Two days ago Fishlabs released an update to its award winning game Galaxy on Fire 2 HD. The update added two in app purchases: The long-awaited ‘Valkyrie’ extension and the ‘Kaamo Club’. After already having completely reworked the basic Galaxy on Fire 2 to take advantage of the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S’s improved graphics capabilities, the developers have now performed their magic on the extension.
The Valkyrie extension has been available for the standard definition version of the game for a while, adding a new storyline, new star systems, new equipment and new ships to the already deep game.
The Kaamo Club, which had been introduced with the release of the Valkyrie extension in the SD version, is basically your own space station. There you can store ships, equipment and resources, giving you a handy place to build and finish all the nice blueprints for equipment that you can collect throughout the game.
Check out the trailer below to get a sense of how much better the game looks in the HD version:
All the work that has gone into creating Galaxy on Fire 2 HD: Valkyrie really shows once you play it: The textures are incredibly detailed, the star systems feel very real, with small meteors flying past you randomly — thank Q for deflector shields, phew — and the same holds true for every other visual element of the game; it is really a beauty to behold. The extension, like the original game, features completely voiced cut scenes, making the storyline even more enjoyable.
Fishlabs, being the nice people that they are, are making Valkyrie HD available for free to all customers who have bought the extension in the SD game before (mind you, the HD game and the HD extension are rebuilt from the ground up). To take advantage of this great offer, you have to have the SD version of the game installed alongside the HD version. After launching the Galaxy on Fire 2 HD, tap the add-ons button and then tap restore purchases, enter your Apple ID password and Valkyrie HD should be available to you immediately.
The Kaamo Club is a slightly different matter. Fishlabs says that because the station is unlockable without paying for it, simply by playing the game and buying it from the notorious smuggler Mkkt Bkkt, you need to pay for the station if you don’t have the patience to collect the credits in game. I’m sure this will enrage certain people, but I really don’t see anything wrong in giving the developers $0.99 more, especially when considering all the work that has gone into improving the original.
The HD version of the game is universal, meaning you buy the game once and play it on both your iPhone 4S and the iPad 2. The game also supports save game sharing via OpenFeint and iCloud, making it easy to hop between two devices and never lose your progress.
Check out the game and the extension and let us know what you think in the comments.
