Fans of games like Free Space and Homeworld should pay attention. Enemy Starfighter, an independent project being developed by Mike Tipul, is looking to merge the two concepts into one, glorious experience arriving on the PC, Mac, and Linux later this year.
There may be plenty of power fantasies out on the market, but there’s been a distinct lack of games that throw players right into the cockpit of a starfighter. In this unique world,the Penitent Crusade has been going on for 30 years, and it’s you (yes, you) who has led the Emperor’s Harbinger Fleet for the majority of that time. What does your job entail? Mostly jumping to a system where you will be terribly outnumbered. Once you get there, you simply cripple the enemy and allow the Armada to hang in the skies above the enemy home world and offer terms of surrender. You know, simple stuff.
A full features list has been detailed by the developer:
- Classic STARFIGHTER COMBAT puts you in the cockpit and offers a visceral way to affect the outcome of each strike.
- The PLANNING PHASE allows you to precisely coordinate your strikes for maximum impact on heretic dens, capital ships, and convoys.
- A PERSISTENT FLEET gives meaningful consequences to your decisions while allowing you to customize your engagement style by using captured or reinforced ships.
- A DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN means different systems will fall to the Empire during each playthrough.
There's no exact date for the project, but Tipul plans on shipping Enemy Starfighter on Windows, Mac, and Linux before 2013 comes to a close.