Space Grunts - Turn Based Action - [INDIEGAMING]

Turn based gameplay is, in most circumstances, incompatible with action games. The ability to take your time in a room full of enemies generally detracts from the intense experience that action gaming thrives on. Coming to Steam Early Access on September 15th, Space Grunts by OrangePixel manages to make the combination work through clever mechanics and simple but solid gameplay.

The game manages to keep its action hooks in through instantaneous results of your commands. Moves and attacks from you and your enemies happen immediately upon clicking, so the only pauses are when you are in the process of deciding what to do next. You can plan out how to clear out a room, but it's still satisfying to go toe-to-toe with a large monster and emerge victorious after trading shots and using your items cleverly.

Its turn-based nature means that you can play a lot more methodically while still having a pretty intense experience. Enemies are mostly rather dangerous, so you need to exercise caution, and you have large inventory space to carry items with you. These items will make or break a run, and learning how to use things to maximum effect is essential. It provides a lot of welcome depth to the game.

There are three classes of grunt, each with strengths and weaknesses in three stats. This feels balanced enough that I don't think any class is clearly better, though having higher luck for better loot drops does support my play style more. I believe this isn't going to be strictly the case for everyone though. Rather, I think there's room here for everyone's style to be accommodated.

Visually the game is mostly pleasant, especially with the character sprites. There's a surprising amount of variety in size of the enemy sprites despite the fixed size of the spaces on the map, and most of the sprites are nicely detailed. The backgrounds are somewhat less interesting, but serviceable at least, and the individual rooms have some occasional clutter to them that keeps them from being dull.

The music of the game isn't remarkable, but it is atmospheric enough to be suitable. It functions to enhance the overrun moonbase aesthetic the game is trying to achieve and is successful in that regard. The sound design on the other hand, is quite good. Shots fired have loud and heavy effects associated with them, explosions are sufficiently impressive, and the lurking enemies have their own effects to set them apart. I really appreciated the level of detail that went into making the game's incidental sounds work well, and it paid off.

There is a narrative to the game, about the Space Grunts being sent off to investigate the aforementioned moonbase, but that's mostly just background information to the game itself. It's certainly not the most significant aspect of the game, and that's perfectly acceptable. The appeal of this game is in the gameplay itself, where your actions and skill dictate how far you make a run before permadeath comes for your character.

Leaderboards and challenges are being implemented, and that I feel is important to the game's longevity. While the core gameplay is certainly fun, having that extra bit of competition always helps games like this hold the interest of players. These modes also encourage you to play faster, not just complete more of the game, so they also help to keep the action more intense as you get more and more into them.

Space Grunts is not your typical Rogue-lite game. By taking the design concepts from action titles and applying them to the dungeon crawling gameplay formula, OrangePixel have found a combination that synchronizes into some really enjoyable gameplay experience. I found myself driven to do better as I failed, and I was able to get a grasp on the mechanics easily. Fans of dungeon crawlers should give it a chance, and while it isn't the most hardcore of action games available, anybody who likes going around and blasting aliens probably will get a lot of enjoyment out of this game.

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