Hardspace: Shipbreaker Review

In January 2021, the space agency reported that there were nearly 22,000 alien objects orbiting Earth. About 4,000 of that number are satellites, but the rest is just space junk. There are probably millions of little pieces of junk out there that can’t be found either. This is a problem that NASA is trying to solve, mainly because this debris can be extremely dangerous for future space adventures.

Inside Hardspace: Shipwreckers is an imaginary future where it’s the astronaut’s job to drop off and recycle this waste to earn money. Or in the case of your hero, to pay off some debts. Let’s clean up some space junk.

People seem to enjoy organizing and cleaning up in video games because experiences like house pinball seem to justify it. In this game, you are a soldier who signs up to be a ship breaker: your dangerous job is to go into orbit and dismantle old ships, collecting the parts for cash. You work for a space business empire that you already owe millions of dollars to, so it’s time to start paying it back. Slowly and with some hard graft.

The long-running campaign takes you through a funny and satirical story, focusing on some really big issues. There is some precious writing included, mostly by those teaching you the ropes and by emails and the contents of your cabin or home. As you progress through the game, you meet other people over the radio who give you interesting information about their world and a shipbreaking location in general. It’s a decent story full of unique narratives, driven by a pretty impressive concept. Ultimately, the game is about destroying ships in space. You will do a lot.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker (Xbox Series X) review

What you are facing is work; a job that has you working in an orbiting space junkyard. You will be tasked with floating in zero gravity armed with a laser cutter and a space pulley, dragging objects. Your job is to salvage an old ship, take it apart, and then throw the good parts into a furnace or processor for recycling. Still, the hardest part of this job is taking the ship down. It looks like an inverted puzzle, which you have to carefully unravel little by little.

You float in zero gravity, not knowing which direction is up and which is down; which in itself takes a bit of getting used to. But once that feeling settles, you’ll find yourself in a kind of zen state, as you get down to business. It involves getting to a ship and the first thing you need to do is scan the ship for weak spots, the pieces you need to cut out. You find ways, like going through a window, and then you start taking the place apart little by little. To do this, use your cutter on the correct spots on the ship, then tear out the material and dump it into the appropriate junkyard.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but when you get into the mood and pace of Hardspace: Shipbreaker, you’ll find there’s something very soothing about it. It gets tricky later on when you have to deal with reactors, decompression mishaps and explosions, but by then you should be aware of what it takes. You too can die, and if you do, you’ll find a copy to take its place, at the expense of your debt. There is a permadeath mode for hardcore, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend it.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker has a nice and fairly simple visual design, which makes for interesting ship designs and first-person space exploration. The cabin interiors you spend a lot of time in are well designed and have a wry design quality. The sound is good too, with all the effects, squeaks and groans in space. Along with that is the music; running a country theme, you may very well complain about some people. Just because you’ll be wandering around space for a while, it might be worth bringing your own music along for the ride. The voiceover is great though, working with great supporting characters.

If you’re a fan of the plethora of “work” type games that have come to the console in recent years, then Hardspace: Shipbreaker will have you covered. Shipbreaking is relaxing and quite satisfying, but it’s hard to imagine that it will be enjoyable for everyone. It’s a game aided by story and humour, but be aware that everything gets a bit complicated and the space quickly starts to feel a bit one-dimensional.

In January 2021, the space agency reported that there were nearly 22,000 alien objects orbiting Earth. About 4,000 of that number are satellites, but the rest is just space junk. There are probably millions of little pieces of junk out there that can’t be found either. This is a problem that NASA is trying to solve, mainly because this debris can be extremely dangerous for future space adventures. In Hardspace: Shipbreaker, there is an imaginary future where the astronaut’s job is to go out and recycle this garbage to earn money…

Hardspace: Shipbreaking Review

Advantage:

• space decommissioning
• humor and history
• Voice-over
• many hours to spend

The drawbacks:

• It looks too much like hard work

Information:

Thank you very much for the free copy of the game, go to – Focus Home
Formats: Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC
Revised Version – Xbox Series X
Release date: September 20, 2022
Introductory Price From – £32.99

Advantage:

space decommissioning
humor and history
Voice-over
many hours to spend
The drawbacks:
It looks too much like hard work

Information:

Thank you very much for the free copy of the game, go to – Focus Home
Formats: Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC
Revised Version – Xbox Series X
Release date: September 20, 2022
Introductory Price From – £32.99