by Space is a lonely place—especially if you’re a working-class dude trapped in a cube floating through the cosmos, scavenging loot from mutant-filled cargo holds in order to provide for your loved ones. Cargo Commander strikes an intriguing balance between whimsical space-sim and a brutal take on the dungeon crawler–esque “roguelike” genre. Even when the controls have you pulling out your hair, the game’s charm will bring you back, holding your breath for one more space donut.
You can’t help but love the game’s blocky, everyman hero.
Cargo Commander takes place on an adrift cube, functioning as both home and workspace for a bearded, uniformed protagonist. Beyond the everyman exterior, your character also wears a fist-cannon, capable of drilling through walls or blasting nails into wayward mutants. Your job is to activate a large magnet at the start of each workday, which attracts other cargo-filled cubes from the abyss.
Each sector of space features a number of cube types, and Cargo Commander’s randomized nature — you’ll rarely know what’s coming as you head into the unknown — is easily one of its best features. But more than just a loot hunt against space monsters, Cargo Commander is also about perfection against the clock. Snagged cargo translates into points on the leaderboard, assuming you can return back to your home base, with the air in your lungs lasting long enough to avoid the destruction of a round-ending wormhole.
Eventually, a wormhole will crush the extra cubes—hold your breath!
The pursuit of perfection has an unfortunate flaw, though: Cargo Commander’s controls can feel like a chore, with the ever-important jump function feeling far too weak. Upgrades are available, which alleviate a bit of the frustration, but Cargo Commander is somewhat clunky without the use of a gamepad. Game controls notwithstanding, Cargo Commander does an amazing, yet subtle job of humanizing its voiceless protagonist. Little details like a picture of the man with his kid taped to the wall, or a loving email from home, add to the atmosphere of desolation.
The bottom line. Cargo Commander is at once exciting, challenging, and frustrating. It’s a meticulous, arcade-like space simulator with some real heart.
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