Thank you Born Ready Games for sending us this game to review!

Strike Suit Zero was successfully Kickstarted in November of 2012 and exceeded its 100K goal by almost $75,000.   The main game was released in January of 2013 with thirteen campaign missions.  The Director’s Cut came out in April of 2014 and offers improved visuals and five more missions in a separate campaign.    

I haven't played the original version, but the graphics looked great while projected on a big screen.  I haven’t really played too many space combat games so I’m not sure how much Strike Suit Zero really refines the genre.  Having seen many Gundam based animes, I looked forward to flying one in battle.  

In the beginning, I found the easy difficulty challenging while I was adjusting to the controls and game style in general.  As I got more comfortable with both, I found myself considering a higher difficulty.  The controls use the left trigger to accelerate while the left button brakes.  Pushing in the right joystick uses the thrusters.  The right trigger fires the guns and the right button will lock on and fire missiles.  If a missile is locked onto your ship you can use your EMP shield by pressing the triangle button.  The square and circle buttons will target your nearest and main objectives.  Lastly, the X button will transform you into strike mode if you’re using a Gundam style ship.  Because of the complex controls, this game is not playable with remote play on the Vita.

While the missions have clear objectives, how you complete them is up to you.  There are multiple ways to take down ships.  You can pick off turrets one by one, target vulnerable areas, or whittle down the shield and armor slowly.  While the plasma guns have infinite ammo, the energy required to fire them takes time to recharge.  The strike suit consumes more energy but its power is undeniably better.  In strike suit form, multiple missiles can be fired at multiple targets in your line of sight.  

When a mission is completed, you are scored by how many enemy aircraft and turrets you have shot down, and how long it took you to finish.  For every death a couple of minutes are added to your time.  (That’s a small price to pay for missiles being replenished and resuming from the most recent check point.)  The points are calculated and medals are earned depending on your score.  With each medal earned, a weapon or armor upgrade becomes available or a new ship is unlocked.    

The missions I enjoyed the most were the ones without time limits.  I liked being able to pick off enemies at my leisure instead of having to locate and destroy them before they reached a certain distance.  Other timed scenarios included destroying communication equipment before a transmission went out.  While it doesn't sound too difficult, I sometimes struggled locating the target’s exact location.  Not finding it was annoying, but being timed on finding AND destroying it adds to the frustration. 

The last mission is timed and offers you a choice.  Given how much time I had left by the final check point, I was only able to complete one of the two endings.  While this was the ending I would have preferred, I still would have liked to have seen the other one without having to redo the level.  Completing the main campaign takes approximately fifteen hours.  There’s plenty of replay-ability by experimenting with different ships, harder difficulties, or trying to earn better medals.

While I wouldn't mind earning more medals, I’m not eager to dive into timed missions.  Sadly, that’s how the new campaign begins.  The ESRB gives Strike Suit Zero a teen rating for violence, but they make no mention of the language in the game.  Unfortunately, my kids were within earshot when I heard the words d*mn and h*ll used.  

Despite the issues, I enjoyed my time behind the cockpit.  The asking price of twenty dollars is fair and I recommend picking it up if it’s on sale.  The original version has higher ratings on Steam so I don’t know which to recommend.  The console version of Strike Suit Zero is well polished and tells a good story.  I look forward to playing more space combat games.