Kerbal Space Program, developed by Squad Games is a fun new space simulation game revolving around creating a rocket and sending “Kerbals” into space and hopefully back home. KSP is still in heavy development, being only a few weeks old. Since KSP is so early in development, there is no real goal set in place, though this has not hindered its popularity. the official KSP forums can be found here.
KSP’s main mission is to build a rocket out of various segments and send your space capsule housing 3 Kerbals to space and back again. This is easier said than done, though, as various things can go wrong, such as coupling failure and engine or fuel explosion among other things. The ever present danger of losing control of the craft altogether is a more than real threat to your Kerbals as well, as you have full control over the 3 axes of movement of the craft and are given no means of assistance other than a minor stabilization system. There are also game engine limitations that must be worked around in order to be even moderately successful. Constraints between modules can get flimsy and send two halves of the craft flying in different directions, and asymmetric craft designs are prone to falling over even if properly balanced.
Some major downfalls of this game are its lack of content and replayability. Though it can be fun the first few times launching your homemade spaceship into the deep abyss of space, it does in fact get tiresome after a while, especially when all your creations end up looking nearly identical due to a lack of parts. Since the game is so new, though, this shouldn’t be looked at as a major problem, as the developer updates the game with new features regularly, and there are a few parts packs floating around the forums made by fans of the game, which can add hours of playability.
Another rather glaring problem with the game is the current physics engine. In game, if you’ve connected too many parts together without reinforcement, you will quickly notice your ship starting to bend and curve the way no solid structure should. This problem is as yet unavoidable in larger craft, and the developer has no intention of switching physics engines, as it would require quite substantial part of the game to be rewritten. For anything other than deep space insertion, though, a large craft that would normally suffer from this major problem isn’t entirely necessary.
Besides these few rather large problems, the game can be very fun if you’re interested in space flight, large explosions, or funny green astronauts. Multiplayer functionality has been discussed heavily, though it is not currently present. The current version is free to download and play, and there are no fees associated with the game as of yet. The game can be downloaded here, so go get it and let the hilarity and zero-g fun ensue!
WiredEyeTV's Main Website! 