Fishlab’s has crafted an absolute stunner of a space opera in Galaxy on Fire 2. It’s a work that’s been years in the making, more a labor of love than a game, as they’ve patiently reshaped, retooled and refined their galaxy over time to arrive at this, their crowning achievement in space. It’s perfectly balanced, like a fine wine that you want to savor and last. It’s exciting, thoughtful, absorbing, beautiful and deep.

This open-ended romp through space can be played endlessly as you decide which direction to take in a massive galaxy filled with challenges and opportunities. Weather you decide to become a pirate, mercenary, miner or trader or to simply follow the main story you’ll be constantly driven by the need to obtain the best ship outfitted with the best weapons and equipment in order to succeed. You play the part of Keith T. Maxwell, a freelancer who finds himself without a ship in a strange system due to a ship malfunction. Your journey home takes you across a universe filled with pirates, traders and a malevolent alien race called the Voids.

Opportunities to earn cash are plentiful in GOF2 and the game never feels like a tedius grind like some RPG’s. There’s always a new carrot just out of reach to drive your gameplay weather it be a new hi-tech weapon, bigger ship, super jump drive, faster scanner or cool cloaking device, there’s always something new and exciting to strive for.  Although it's a long game, it can be played in bite size pieces at your leisure and it saves automatically wherever you exit.  If you die you can resume at the last station you were at.

I suppose you can finish the main story in about 5-6 hrs. but that would be like going through life with blinders on. GOF2 has so much more to offer in the many side missions, equipment blueprints and hidden systems to discover along with the awesome weapons and ships too numerous to mention.  You'll also get paid for a variety of achievements like having more than 100 kills.

The space flight and tilt control will satisfy all but the most jaded of space jocks and there are 3 difficulty levels to choose from. One small complaint one may have is that there is no control over the speed of your ship other than the various boosts you can purchase. You'll also find shields, repair bots, and cool tractor beams for grabbing the equipment and goods left by your vanquished foes.

The load times are short throughout and the game play is smooth and glitch free on my iPhone4. With all the systems and stations you can visit it would be nice to have some way to remember what items are at which station as it can become frustrating searching the galaxy for power cells or some item to complete a blueprint.

For good measure, Fishlabs has included a pause and free look where you can enjoy the gorgeous space combat from all angles and save screenshots. It can also come in handy in a firefight.  GOF2 is a highly polished and totally addicting supernova of a game that feels like a console experience in the palm of your hand. Remarkable! 5 Stars.

goyami@comcast.net