DotemuThe Mount Rushmore of beloved space operas would undoubtedly feature Star Wars, Star Trek, and Frank Herbert’s Dune. That coveted fourth spot is harder to determine, but if longevity and cultural praise is the stipulation, then it could very well belong to Battlestar Galactica, the sprawling multimedia franchise that began with a short-lived TV show in the ‘70s and grew to inspire comic books, video games, a tabletop board game, and one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows of the Golden Age of Television. Despite all that, the mainline franchise has remained dormant for over 10 years since the release of Blood & Chrome, a 2012 web series prequel to the 2004 television reimagining.Now, 17 years after the conclusion of the TV reboot and nine years after the release of the last video game, Battlestar Galactica Deadlock, the developers at Alt Shift have returned to the stars to once again follow the survivors of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes is the first game for the series in almost a decade, and based on the first gameplay look, it’s shaping up to be an immersive, thoughtful return to one of science fiction’s most celebrated universes.Battlestar Galactica’s Last Video Game ExcursionThe franchise’s last video game, Deadlock, was a turn-based strategy game developed by Black Lab Games and released by Slitherine Software. Taking place in the reboot timeline during the first Cylon War (a crucial bit of backstory that sets up the premise of every show version), the game focused on resource management and space battles featuring the warships available to the Colonial Fleet, the primary armed service branch of the Colonial Forces. Praised upon release for being the first truly great game in Battlestar Galactica’s history, Deadlock received DLC content all the way up until 2020.Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes Is A Welcome ReturnIn contrast to Deadlock, Scattered Hopes takes place decades after the end of the first Cylon War (also within the reboot universe), and shortly after the devastating annihilation of humanity’s intergalactic Twelve Colonies, the key event that sets up what’s left of humankind’s search for a new home. Players will take control of a fleet of survivors attempting to reunite with the Battlestar Galactica, all while fleeing from Cylon forces seeking to exterminate them.A glimpse at the game’s combat. | DotemuThe gameplay of Scattered Hopes appears similar to Deadlock in some regards, but with major differences as well. Both games alternate between massive space battles and periods of resource management, but Scattered Hopes is adding randomized events, different human factions butting heads within the fleet, heroes whose health and morale must be managed, and explorable points of interest on the map, all the while a timer ticks down to the arrival of the Cylon forces and the next combat encounter. And unlike Deadlock’s turn-based system, Scattered Hopes is a real-time strategy game, which means the player’s combat decisions will have to be made on the fly.With so much time having passed since the last time the property was resurrected, Alt Shift and publisher Dotemu certainly have their work cut out for them when it comes to satisfying fans waiting to return to the human/Cylon conflict. But based on the intricacy and immersion already being shown off, everyone involved with Scattered Hopes seems to be taking their commitment to the franchise seriously. Making difficult choices for the sake of survival is part of what makes Battlestar Galactica such a morally complex and adored piece of science fiction, and now players will be put in the command seat.Battlestar Galactica: Scattered Hopes will be released later this year.