Ship-Shapes: Skyjacker

For a site that claims to cover all aspects of space and sci-fi gaming we haven’t draped ourselves in glory where Skyjacker is concered – although you can probably say that for 99% of titles that theoretically fall under our pervue. Skyjacker however does tick a lot of boxes, the main one of course being that it’s a freeform space combat game – precisely the kind of thing we covet above all others and one that, were it not for the financial hurdle of a Kickstarter pitch still to overcome, we’d swear was being groomed by a sneaky publisher for triple-A success.

Based on an in-house sci-fi novel called Abyss Lights: Frozen Star, Skyjacker looks to cover similar territory to Elite, Privateer and the X series; with a progression of story-based missions set within a freeform galaxy populated by kooky alien races, in this case with names like Rak-Tak Bashogee and Fslak-Tuembao (mech-like arachnids and cephalopods respectively), all with ships that are as colourful as their names suggest.

The developer, Digitilus, insist the final game will be a combination of Lord of the Rings high adventure, Grand Theft Auto-inspired criminal shenanigans, with a level of customisation in ship design that would make Need For Speed slow down and take a look were it to pass by. Having tried both the PC demo (highly recommended) and a revealing but not very exciting Android app that shows how ship models slide together, we can attest to the latter comparison: Digitilus have gone about building ships from pieces common to each race rather than carving each whole vessel separately, meaning that they’ve not only been able to create more ships more quickly and in a variety of sizes, but upon being attacked pieces are ejected away rather than the whole thing erupting in an unconvincing explosion. Looksee:

Given the almost constant stream of videos and details that come out on Skyjacker (did I just spot the potential for flying inside alien spaceships?) it’s difficult to keep up with developments. But as the team work to secure the funding they need to continue, we shall endeavour to keep up. It’s the least we can do.