Hardcore fans of the TV series will get a kick out of Battlestar Galactica, while those who just want a solid "Colony Wars" type shooter will be sorely disappointed.
What we have here is an outerspace shooter in the same vein as Star Wars Starfighter, sharing the same name as a 70's cult television hit. While the base gameplay has been done many times over in the past, Battlestar does manage to bring one new (and interesting) concept into the genre - the complete customization of missiles, which can be altered even in the heat of battle. You're able to divide a certain number of points between 4 different categories: radius, power, agility, and speed. This goes a long way in making the player use different strategies depending on the enemy's specific weakness, though it does disrupt the game's pace a bit having to constantly switch back to a menu screen.
On the technical side, Battlestar Galactica doesn't shine as brightly as it should – while the game does a very respectable job of capturing the old series' atmosphere, the visuals are sort of bland and redundand. You've seen much better visuals in almost any given space-based shooter. Audio fares somewhat better, with stars from the show providing voice work, as well as the hot T-X chick from Terminator 3 (the one whose name I can't spell to save my life)
Despite the fact that the game ties nicely into the Battlestar Galactica universe (the game itself is actually a prequel), there are way too many flaws for hardened space cadets to really enjoy it. Wingmen and squadmates are next to useless, save points are much too sparse given the insane difficulty, and the controls needlessly utilize every bit of the controller's real estate, simply for the sake of doing so. Overall, this is a valiant effort, but a mediocre one nonetheless.
-George
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