Battlestar Galactica Deadlock

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 22
  3. Negative: 1 out of 22

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  1. CrimeanChimera
    Oct 30, 2018
    7
    Very good weekend filler game but lacking lasting appeal to establish it as a serious, long-term one. Buy on sale, expansions/"DLC" don't seem worth it.

    I was skeptical about the turn-based combat but, it turned out to be well thought out and fun, where proper tactics can make a huge difference and the principles of BSG combat is well simulated. Do not underestimate the power of a group    Very good weekend filler game but lacking lasting appeal to establish it as a serious, long-term one. Buy on sale, expansions/"DLC" don't seem worth it.

    I was skeptical about the turn-based combat but, it turned out to be well thought out and fun, where proper tactics can make a huge difference and the principles of BSG combat is well simulated. Do not underestimate the power of a group of battlestars in a well positioned line-of-battle formation. Combat is where the game shines.

    The campaign is rather shallow and featureless, it basically just involves building ships and destroying random Cylon fleets, doing missions in-between. The map is limited to the Cyrannus system, Cylons appear randomly from off-map with their territory not present, meaning you cannot drive them back and fight them in their own territory, you cannot attack their colony(ies) to affect ship production. Quorum politics and sources of income is lacking, new ships are "unlocked" via storyline progress instead of R&D. Beyond the storyline, the whole campaign is pretty much just Cylon Pest Control Simulator 2017.

    Whilst it fails in terms of it's shallow campaign, the fun and engaging turn-based combat model saves it by quite a margin. BSG Deadlock deserves a solid 7/10.    … Expand
  2. Mandulum
    May 29, 2018
    7
    Five Word Review: Fun though repetitive, skimpy story.
    Favorite Thing: I enjoyed the turn-based strategy (initially) and unlocking new ships.
    Least Favorite Thing: It gets repetitive fast. There's nothing overly exciting to keep your interest.

    Date Completed: 2018-05-20
    Playtime: 26h
    Enjoyment: 7/10
    Recommendation: It's a pretty decent strategy game. More so if you like space and/or BSG.
  3. NorVegrund
    Jun 1, 2018
    5
    Fun and interesting concept for space battles, although it falls short due to the lack of a proper UI implementation - expect to spend most of the time in battles wasting it due to the lack of any implementation of mouse-friendly actions.
  4. bud_viking
    Nov 13, 2020
    5
    In the time of COVID lockdown I have been re watching the BSG reboot and was thrilled to discover this game. The concept is great, especially for fans of the TV series. The strategic part of the game is fairly well executed, and the structure of the game reminds me a bit of the Total War series: the blend of macro, strategic planning, followed by tactical battles when you move your forcesIn the time of COVID lockdown I have been re watching the BSG reboot and was thrilled to discover this game. The concept is great, especially for fans of the TV series. The strategic part of the game is fairly well executed, and the structure of the game reminds me a bit of the Total War series: the blend of macro, strategic planning, followed by tactical battles when you move your forces onto an enemy location.

    It is in the actual tactical battles that the execution is severely lacking. The turn based concept could work fairly well, particularly if you're familiar with XCOM, Wasteland etc. However the actual game play is rather tedious in its excessive demand for micro management. There are many tasks that could and should be automated.

    The game can be considered essentially a 3D naval sim. Yet, there is no way to form group of ships into formations (such as Empire: Total War's line abreast or line astern). One can form a formation manually, however there is no way to drag a box around multiple units and give all of them the same order to move, turn, or fire ordinance (missiles and torpedoes). A common formation is to stack several units above each other, essentially a 3D version of a naval line astern for ship types limited to broadside fire. However since there is no way to order them all together, or even set a heading, they will drift apart and require micro managing their course EVERY turn. You can focus fire on a target, but only by manually targeting each unit, requiring a minimum of one hotkey and a mouse click, multiplied by how many ships in the fleet. Weapons like missiles and torps have a reload interval, but there is no way to set them to auto-fire if you wish.

    The flow of battle looks like this. Each turn you manually direct the movement of each unit. Formations can not be set on the same heading and will require slight adjustment every turn or their path diverges. To set a focus target will require setting it for each friendly unit manually, and resetting it when the previous target is destroyed. After all the micro management you end the turn and all units act on the orders in real time for approx 10 seconds then pause, to repeat all the orders again. The end result is that I spent much more time setting up each turn then it took for the turn's action to play out.

    It seems like it wouldn't have been too difficult to avoid the tedium. Allow control groups assigned to a hotkey like pretty much EVERY strategy game, or at a minimum allow the player to drag a box around units and give group orders. Allow forming formations that keep their heading and accept orders as a group. Allow move orders that persist beyond a 10 second turn. Allow a priority sequence of focus fire targets, or an order to simply focus fire on the nearest target until ordered differently.

    I have the opportunity to play this on a friend's computer for free and am desperate for entertainment during the present lockdown. As such I will probably continue playing. However, if I had paid full price for this on Steam I would have uninstalled and requested a refund. It's too bad, because the concept and strategic side of the game has such potential, especially for BSG fans. I really want to love it, but it's rather meh.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. GameWatcher
    Dec 5, 2017
    90
    Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock is a massive treat for fans of the franchise, but even if this is your first exposure to the universe, it’s well worth your money. It’s a sufficiently deep, extremely fun and good looking turn based space strategy game with fantastic combat and a content-rich campaign.
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  2. GameGrin
    Dec 4, 2017
    75
    Battlestar Galactica Deadlock finally gives us a solid game based on the popular franchise. It doesn’t attempt anything new but some polish issues aside it’s a solid strategy game that does a good job of translating the feel of the show.
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  3. Riot Pixels
    Oct 18, 2017
    68
    A balanced array of tactical options coupled with three-dimensional gameplay creates interesting combat situations, especially in the beginning, before you get tired of playing the same battles again and again.
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