Parents' Guide to Subdivision Infinity DX

This is a good starter experience for players who are interested in space simulation games but intimidated by the overwhelming scope and complexities of larger space-based adventures. Subdivision Infinity DX's missions are straightforward, typically last no longer than 10 or 15 minutes, and are filled with action that, while often thrilling, never becomes chaotic or incomprehensible. Flight and combat controls are intuitive, designed to help rookies keep from losing orientation in the game's zero-G environments, and side activities such as mining are a snap. In fact, players simply press one button to scan for minable asteroids and another to begin drilling and collecting resources. The basic yet engaging story plays out in linear fashion via short narrative sequences, with missions and objectives following simple steps, ensuring players always have a clear picture of what's going on and why they're doing what they're doing.

The player's reward for all of this combat and exploration is the promise of better ships. Once you've collected the required resources/currency/blueprints, spacecraft can be purchased or built with the tap of a button. In addition to looking pretty cool, these new rides also typically feel great in the cockpit, providing immediately noticeable improvements to shields, speed, maneuverability, and cargo capacity. Weapons -- purchased and equipped separately -- follow their own upgrade paths, but offer similarly satisfying increases to power and effectiveness. As a decidedly indie game, you can expect small issues that tend to get ironed out in bigger productions, including grammatical slip-ups in text and occasional frame rate hitches, but nothing that should put up too much of a roadblock for casual players. Subdivision Infinity DX isn't aiming to be competition for more ambitious space fighter simulation games, but it's instead more of a fun and affordable introduction to the genre.