Hardspace: Shipbreaker Reviews
Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a fun romp as long as the ships you're gutting are new and fresh, but it can lose some charm when the plot thins and boats repeat.
A blue collar simulator-cum-puzzle game, where each ship feels like a mini-campaign, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a truly unique and rewarding experience, if you have the time and patience to clock in and put in the work.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker is an intricate anti-puzzle game that delivers a searing commentary on corporate abuse.
It might take some time to get used to Hardspace: Shipbreaker’s controls and zero-gravity movement, but tearing apart abandoned shuttles in the void of space is surprisingly soothing and engaging. While some areas of the game are somewhat unpolished, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a solid time for those looking to live out the fantasy of a space salvager.
Hardspace Shipbreaker is a sci-fi-inspired sim that puts you in the role of someone that spends their time working in low orbit pulling apart and salvaging old spaceships. And with all great sims, the premise is only a part of the appeal with the end result delivering pure low-orbit job immersion.
For what it’s worth, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is one of the most relaxing sci-fi games I’ve played in a long time and it runs wonderfully on the PS5. I don’t have to worry about crashing my ship into a planet or being shot up by aliens. As long as I’m not getting sucked into the furnace or shattering my helmet with a table I tried to throw into the furnace, life is good…especially once LYNX is out of the picture.
Hardspace Shipbreaker is not just a game, it is a call to action to put an end to the tyranny of mega-corporations and every gamer who is interested in such an idea will enjoy it.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a distinctive simulator that can easily deter with its unconventional gameplay, but it will reward handsomely if you will give it a chance.
Review in Russian | Read full review
If you’re a fan of simulator-like games, and want something a little more different and fantastical, it’s well worth giving Hardspace: Shipbreaker a try. It can feel very much like work at times, but there’s also something strange therapeutic about it. After all, it’s rewarding doing a good job, right?
The game is fun to play and looks great. Getting used to working in Zero G can be a challenge but that is the fun of the game. I wished there had been a multiplayer mode as it would be great fun to take on a ship as a team and also be subject to accidents other players can cause as well.
Some unnecessary design choices hindered my overall enjoyment with Hardspace: Shipbreaker, namely the monstrously uninteresting story and short work shifts, but I still spent a shocking amount of time with this curiously relaxing mix between a pasttime simulator, a puzzle game, and a survival title. It featured one of the most enjoyable, innovative and relaxing gameplay loops from any game I’ve played this year.
While at times the repetition inherent in its design got to me, the thing Hardspace: Shipbreaker shares most with those podcast games is that its core gameplay loop can feel incredible. That it sometimes tore me out of my complacency with no notice and made me fight for my life didn’t stop me from wanting to play just a few minutes more, it made the desire to do so nearly impossible to resist. Paying off your debt may be an endless slog, but when it feels this good I know I’ll be signing up for another tour with LYNX.
A deep space shipbreaking simulator with a mellow feel and a satirical edge, that's only let down by a gameplay loop that eventually gets a little too repetitive.
Hardspace show all is potential with time. A real puzzle game which is important to analyze the environment to find solutions. But Hardspace : Shipbreaker show his limit very quickly with no adventure or by the assets who are very redundant. But if you like to take time to resolve brain teaser then you will like the game.
Review in French | Read full review
Despite the fact that Hardspace: Shipbreaker can be called a high-quality and unusual project, it is quite difficult to recommend it to everyone and everyone. This is a very peculiar simulator for diligent, it takes time before you start to get any pleasure from it. But if you really like projects that reward meticulousness and glorify the simple work of ordinary people, then you will certainly like Hardspace: Shipbreaker.
Hardspace: Shipbreaker makes disassembling giant spacecraft piece by piece fun for a bit, but due to a lack of variety in its puzzle-like objectives it soon devolves into hard labor.
The pure freedom that it offers you is impressive. The more you’re willing to invest yourself into taking apart the ships in different ways, the more satisfying it is. It just feels good to form a plan of your own and watch it pay off in real time as pieces of the ship gracefully peel away in the exact fashion you imagined in your mind.
Everything you do in Hardspace: Shipbreaker is mediated by the forces of debt and capital. You own nothing; not your equipment, not your salvage, not even your own life. Salvaging sessions are divided into 15-minute shifts, and you must get the work done as quickly as possible to maximize profit. You return to your private quarters — leased from LYNX, of course — between jobs, and it's there that you're charged a rental fee for the use of your tools and salvage bay.
I’ve even got my own clandestine spaceship that I’m slowly repairing. It’s an option for escape, but it’s also somewhat hollow. Once the ship is repaired, I’ll be “free” to start my own spaceship salvaging company — it’ll be the same dangerous work, but at least I’ll be my own boss.
Hardspace Shipbreaker's 1.0 release delivers a compelling work sim where methodically salvaging derelict spaceships is as enormously satisfying as it is thought-provoking