Like a beginner's guide to combat, Future Fight is almost two games in one.
The game's battles are like Kil.a.ton, offering the same brand of turn-based warfare in a small, tightly walled, garden.
General strategy has a place, too, with you equipping and expanding your army in an effort to grab as much territory as possible from your foe on the battlefield.
Though it's ambitious to combine the two in one package, the end result proffers something of an odd, incoherent mix, and there's a feeling that something's missing from Future Fight as a whole.
Timid tutorialAt times it's not gameplay itself that suffers, but rather the game's inability to explain just what's required of you.
The battles themselves require you to take charge of four or more ships as they take on a band of opposing mercenaries. Each ship can be ordered to carry out one task per move, whether that be firing upon a chosen rival with a particular weapon, repairing itself, or moving to a new position.
All such actions are carried out at once, including those of your opponent, meaning scoring a hit isn't a foregone conclusion. Instead, your foe will regularly shift around the admittedly limited but beautifully realised levels, with success coming from an ability to mix up your own approach with an equal amount of variety.
Obeying ordersIt's the periods of gameplay that bookend these combat stages that may leave you scratching your head.
While said battles can be tackled solo in Quick Play mode, in Career mode they are in fact just one component of a wider plan to mine gold from territory seized from rival armies.
Progress is linear, with the game listing approaching armies you can take on turn by turn and charging you with getting your own masses ready for the inevitable combat. This centres around buying and upgrading weapons or repairing ships from previous encounters.
Winning more and more battles grants you more and more riches as your colony expands, making it possible to keep the wheels of your forces turning as the hurdles you're expected to jump get higher.
Fun, but no long runWhile taking charge of these operations becomes increasingly difficult, the options at your disposal are somewhat curbed, making the battles the game's primary selling point.
They're undeniably fun. As well as picking the right weapons to use and whom to use them on (early stages can be won simply by picking off rival ships one by one), you can also pay off your enemy, offering individual ships a bribe to switch sides for the next contest.
Some even approach you after the dust has settled, a set fee enough to convince them to join your band of mercenaries. Though it arguably offers more depth when it comes to tactics, Future Fight isn't in the league of Kil.a.ton and the like.
The package as a whole isn't anywhere near as accomplished, and though the ideas are solid, Future Fight isn't quite the step forward its name suggests.