Galactic Glitch Is A Clever Twist On Space Shooters That’s Worth The Challenge
Why use missiles when you can use gravity?
Almost as long as there have been video games, there have been video games about blowing things up with a spaceship. Going all the way back to Spacewar! being developed at MIT in the ‘60s, the fantasy of zipping through the cosmos and firing lasers at anything in your path is one that’s hard to get tired of. Even with so many options on the table, one roguelike space shooter leaving Steam Early Access and launching a full version on Tuesday shows there’s room left to try new things in a crowded space.
Galactic Glitch is a twin-stick space shooter with a few tricks up its sleeve to set it apart. Its roguelike loop has you trying to break out of a simulation you’re stuck in to free your creator, a glitchy artificial intelligence that’s terrible at concealing its less-than-benign intentions for wanting to escape. Those loops have you jumping from battle to battle, all of which take place in their own small bubble in space. Enemies spawn, you take them out, then jump to the next bubble to face another fight. Rinse and repeat until you either beat the final boss, or — more frequently — get blown to pieces yourself.
Galactic Glitch is a clever roguelike space shooter that’s as satisfying as it is unforgiving.
The core combat of Galactic Glitch feels great, with precise controls in intense battles against screen-filling swarms of enemies. What really gives it its character, though, is one ability you have with you no matter what loadout you bring on a run. Holding down one trigger on your controller lets you grab any floating object or small ship in front of you, then launch it upon release. You can grab missiles before they strike you, hurl an enemy out of the way to buy yourself time to breathe, or launch mines at enemies. Smashing anything into an enemy ship will do damage, which increases if you’re able to slingshot it back in to backstab your target.
This one addition turns Galactic Glitch from just another good roguelike to a wonderfully frenetic shooter that feels like nothing else. Showing up in a combat arena, immediately grabbing the closest asteroid, and flinging it into the biggest ship you can see never gets old, and the unique grab only gets better from there. You always do more damage by hitting an enemy’s back, and some have additional weakpoints for critical hits. Slamming an enemy with a thrown object will send them tumbling, often giving you a shot at one of their more vulnerable spots or sending them careening into their allies. Some upgrades also take advantage of the grab, generating a shield whenever you’re holding an object or duplicating any missiles you grab and fling back.
Aside from the grab, there’s a good selection of comparatively more conventional weapons, from close-range shotgun blasts to dual cannons, a laser whip, and a damaging aura that hurts enemies just from flying close to them. You’ll also unlock additional ships over time, which first differ mostly in how fast or hardy they are, but later get additional benefits like a field that slows enemies who get too close.
Bosses in Galactic Glitch put your skills and your build to the test.
I’m having a blast with Galactic Glitch, but it’s not without frustration. Once you make a little progress on unlocks, new upgrades come a bit too slowly, and it’s easy to go several runs without making much more progress. It can also feel extremely punishing. Flubbing one encounter can end up draining a huge portion of your health, and it’s sometimes all but impossible to recover. It’s up to chance whether you can find any healing items in the randomly generated galaxy you play in. That means that you can go an entire run sometimes without a chance to heal, which can feel taxing.
Those gripes aside, Galactic Glitch is a fantastic space shooter made even better by the addition of its incredibly fun grab attack. If you’re up for a roguelike that’s not shy about punishing you for slipping up, struggling through its simulation at the behest of your questionable benefactor is a satisfying challenge.
