I am a huge Battlestar Galactica fan. In my opinion it is not only one of the best science fiction shows of all time, but also one of the best television dramas of all time. On the surface the show seems so simple. After being eradicated by the Cylons, the last remnants of the human race must flee from their attackers across the galaxy to try and find a new planet to call home, Earth. This simple plot structure makes for some of the best and most in depth story telling on television. On an emotional level, you will hard pressed to find a show that will make you physically jump up for joy, laugh out loud, and shed tears of sadness all in the same episode. It is an emotional rollercoaster ride you will not want to get off of. Battlestar Galactica truly shows that the medium of television is one of the best story telling outlets available today.



What I don’t understand is why there hasn’t been any official Battlestar Galactica (BSG) games released at this point for either consoles or the PC? Yes I do know that a top down BSG shooter was created for the PC and XBOX Live Arcade, but this game was so horrible I refuse to even acknowledge its existence. I’m talking about a true Battlestar Galactica game that fans like myself would be proud to own. A game that I would actually want to come home and play every day, and that I would actually recommend to my friends. Why has this game not been developed yet?

There is a huge fan base out there in which to market this game to. Battlestar Galactica is one of the most watched shows on Cable Television. They are even making a new spin-off of the show coming out on Sci-Fi next year. The interesting thing is, all the people I know who watch Battlestar Galactica aren’t just fair weather fans, they are extremely devoted fans. I’m not just talking about guys, I mean women as well. Every single guy I know who watches this show, watches it with his girlfriend or wife, who are as equally devoted to it. The show has truly captured the hearts and minds of a large fan base. It deserves to have a decent game made about it!

I can’t tell you how many times I have wanted to climb inside a Mark II and fly alongside Starbuck shooting down Cylon Raiders. I have wondered what it would be like to grab a pistol and take out Cylon Centurions in ground war assaults. The strategist in me has wanted to be in Adama’s shows, trying to figure out how to plan an all out space battle against an approaching Cylon fleet. I can’t experience these things in real life, and damnit I want to! This is why I play video games, but right now video games do not allow any of these fantasies to come true.



Now one reason why no Battlestar Galactica games have been made yet is because developers are waiting for the series to be over. The story of the Galactica and her rag tag fleet of ships is really the heart of the show. No one will want to diverge from the story path the writers of the show have laid out. It’s almost imperative that the show be completed so that the story arc can be closed, allowing game developers to have full control over the universe that has been handed to them. I honestly think this is one of the main reasons no Battlestar Galactica games have been made yet.

Well the show is almost over and it’s about time someone stepped up and made a proper Battlestar Galactica game. I have even come up with a couple of great ideas for these games to help start the creative process. For now I have 3 game ideas, all of which I have listed about below, with descriptions of each. Please excuse the tacky names I came up with.

!!! SPOILER ALERT !!! – If you have not finished watching every episode up to the 4th mid-season finale that aired this last Friday, please do not read any further. These game descriptions contain spoilers.

Battlestar Galactica: Viper Simulator
I grew up playing Wing Commander (the series), X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and Freespace. These were, and in my opinion still are, the best space flight simulator games ever created. I want a similar game with the same level of detail and function, but set in the Battlestar Galactica universe. I want to be able to fly the Viper Mark II or Mark VII around taking down Cylon Raiders and huge Cylon Baseships. Now I’m not talking about some console dumbed down flying game like Ace Combat. I’m talking about a full fledged flight simulator created in the image of games like Wing Commander and X-Wing. I want to be able to have full control over my spacecraft. I should be able to divert power from any system on the ship, to any other system; weapons, engines, avionics, etc. The game should not be played from a 3rd person perspective; it should be from inside the cockpit. I want to truly feel like I’m in the spaceship.



My thoughts for the story of the game is that you would essentially get to fly in all of the major battles that have been shown on the show so far. The first mission would be helping the Galactica and her fleet of civilian ships escape from the gas nebula in the Pilot Episode of the series. Next you would get to take out the Cylon Tillium Refinery base which Captain Apollo helped destroy near the end of Season 1. Other memorable events would be helping destroy the first Cylon Resurrection Ship from season 2, rescuing the human captives from their Cylon captures on New Caprica from the beginning of season 3, and helping destroy the Cylon Resurrection Hub in Season 4. Besides the typical memorable space sequences from the show, there could also be a slew of original mission ideas that could have took place “between” episodes that we never saw. The possibilities are endless.

Apparently there is game being created that is exactly like what I just described named “Beyond the Red Line”. It is actually a stand alone mod that has been created using the Freespace 2 engine. Right now the game is only offered in the form of a 3-stage demo, but there are plans to release a larger version of the game. The game even features voice acting from the original actors themselves written only for the game. At this time there is no release date planned for the full version of the game. To check out more about this game go to http://www.game-warden.com/bsg/ .

Battlestar Pegasus: Viper Simulator
This game would be exactly like the flight simulator game I just described, but would be from the point of view of the viper pilots from Pegasus. We know from the show that the Pegasus was out on its own on the offensive against the Cylons for 6 months before crossing paths and joining up with the Galactica. The exact details of what went on during those 6 months have never truly been explained well. The movie “Razor” filled in a couple of those plot holes, but not many. The slate is pretty much blank for story telling and any number of space battle scenarios could be created for our pilots to fly into.

Missions could range from taking out multiple basestars, to intense dogfights in large asteroid belts, to attacking planetoid bases. Since we know the Admiral of the Pegasus had a very offensive oriented mindset, most of the missions would be attacking the Cylons rather then defending and running like the Galactica. This game would give the writers of the show a chance to flesh out the story of the Pegasus and her crew more. It would give them a real chance to shine in the spotlight, instead of taking a back seat to the Galactica. The possibilities for this type of game are really endless.

Battlestar Galactica: Fleet Command
My final idea for a Battlestar Galactica game is a RTS game designed similar to Homeworld. The interesting thing is that the story of Homeworld and Battlestar Galactica are almost identical. They are both about a fleet of ships carrying the last remnants of their race across the galaxy to find a new planet to call home. Now that I think about it the plots are eerily similar. Anyways, I think this could be a great idea for a game but it would be harder to implement they Homeworld was.

The hard part would be the amount of different ships that would be available for combat. In the BSG universe there are really only 3 types of offensive ships; the Battlestars, the Vipers, and the Raptors. It doesn’t make for a lot of options when it comes to strategy and combat. You could break the rules of the universe and give the player the ability to create new types of ships, such as Frigates and Destroyers, but this just doesn’t seem right. The games need to stay within the framework of the television show and hold true to the universe the writers have created. Therefore all the player should be able to have at his/her disposal is Battlestars, Vipers, and Raptors.



The design of the game would have to be carefully thought out. The game will have to be heavily strategy driven, focusing on the big picture, instead of being a tactical game. The user will need to derive strategies that let them win battles with the few units they have, since resources and extra ships will be scarce. Just like Homeworld, the player will start the next mission with the exact same ships and resources he/she had at the end of the previous mission. I’m looking for a game that truly makes the player think before they act. They need to understand the dire circumstances the Galactica and her fleet are in, and use that to their advantage.

Since fleet moral is a huge part of the show I was thinking that this could somehow be incorporated into the game. When the fleet is doing well and winning missions your pilots perform better, and more civilians want to join up to become pilots and help win the war. However when things are going wrong and the fleet is more on the defensive, your ships do not perform well in battle, and it takes more ships and more resources to succeed in battle. I think this could be a great feature of the game.

The story of the game would of course follow the Battlestar Galactica from the beginning of the series when they first start running from the Cylons, to the very end as they get closer and closer to finding Earth. Along the way the Galactica will be able to join forces with the Pegasus and use it’s more powerful offensive weapons to really strike fear into the silicon hearts of the Cylons. Like the other games I’ve mentioned, missions could come not only from the main story line, but also from in between the episodes. The galaxy is a big place after all. Who knows what the game designers could come up with?

Final Thoughts
So there you have it, three different game ideas that could all take place in the Battlestar Galactica universe. You will notice I did not mention a FPS type of game. That is because BSG has never really been about the ground combat. There are a couple of moments in the series where the fighting takes place on foot, but not many, and most of the time the humans got clobbered. No I don’t think a FPS would be the right type of game to put the player in the Battlestar Galactica universe. If anyone has any good ideas along these lines let me know.

Now I realize there are a lot of BSG PC game mods out there that cover the types of games I mentioned. There is a Freespace 2 mod, a Homeworld mod, and even an Age of Empires mode. There are no official games however and nothing for the console. I want an official game that really explores the universe of Battlestar Galactica. I want the player to really feel like they are in the conflict. I want them to be able to feel the desperation that the human fleet feels as they run from the Cylons. I also want them to feel what it’s like when you score a victory against this far superior enemy. This is what video games are all about; taking us out of our boring everyday lives and sticking us in a fictional universe that we love so much.

So someone get out there and get on this right away. I want to see a GOOD Battlestar Galactica game before I get so old I can’t hold a controller anymore.

SO SAY WE ALL!!!