Hardspace: Shipbreaker

Despite its ambitious scope, Hardspace never bites off more than it can chew. It is unapologetically pro-union and anti-corporate, and it shows a remarkable deftness in handling the social complexities of those positions. It distinguishes the personal value of labor from the material value - two products our corporate overlords are eager to conflate - and offers a perspective of hope in an otherwise hopeless world. I consider Hardspace: Shipbreaker essential media for anyone that is employed - blue-collar or otherwise. If nothing else it will provoke you to think about your relationship with work in a new way. Considering we spend one-third of our lives doing it, it’s a worthwhile experience.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a masterpiece. It offers perfectly-tuned gameplay that dovetails flawlessly with the story that it’s telling, and it’s the rare example that manages to make its points entirely through mechanics — even if someone stripped out all of the dialogue, players would still understand what the game has to say about the crushing cycle of worker exploitation under capitalism. The fact that the developers went out of their way to build a believable world and great characters to help players empathize with the people trapped in this corrupt system shows how much they cared about making the best possible version of their work.

Hardspace Shipbreaker has cemented itself as one of my top three games of the year. It’s not without faults, like its superfluous room you’re forced to visit. However, the complete package is marvelous in the way it tells a powerful story mixed with chill, yet stressful gameplay.

With its incredible gameplay loop, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is as unique as it is addictive. A handful of minor bugs do little to hold back what is an incredibly immersive and rewarding experience.

A satisfying disassembly sim wrapped in cutting workplace commentary, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a gig well worth taking up.

The campaign is worth playing through at least once, but if you just want to play the game for the music, the visuals, and the gameplay, then you can also just chill in the Freeplay mode for eternity. Whatever might be your case, if you’ve read this far, I’m sure that you’ll deeply enjoy it. If you’re not really sure if it’s your thing, you can always try the game out through the PC Game Pass and buy it later if you want to support the developers, and I believe that they definitely deserve that support. Safe shipbreaking cutters!

It all adds up to a remarkable mixture of emotions, seldom encountered in a commercial videogame: kinetic thrill and the satisfaction of optimising your time, but also mounting claustrophobia, empathy for co-workers, and a sense that somewhere out among the stars there's a kinder society waiting to be riveted together. [Issue#373, p.104]

Hardspace Shipbreaker does everything it wants to do, and does it well. The shipbreaking is fun, tactile, and rewarding. The story is humorous, thoughtful, and engaging. And the music is relaxing and thoughtful.

An enjoyable blend of story, puzzle-solving, and the ever-looming threat of spectacular, expensive failure keeps you coming back for more in Hardspace: Shipbreaker.

A surprisingly polished game that’s as immersive and exciting as it is relaxing, Hardspace: Shipbreaker makes disassembling ships in Zero-G a blast.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is like no other game out there, and offers a genuinely immersive and rewarding experience.

Outside of some minor issues, it's hard to find fault with Hardspace: Shipbreaker. It's not a game for everyone, but it does a fantastic job at what it's attempting to be, and could be all-consuming for the right player. It's an engaging sandbox with a compelling narrative and addicting gameplay. They say if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. Players will easily fall in love with the blue-collar spaceship salvager lifestyle making every shift in the yard feel less like work and more like a dream come true.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a damned good game.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is successful in just about everything it attempts. Not only is its gameplay extremely replayable and constantly satisfying, but it also manages to stack it all on a very solid narrative foundation. Tangibly, it feels like keeping your head down while forces bigger than you decide your fate. Gross. But if you don’t want all the horrible management talk and resistance to unionization to drag you down, you can just go in and hack some ships apart. It’s a serene zero-g experience while a wasp flies around in your helmet. Ignore it, and maybe it will leave you alone. Except probably not, wasps are jerks.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker does a great job of reminding us that, no matter how marvelous our futures might be, we’ll still be working for the Man in one form or another. Aside from maybe being too long for its own good, the game is simultaneously relaxing and challenging to play. It drills down on relatively few ideas, but makes them engaging. Hardspace: Shipbreaker has developed into an outstanding sim and puzzle game.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is what happens when passionate developers and artists set out to create a “worker simulator”. Blackbird Interactive came up with a fantastic idea for a game, made it real using an excellent physics engine and wrapped the whole thing in stunning graphics.

Hardspace Shipbreaker is not just a game, it is a call to action to put an end to the tyranny of mega-corporations and every gamer who is interested in such an idea will enjoy it.

A one-of-a-kind game, a fantasy simulator like no other. However, he deserved a few more ideas to give more variety to the gameplay, and a better storyline.

In terms of the game’s narrative, shipbreaking is a predatory lie: It promises steady income alongside food and shelter, an apparent escape from earthly concerns that instead presents the player with an enormous bill. In terms of its very status as a video game, however, Hardspace: Shipbreaker can’t help but still be a fanciful escape.

If you’re a fan of simulator-like games, and want something a little more different and fantastical, it’s well worth giving Hardspace: Shipbreaker a try. It can feel very much like work at times, but there’s also something strange therapeutic about it. After all, it’s rewarding doing a good job, right?

The finest work-sim out there, Hardspace: Shipbreaker sets a high bar for anyone hoping to challenge it for the throne. This sci-fi salvage game is essential for anyone looking for a new puzzle game, but also players that just want to pull apart giant ships with little more than a laser cutter and a dream.

It might take some time to get used to Hardspace: Shipbreaker’s controls and zero-gravity movement, but tearing apart abandoned shuttles in the void of space is surprisingly soothing and engaging. While some areas of the game are somewhat unpolished, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a solid time for those looking to live out the fantasy of a space salvager.

A nice idea, very well implemented. If you are not scared by repetitive tasks you may have found your next job.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is an intricate anti-puzzle game that delivers a searing commentary on corporate abuse.

Quotation forthcoming.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a fun romp as long as the ships you're gutting are new and fresh, but it can lose some charm when the plot thins and boats repeat.

Wrecking simulation with amazing physics, excellent sound and a lot of alone-in-space atmosphere. In parts though very repetitive.

This is a one-of-a-kind saga about a space rigger, but it needs some memorable moments in order to shine.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker has a great gameplay and narrative depth. Despite the great variety available, it soon becomes repetitive, leaving the player less involved as at the beginning.

Hardspace shows all is potential with time. A real puzzle game which is important to analyze the environment to find solutions. But Hardspace : Shipbreaker show his limit very quickly with no adventure or by the assets who are very redundant. But if you like to take time to resolve brain teaser then you will like the game.

Despite the fact that Hardspace: Shipbreaker can be called a high-quality and unusual project, it is quite difficult to recommend it to everyone and everyone. This is a very peculiar simulator for diligent, it takes time before you start to get any pleasure from it. But if you really like projects that reward meticulousness and glorify the simple work of ordinary people, then you will certainly like Hardspace: Shipbreaker.