Released in 2011, Space Pirates and Zombies was more of a good idea than a good game: "Not quite ready for prime time, but with plenty of potential if the right choices are made," as we said in our review. A few years later the opportunity to grow that potential came along in the form of Space Pirates and Zombies 2, which went into Steam Early Access in May 2016, and yesterday made it into full release.
The launch trailer, I'll admit, is a little baffling, and so too is the description on Steam: The entire galaxy sounds like a George Miller post-apocalypse—infrastructure has collapsed, fuel is scarce, and scavenging means survival—and there are hundreds of fleets in the galaxy all trying to survive, led by captains with all the same abilities as the player.
"As resource scarcity becomes critical, ships come into conflict just to survive. Factions may form for protection or split due to starvation. Old friends must become fodder," the Steam listing says. "Stronger factions establish and defend territories, set up resource hubs, and establish star bases. Weaker factions may resort to banditry. Each captain is unique, persistent, and shapes the Galaxy."
On the upside, the zombie uprising has apparently been put down. That's good news, right?
It's a lot to take in. Fortunately, confusion can be averted (or at least attenuated somewhat) by way of the free demo. If you dig it, the full game goes for $20/£15, and there's a website with more information up at spaz2.com.