Halfway - Review @ IGR

Kit Goodliffe (IGR) has reviewed the tactical sci-fi RPG Halfway:

Halfway – What We Think:

Halfway’s story is set in a future where interstellar travel has been achieved through the invention of a faster the light drive technology. Unfortunately ships are starting to mysteriously disappear while using this advancement and it’s beginning to look like something strange is happening when vessels are in transit. You control a group of people onboard a starship which encounters this phenomenon. You must lead them in a fight for survival whilst unraveling the truth of what is happening to ships during their long distance journeys. […]

Halfway manages to craft an engaging scenario within which its action can take place. The combat itself is enjoyable and while some may find the difficulty to be a little bracing the challenge is well-balanced. Supported by some impressive art and music, Halfway’s survival story aligns neatly with its gameplay and makes for a worthy entry in the turn-based tactics genre.

Rating: 4/5

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More information.

The game is on the RPGWatch Curation list as well.

Thanks for the info, I missed this game completely. Looks good and is very cheap.

Not a fan of the art style, but I could get past it if the story is good.

Anyone here played it?

I remember old press coverage of this game, but it's been a long time. Early videos (like 2+ years back) were intriguing. I had no idea it was completed, and I'm a little amused to see it's been out for over a year now.

Looks like RPS had a pretty extensive WIT last year: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/08/01/halfway-review/

This is a brilliant turn-based game, enjoyable in every way. Not a lot of RPG in it though, strictly strategy.

The story is a matter of taste I guess.

I personally found it quite good as I like stories which are to the ground and where you are not fighting a great evil to save the world.
Similar to the setting of System Shock 1 you wake up and try to survive. Just that you find additional recruits.

The implementation of the story is extremely well done though as it is a constant companion and not just something squished in between missions.
Normally you go from Level to level until you establish a camp where you can also buy ammo. There you can talk to your companions who will then also bring up new optional missions.
But as mentioned that’s not the only segments of story. When you go into the next level, either an optional mission or to progress in the ship, you can chose up to 3 people to join you. Dependent on the mission, some of these slots are fixed though. For example if one of your guys says that he needs something from his apartment he is already locked for one of the slots. And while on the mission he will also have some comments here and there.
While there aren’t a lot of (if any, don’t exactly remember) choices in the story, it feels very “organic” and woven into the normal gameplay. Imho very refreshing, especially after playing something like Pillars or Divinity:OS where you have to dig through walls of texts, some of which are not related to the current story. In Halfway everything in the story is quite logical as far as I remember. You don’t really have quests like “Kill 3 monsters” or “let’s go to zone X, I forgot my teddy bear”. What you do in Halfway makes sense to you as a player.

For my German Review-Video you can click on the link in my signature.