I'm playing Gimbal, a
multiplayer arcade space shooter with custom ship designs by 8888888 Labs.
The game is meant to be played online,
but you can play against bots that are competent enough, though they
do not retreat when outnumbered or near death, and don’t fly in
erratic patterns, making it easy to eliminate them from a distance.
Joining a game is easy using the included browser, and there are
plenty of options (respawn time, collision damage, air density) to
customize a hosted match. The seven maps, with additional smaller
versions, offer obstacles that do impact the game (and impact your
ship, if you run into them). The objective is to destroy the enemy
carrier, or eliminate the most enemies before time runs out. Money is
earned by getting kills, which can be spent customizing your ship
design. The ship customization is well done, with lots of parts you
can place on your ship, allowing you to quickly create something that
appeals to your play style. Players can get really creative with
their designs as well: someone made a crazy spinning disk that fired
bullets in all directions, for example. Ship damage is also
intriguing, as individual parts (and the things attached to those
parts) cease functioning, resulting in a progressively crippled ship.
The interface shows nearby enemy ships spotted on radar, but doesn’t
do a good enough job differentiating friend from foe. The combat is
interesting from the overhead perspective, featuring powerful weapons
and the aforementioned damage model. There is a learning curve when
dealing with the game’s physics, but ship customization allows you
to equate your ship with your driving style. Overall, I was
pleasantly surprised with Gimbal, as the combat is brutal, the damage
detailed, and the ship customization is meaningful and flexible.
