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- MicroProse
- MicroProse
- MicroProse
- MicroProse
HighFleet
Released On: Jul 27, 2021
74
7.8
All Platforms
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
74
57% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
29% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
74
57% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
29% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Equally unique and fascinating military fantasy with varied content. But you have to have the patience to get to grips with all that HighFleet has to offer.
Back in the 90’s, a lot of games were made by small teams or even a single person who did what felt right, creating entirely new genres in the process. It’s hard to imagine something like that happening today. But with Highfleet,it did happen: it’s a truly unique blend of arcade, strategy and fleet management.
[Issue#256, p.46]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 25 User Ratings
7.8
72% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
20% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
8% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 25 User Ratings
7.8
72% Positive
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
20% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
8% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
I did not expect it, but I really like this game! It will be nice to have a bigger map and more events :)
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PC
Unique, immersive and complex, easily my game of the year.
Made by just two people, this isn't a AAA game, it has some quirks and the occasional bug, but generally it is a highly polished and innovative game.
The tutorial actually does a fairly good job at showing you what the buttons do, but doesn't tell you why or how to use them. For some, that's been an issue, for me it's half the fun.
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PC
HighFleet is a good game. It can be challenging, brutally so, and it has some issues with the way it handles things. But you can see the logic behind most of the concerns (that aren’t bugs), so it makes it easier to accept.
Even though a lack of polish and poor accessibility keeps it from greatness, HighFleet is still a gem of an indie strategy game.
Brilliant visuals, great music and unusual user interface will score points with people who like games that have a soul despite being very complex. However, to reach a broader audience, the developers would have to significantly improve the transparency of gameplay mechanics and iron out rough edges. [10/2021, p.40]
HighFleet has appealing vision, but breaks down due to opaque systems and lack of difficulty options.
I think this is precisely why I'm so frustrated with HighFleet. There's a brilliant game in here somewhere, but in its present state it's buried under endless frustrations and restrictions that do little but irritate me and cut me off from engaging with it the way I want to. I hate that I don't love it except in infrequent moments of greatness, and that the frustrations keep piling on at the same rate as I find more impressive details about it. It's kitted out for the stars, but just needs another tune-up or two to escape the atmosphere.
A true video game.
As a toy, highfleet is essentially XCOM. It hast the absorbing feedback loop of strategic and tactical layer interacting with each other. On the strategic level, player deals with ship building, fleet composition, fleet movement, force disposition, intelligence, logistics and resources. The goal is to go from A to B against overwhelming odds, making use of all available options. The tactical level reminded me of Heavy Weapon from Popcap. It is also probably my main problem with the game. The strategic and tactical gameplay targets different audience, almost.
The strategic layer where the game was most engrossing. It is so well crafted, overwhelming at times. The cryptic UI hides a rather simple and intuitive gameplay. The game is based around naval warfare, with the player controlling a fleet.
Basic electromagnetic warfare concepts are used as fun gameplay mechanics. ELINT allows the player to detect radar signal direction, but the enemy also has ELINT so your radar signal you sent to detect the enemy also give away your location. Then, you have IRST which uses infrared so while it has much shorter range, it cannot be detected. You can also intercept and decrypt radio message. Jammer is the last option in EW which can help against radar guided missiles but also make your ship detectable on enemy's ELINT for almost the entire map. That's about it for EW, yet by combining with the ability to customise your ships and fleets, as well as controlling multiple fleets at once, the amount of things you can do is nothing short of astounding. You can deploy a few small scouting fleets with radar as scout, use small ships with IRST to maintain a detection parameter. You can split smaller fleet with radar on to serve as sacrifice if the enemy is chasing your fleet but still out of range. The possibility is endless.
On top of that is ship customisation. Every ships can be custom made by the player, their role is entirely up to you. As you play, you naturally learn aspects of naval operation. Concepts like supply, strike force, escort, recon, wolf packs, fleet in being, force concentration or convoy interdiction come naturally. They forms the basis of how you create ship categories and roles. While the game has their own specification, because you can make whatever ship you want with different fuel capacity, speed, firepower, protection, ammunition, the ability to land and having to balance them, you can quickly come up with broken builds, or sensible ones that adhere to real life and most often, both. Ship design can include highly specialised such as oil tankers, ships with multiple fuel tanks that's likely barely faster than the flagship carrier, to jack-of-all-trades like cruisers with decent firepower that's served as your secondary flagship. Many whacky strategies are detailed online, the bare minimum include small suicide ships, baits ships with EW equipments but much faster to outrun pursuers, rammers with thick armour capable of taking out the toughest of opponents. Sseth done a video pretty much covering the funnier aspects which is worth watching.
Then, there's the art aspect. The story is fun but the mechanics associated with it could be done better. The music is strangely compelling. Sound design is awesome. Of course, the elephant in the room is the skeuomorphic UI. The above mentioned EW was a large part of why the game was panned by critics who couldn't get over the beautiful UI elements. It's one of the most impressive UI I have seen in a while and brought back good memories of similar Eastern European projects with utterly alien design. Many options are switches and the game even added compass and marker to use to calculate object direction and velocity. It's not something that can be adequately described. There's nothing better than experiencing it yourself.
I don't think there's an equally satisfying experience simulating naval warfare in a long time that has both fun toy part with the simulation and art part with the unique setting, story, UI design that plays very well with the gameplay. It's such a rare gem in the sea of copy paste.
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PC
Very good game, good physics, good action, good story. Also very immersive.
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PC
To summarise, it's a series of minigames tied together with unit management and a strategic map to move around. Playing it I wondered what a sub sim would feel like if the conclusion of every hunt was a 2d 80s style arcade shooter. Flashbacks to the old Elite in having to dock manually each and every time, although at least in that game you could eventually purchase some automation and fast forward the dull routine. The game is made difficult by its single save only system, with obscure systems and some clunky controls presenting the only other real barriers.
What Highfleet has in spades is atmosphere and a really well done dieselpunk aesthetic. Sadly, that just isn't enough to keep me playing. Does make me wonder whether Xenon 2 with a strategic layer could be something we'll see at some point.
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PC
Summary In a world with no memory of its past. The House of Sayadi sends its thousand-ton military ships to the skies. Stirring the peace of nations inhabiting the earth they strive to bring back what they have lost. As a commander of the Sayadi Task Force you've been sent to regain control of the rebellious Kingdom of Gerat by whatever means n...
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Jul 27, 2021
Developer:
- Konstantin Koshutin
Publisher: MicroProse
Genres:
