Hardspace: Shipbreaker Critic Reviews

Despite its ambitious scope, Hardspace never bites off more than it can chew. It is unapologetically pro-union and anti-corporate, and it shows a remarkable deftness in handling the social complexities of those positions. It distinguishes the personal value of labor from the material value - two products our corporate overlords are eager to conflate - and offers a perspective of hope in an otherwise hopeless world. I consider Hardspace: Shipbreaker essential media for anyone that is employed - blue-collar or otherwise. If nothing else it will provoke you to think about your relationship with work in a new way. Considering we spend one-third of our lives doing it, it’s a worthwhile experience.

A great game with loads of playtime that I’m going to keep returning to for a long time to come. If only to work off my debt.

Additional variability in gameplay, however, is provided by a decent number of ship types, which was the biggest shortcoming of the preliminary version. Now the game contains around ten ship classes. In addition, the internal layout of each individual ship within a class is different. So you don't have to worry about running into the exact same vessel twice in dozens of hours of play.

With its incredible gameplay loop, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is as unique as it is addictive. A handful of minor bugs do little to hold back what is an incredibly immersive and rewarding experience.

Hardspace Shipbreaker has cemented itself as one of my top three games of the year. It’s not without faults, like its superfluous room you’re forced to visit. However, the complete package is marvelous in the way it tells a powerful story mixed with chill, yet stressful gameplay.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a masterpiece. It offers perfectly-tuned gameplay that dovetails flawlessly with the story that it’s telling, and it’s the rare example that manages to make its points entirely through mechanics — even if someone stripped out all of the dialogue, players would still understand what the game has to say about the crushing cycle of worker exploitation under capitalism. The fact that the developers went out of their way to build a believable world and great characters to help players empathize with the people trapped in this corrupt system shows how much they cared about making the best possible version of their work.

A satisfying disassembly sim wrapped in cutting workplace commentary, Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a gig well worth taking up.

A surprisingly polished game that’s as immersive and exciting as it is relaxing, Hardspace: Shipbreaker makes disassembling ships in Zero-G a blast.

Outside of some minor issues, it's hard to find fault with Hardspace: Shipbreaker. It's not a game for everyone, but it does a fantastic job at what it's attempting to be, and could be all-consuming for the right player. It's an engaging sandbox with a compelling narrative and addicting gameplay. They say if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life. Players will easily fall in love with the blue-collar spaceship salvager lifestyle making every shift in the yard feel less like work and more like a dream come true.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is like no other game out there, and offers a genuinely immersive and rewarding experience.

An enjoyable blend of story, puzzle-solving, and the ever-looming threat of spectacular, expensive failure keeps you coming back for more in Hardspace: Shipbreaker.

Hardspace Shipbreaker does everything it wants to do, and does it well. The shipbreaking is fun, tactile, and rewarding. The story is humorous, thoughtful, and engaging. And the music is relaxing and thoughtful.

It all adds up to a remarkable mixture of emotions, seldom encountered in a commercial videogame: kinetic thrill and the satisfaction of optimising your time, but also mounting claustrophobia, empathy for co-workers, and a sense that somewhere out among the stars there's a kinder society waiting to be riveted together.

The campaign is worth playing through at least once, but if you just want to play the game for the music, the visuals, and the gameplay, then you can also just chill in the Freeplay mode for eternity. Whatever might be your case, if you’ve read this far, I’m sure that you’ll deeply enjoy it. If you’re not really sure if it’s your thing, you can always try the game out through the PC Game Pass and buy it later if you want to support the developers, and I believe that they definitely deserve that support. Safe shipbreaking cutters!

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a damned good game.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is successful in just about everything it attempts. Not only is its gameplay extremely replayable and constantly satisfying, but it also manages to stack it all on a very solid narrative foundation. Tangibly, it feels like keeping your head down while forces bigger than you decide your fate. Gross. But if you don’t want all the horrible management talk and resistance to unionization to drag you down, you can just go in and hack some ships apart. It’s a serene zero-g experience while a wasp flies around in your helmet. Ignore it, and maybe it will leave you alone. Except probably not, wasps are jerks.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker does a great job of reminding us that, no matter how marvelous our futures might be, we’ll still be working for the Man in one form or another. Aside from maybe being too long for its own good, the game is simultaneously relaxing and challenging to play. It drills down on relatively few ideas, but makes them engaging. Hardspace: Shipbreaker has developed into an outstanding sim and puzzle game.

Quotation forthcoming.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is an intricate anti-puzzle game that delivers a searing commentary on corporate abuse.

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.