Alastrius

Alastrius is an on-the-rails space shooter in which you pilot a Star-Fighter through battles across the galaxy. You serve aboard the Interstellar Battleship Alastrius, the only capital ship still fighting for the Republic after a sudden coup d'état. Your mission is to blast through enemy strongholds, liberate the capital world Velora and restore the Republic.

The campaign

The Imperium has taken over almost the entire Republic military and sends drones, fighters, tanks, boats, turrets, mines and traps against you. You travel through 16 planets, space stations, nebulae and other hazardous locations, ranging from green forests and deserts to icy glaciers and volcanic mining worlds. The campaign has multiple missions and story developments, and different routes can lead to different bosses. Each mission ends with a superweapon boss designed to test your skills.

Star-Fighters and weapons

Alastrius begins with three playable Star-Fighters, with seven more to unlock. The ships range from nimble, lightly armed craft to heavily armed goliaths. If a fighter is lost in combat, it is gone for the rest of the campaign, so you choose which ships to take on each mission.

Your Star-Fighters carry multiple Laser Cannons for attacking enemies at long range, homing Missiles for tougher targets and Bombs that devastate a wide area. Finding enemy weak points helps you destroy them efficiently and earn high mission scores; you can also aim for a Gold Medal in every mission.

Training and controls

The Training Simulator introduces the Star-Fighters' controls and weapons systems. Your dispatch officer aboard the Alastrius, Rahalla, is fully voice acted and guides you through the simulator and campaign missions, sharing developments as the civil war unfolds.

You can use keyboard and mouse controls, aiming and shooting with the mouse, or play with a gamepad using twin-stick controls. Both control schemes can be rebound.

Challenges and presentation

The game has 40 Steam Achievements. Achievements are also tracked separately across its six Save Files, allowing friends or family who share your Steam Account to pursue them even if you have already unlocked them on Steam. Stylized environments and vehicles use sharp lines and bold colors, alongside atmospheric music and retro boss tracks.