{"id":12665,"date":"2015-09-04T11:43:38","date_gmt":"2015-09-04T15:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/?p=12665"},"modified":"2015-09-04T11:43:38","modified_gmt":"2015-09-04T15:43:38","slug":"servo-early-access-first-impressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/servo-early-access-first-impressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Servo – Early Access First Impressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Servo<\/a><\/p>\n

Servo<\/a>, a giant humanoid shaped robots (named Servos) themed RTS by BonusXP and published by Stardock Entertainment hit Steam\u2019s Early Access on May 28, 2015. The game is still in Alpha (and is actually called an Alpha by the developers), and seems to be far from being finished. No official release date has been announced and the developers have been taking their time to implement features, which is always a better strategy than to rush and release a buggy project. This does mean the game might still be a little feature-light for many players at the moment.<\/p>\n

Servo is an RTS in the traditional sense where\u00a0you have small combat-driven skirmishes. You can pause the game in single-player but you can\u2019t issue commands (you can change the game speed though in the pause menu). This said, the game does try to take a different approach from your classical Command&Conquer school of RTS design or from the RTT approach we see in titles like Company of Heroes. The difference are the RPG like mechanics of your Servos and the fact the Servos play a significant role in the game.<\/p>\n

Servos are customisable mechs that you can configure as you want. You even gain a selection of pilots to choose from, each with their own innate special ability. The player will gain upgrades from missions and by completing challenges, and they can also purchase upgrades\u00a0with cash earned ingame. This way the player will configure their Servos the way they want. You can only have three that you can call down in a given match; these become important units which have a wide selection of special abilities.<\/p>\n

\"Servo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This said, the traditional trappings of the genre are not lost; you will still need to capture resource nodes, build factories and labs, research tech improvements, and build units. These elements seem to be less detailed than in a typical RTS, but are not any less important as they’re the cornerstone of your economy, improvements, and the drones you produce can play a significant role in combat.<\/p>\n

State of the Game<\/strong><\/p>\n

As said before, the game is still in Alpha. The campaign only seems to contain three\u00a0missions (1 tutorial mission and 2 get-your-feet-wet on the mechanics missions), additional factions have not been fully implemented in Skirmish yet, and many of the maps\u00a0still seem to\u00a0have place-holder art assets. The game still has some UI artifacts, like icons popping out of the borders. Aside from the rough around the edges issues, the game was stable for the most part. I encountered no game breaking bugs or crashes.<\/p>\n

The short version, the game does feel far from being complete and the tag of it being in Alpha is indeed correct. Fortunately, the game does seem to still be in development with each patch adding-in new\u00a0features or changing existing features. This does mean the game is still in a high state of flux.<\/p>\n

\"Servo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Quick List of Features<\/strong><\/p>\n