The pace is the trick

Timing is everything in two of this month’s games

There’s an old military axoim that says that the secret to victory is to get there first with the most guns. It’s one of those cheeky pieces of wisdom which seems simple, but is really, really hard to deliver in practice. A lot like Battlestar Galactica Deadlock’s gameplay, actually. Even taking its turn-based nature into consideration, the game feels satisfyingly ponderous. But while it might seem like you have all the time in the world, getting your ships in position, and en-masse, is a massive challenge. Pull it off, and you can wipe out an enemy capital ship in no time - fail, and you’ll get picked off in turn.

Thankfully, the turn-based nature of Deadlock helps do away with one of the big issues I had with the otherwise very intriguing Absolver. Despite all the trimmings, it’s a fighting game at heart, all about landing combos and timing your parries and dodges. But, being real-time, lag - or lack of it - is massively important. And so far in our game sessions, lag has meant timing is impossible, and so the game plays like a mess.

Back to Deadlock it is, until Absolver’s netcode settles down.