Manticore: Galaxy on Fire (Nintendo Switch)

Powah Dunk | April 26, 2018 | Review | No Comments

The Galaxy on Fire series has seen great success on the mobile platform, spanning 2 sequels and now a spin off. Hoping to soothe that long itch from such titles as Colony Wars, we are going into warp speed to find out if this is a worthy contender as the premier “Space combat” game on the Nintendo Switch.

Manticore: Galaxy on Fire is actually a spin off from the Galaxy of Fire series, rather than hoping to edge it’s way into the popular “Space Sim” genre, it instead hopes to grab attention by crafting a mix of Space Drama and high intensity combat.

The story of Manticore: Galaxy on Fire follows the exploits of the mercenary ship “The Manicore” through 3 acts full of Sci-Fi jargon, faction warfare and mystery.

The plot starts out with a bang (quite literally) and doesn’t really let up throughout. The game has some brilliant voice acting to really nail home the drama and a special shout out to your A.I companion who is without a doubt the star of this game.

My only issue with the story is the fact that it is the focus of this title, having played previous titles I would of enjoyed a little more freedom to carve my own path, beyond that I did get quite engrossed in the tale set in the stars.

Manticore: Galaxy on Fire is certainly no slouch when it comes to in game visuals, from the ships to the ship wrecks you’ll be zipping between the whole game just looks polished & high grade.The game has a “Photo mode” option which is not only a nice feature but one that really shows off the true graphical fidelity of this title, it’s one of the nicest looking Switch titles and that’s even before it starts moving!.

The controls on Manticore: Galaxy on Fire are really pick up and play, arcade styled and feel fantastic. Within the first few missions you’ll be dodging debris with accuracy while taking out some Space Pirate scum.

The core gameplay of Manticore: Galaxy on Fire involves you taking on mercenary missions for the Manticore team while you slowly pick off the most wanted list of Space Pirates. The mission variety is thankfully quite varied, examples being combat, racing & escort, one side effect of it coming from more mobile origins is that the missions don’t really tend to last that long.

Once you have finished a Mission you can return to the battleground and search it for goodies such as Intel and Ship Parts which allow you to build different spec ships throughout the campaign. Some maps do have enemies roaming but there isn’t too much to write about here as honestly there just isn’t much stock in the free roam aspect.

There are several ships you can unlock throughout the campaign as well as many different weapon load outs, the game lacks true customization with the ships which is a shame but isn’t a game breaker. The game also doesn’t feature any kind of multiplayer, this is one game I would of loved to take online and dual other pilots around the world and it just feels strange that it was excluded here.

The battlegrounds are all self contained so despite the Galaxy being huge, most of it is walled off and you’ll be redirected should you hit the boarder. The game also lacks a cockpit view, this for me is something every “Space Combat/Sim” game should have, as nice as the ships are (Trust me they are!) it would of been nice to play this in first person.

Another thing I feel holds the game back somewhat is the A.I, it’s rare the enemy will do anything other than bull rush you & when they do it’s easy enough to escape and lay them to waste.

Overall Manticore: Galaxy on Fire is cargo bays full of space fun, the game looks stunning and handles really well, the portable nature of it’s mother series also makes this much easier to play in bite sized chunks. It’s early days for this genre on the Nintendo Switch but this is a fantastic title to kick it off, hopefully in the future it’s made with more console players in mind, also an online mode really wouldn’t of hurt this game!.