The story of humanity's last-ditch struggle to escape extinction at the hands of the Cylons certainly hooked me, but Battlestar Galactica's phenomenal space battle sequence are what really set my inner sci-fi nerd's heart aflutter. Re-living those thrilling moments from inside the cockpit of a Viper instead of from the sidelines makes playing Diaspora: Shattered Armistice a real treat at times. Despite a few rough edges, this impressive fan-made Battlestar Galactica homage captures the intense rush of blowing the frak out of Cylon raiders as you rocket full-throttle towards a fully-powered Basestar.

Loading

Built on the open source FreeSpace 2 Engine, Shattered Armistice is a free standalone fan mod that's faithful to the general plot setup of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series. When a sudden Cylon attack wipes out much of the Colonial fleet in a massive invasion, you find yourself aboard the Battlestar Theseus -- one of the last starships still in operation -- with Cylon forces in hot pursuit. Spooling up the FTL drive to warp constantly out of danger at the last possible second mirrors the same intensity of the show, even if you're not actually aboard the iconic Galactica itself. The campaign in this first installment of a planned batch of episodic releases is brief but challenging, though its real strength lies in its authenticity and attention to detail. From crazy flight physics and static-laden radio chatter to dizzying dogfights and rough combat landings, Shattered Armistice's battles feels every bit like Battlestar Galactica as fans would hope.Don't be surprised if strapping into the pilot seat of a Viper for the first time makes you feel like a Nugget (that means noob, in Colonial military speak), thanks to the complicated pile of keyboard controls dumped into your lap from the get-go. With detailed multi-button sub-commands for targeting friends and foes, issuing orders to wing mates, adjusting throttle, and cycling through ordinance, wrapping your brain around flight controls is overwhelming at first. It's not quite as thick as other more hardcore space combat sims, but slogging through the tutorial is a must unless you want to wind up as toaster fodder.There's a lot to remember, and most of it gets ditched in the heat of battle in favor of focusing on several core flight functions that get the job done. Since you don't really need all of them, cutting some out and streamlining the controls would have been a welcome move here. Even as someone who's no stranger to the space combat genre, I found juggling commands during the action cumbersome. Squaring off against squadrons of Cylon ships gets the blood pumping, particularly as reinforcement fleets jump in alongside bigger Basestars. I'd much rather blast toasters than hunt and peck on the keyboard while my ship gets whittled out from under me, and thankfully after the initial learning curve the fast-paced flow of combat encounters hits a comfortable rhythm.Thundering out of the Theseus' launch tubes at maximum velocity is an awesome way to start missions off. Once you're out in space and facing off against fleets of Cylon Raiders, putting the Viper's crazy maneuverability to the test is a real blast. The series' slightly off-kilter but extremely cool space flight physics remains intact here, making it possible to pull off some wild moves. For example, engaging the glide function after you've built up some speed kills your boosters and lets you maintain your current heading while spinning your ship around quickly to fire at foes behind you or at your flanks. In contrast, piloting the Raptor is less zippy, but its cluster rockets and heavier firepower make up for its bulkiness.Missions are immediately hectic, and they touch on some of the best plot scenarios from the early stretches of the series. First-up, defending the Theseus long enough for the FTL drives to spool up for a jump is a pulse-pounding affair. Staying out of range of friendly flak fire while frantically blasting waves of nukes before they collide with the Theseus and holding off enemy fighters is one hell of a first outing. And the mad dash back to the Theseus for a short notice combat landing with only seconds to spare before it jumps away is epic. Other missions, like defending a fleet of friendly civilian vessels while scavenging fuel resources and rescuing downed pilots from deep space, provide some nice variety.All of the near-constant excitement comes at a price: keeping your Viper from getting shredded is a real pain. I rarely beat a mission on a single try, and it seemed like no matter how hard I tried to outfly and outgun the Cylons, I couldn't avoid getting my ship chewed up. To counter the steep difficulty, failing a mission enough times brings up an option to let you skip to the next stage, though that feels like a cop out. Pushing to improve your skill and complete missions with your ship intact is all the more satisfying, but the odds do feel heavily stacked against you at times. Expect to replay certain missions several times before pushing through the short campaign in this first episode. Multiplayer dogfights against human opponents would be a fun prospect to help round things too, but at this point there doesn't appear to be any servers up and running. It's a shame more players aren't kicking around.