From the brief sample I’ve had so far, Rebel Galaxy has already become one of my personal most-anticipated games of 2015. Developed by Double Damage Games (a small team that broke off from Torchlight developer Runic) this space-combat-based action RPG looks tailor-made for anybody whose favorite Star Wars character is Han Solo and still carries a grudge against Fox for canceling Firefly. So basically: me.
There’s a story that you’ll run through (of which I’ve seen only non-spoilery snippets so far), but what’s more interesting is that it takes place in a large, dynamically generated area of space that you’re free to roam and explore. Space feels big, but not empty - in my demo there was definitely no shortage of pirates to fend off and miners and traders to prey on (if you’re into that) and it was densely populated with colorful nebulae, asteroids, planets, and space stations that contribute to a busy backdrop instead of a blank void.A twangy soundtrack immediately creates a strong space-western vibe when out of combat, and country-rock combat tunes kick in as start blasting away at space pirates. The sound the customizable ship’s engine makes as it jumps in and out of warp is excellent, too.
Switching between direct control of turrets to pick off fighters and missiles, and steering the ship to line up powerful broadside plasma cannons on bigger ships (in a style of naval combat that resembles gave me plenty to keep track of in combat. There was a lot going on, so I like the ability to pause and scan all the ships in the area at any moment to help manage the pace of battle.
Fighting feels arcady, but it’s not as simple as it looks: There’s a lot of resource management in keeping your strongest shields toward the enemy, raising and lowering active deflectors to reduce missile damage, using recharging booster engines, and conserving your supply of heavy ammo. Equipping different turret types to my ship’s hardpoints and assigning them to fire at will or prioritize certain types of targets gave me the feeling of managing a large ship with a crew instead of piloting a slow-moving fighter. There’s definitely more to this than just pointing and shooting.Outside of combat, we see plenty of privateering activities to keep us occupied. There are faction relationships to manage, a dynamic commodities market to exploit, resources to mine, bounties to collect, distress signals to answer, mercenaries to hire, and events and battles you can participate in. Plus, this is an action-RPG, so of course there’s loot and customization to be had, with a variety of weapon types and ship upgrades (as well as entirely new ships) to acquire.
It’s also pretty cool how the story missions I played through allowed me to either go in guns-blazing or to talk or bribe my way out of a fight, so even though the story will unfold the same way each time, the way we beat the missions doesn’t have to. I’m looking forward to doing a lot more exploring in Rebel Galaxy when it comes out sometime this year on PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, so keep scanning IGN for more on this extremely promising privateer game. Dan Stapleton is IGN's Reviews Editor. You can follow him on Twitter to hear all about how awesome PC gaming is, plus a healthy dose of random Simpsons references.