was how the imposter reveal could go in two different ways. Sometimes they knew the whole time and became aggressive toward everyone, which led to interrogating them for clues or better resources. Other times, they didn’t know they were the impostor and could still be redeemed. It made each discovery feel more meaningful because it could have been a hero I had formed a bond with during the run. That made the choice harder, as I had to decide whether to let them prove they could still help or throw them into the empty void of space.

At the end of each sector, you’ll run into a random Cylon ship. At first, it can seem like a battle, but the main objective is to survive as the larger ship throws everything it can at you, whether it’s attack ships, turrets, or missiles. Whenever an encounter begins, I have to move my starships around to different points to attack current threats or prepare for ones coming in. It can seem overwhelming, but the game lets you pause at any point to see where your ships are needed most, as well as check the stats of the Cylon ship and its smaller fighters. Each encounter is about two minutes long, and when the timer hits zero, escape becomes possible. While it isn’t encouraged, it is possible to destroy a Cylon battleship, but it doesn’t end the encounter. From what I experienced, it seems mostly there for an achievement and maybe bragging rights.

At first, you’re locked to only two starships and the battleship weapons, but using resources, I was able to unlock more and strengthen the health of my main ship. Alongside the battleship, I also had to choose between two civilian ships in the fleet to help during the fight. These don’t have weapons and are mostly there to act as shields against the enemy ships. It’s tough having to manage fighting them off while protecting the civilian ships, but sometimes necessary choices have to be made. Sacrificing everyone on board those ships is brutal, but it may be the only way to continue toward tomorrow.

Shattered

Scattered Hopes has very few issues I noticed, but the one I had the most trouble with was the difficulty. Most of the time, the game is challenging but still manageable, but the final boss felt more egregious. Whenever I faced previous bosses, it felt like the game was testing what I had learned up to that point. With the final boss, though, it felt more like I was relying on luck.

To be fair, I understand why it feels that way, but even after lowering the difficulty to easy, it still took more than a few tries to defeat them. Instead of feeling like I had overcome a hard boss, it felt like I got lucky, which made the victory feel slightly underwhelming. Luckily, for those who need it, there is an assist mode that lets you modify parts of the game. This includes making enemy starships deal less damage, making your ships faster, or turning on unlimited retries. It makes the game more accommodating for those who want to play through it without getting completely stuck.

One minor issue I noticed while playing was the occasional stuttering. Whenever a large number of ships were on screen, the game slowed down, even froze for a few seconds. This isn’t too noticeable at first, as the early game is filled with a small number of ships at a time, but near the endgame, you can have so many ships that this slowdown occurs. Most of my issues, aside from the difficulty, are nitpicks because overall this is a solid experience with little holding it back.

Worthy End

Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes is a fantastic rougelite entry. I got lost in the compelling yet short story; it made up for it with the well-crafted RTS gameplay. Each turn closer to the end felt more and more challenging, as the balancing act of working with the humans onboard and the resources I needed from each sector was a tough but rewarding one. What I did find disappointing, however, was the occasional slowdown whenever the screen was overrun with starships, as well as the difficult final boss, which, when I beat felt more like dumb luck than actual skill.

Overall, the goods do way more than enough to outweigh the bad. This isn’t a perfect experience, and I’m sure if you’re a fan of Battlestar Galactica, you’ll have way more enjoyment than I did, but this is a really solid game for those who know little about the franchise like I do. If you’re even somewhat interested in the franchise, this is definitely a journey worth jumping into the far reaches of space for.

Disclaimer: Dotemu provided a PC (Steam) copy of Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes for review purposes.