Despite all its acclaim, the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series that ran from 2004 to 2009 has been severely underrepresented when it comes to quality games. Similarly, recent choices for space-based strategy games have been limited too, especially if you aren’t looking for a 4X experience. But Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock solves all of these issues single-handedly, with tactical-strategy gameplay featuring Cylons, Vipers, and Battlestars. The best surprise, though, is that it’s all of that and a good game.

Deadlock is a cleverly designed space combat game layered on top of a challenging resource-management simulation. In this regard, Deadlock echos what makes games like XCOM so addictive: the ships you manage from a strategic perspective are the same ones you command in combat, so decisions made in one phase have significant impacts on the other. For instance, spending resources on a fleet officer might enhance a ship’s firepower in combat, but lose that ship and you will have a harder time tackling future missions. It’s a formula that’s worked in other games, and works just as well here.

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