Omen: the atmosphere grabs you, and your children will not see you for a week

Some games you identify as dangerous before ever touching them. Not dangerous to public health, dangerous to your calendar. Omen has that profile: an atmosphere that catches you immediately, and a structure designed to make you launch one more expedition. Your family has been warned.

The atmosphere, first

That is what strikes you first, and it holds. Still traumatised by the Second Great Collapse, the Voidborn cling to life aboard whatever megastations survive among the Shattered Systems. The Samarin Empire is crumbling under the advance of an otherworldly calamity known simply as The Veil.

You play an Astral, an immortal starship pilot sent to investigate that collapse. The roguelite campaign takes you from the empire's edge into its dying heart, and then into The Veil itself. This is dark science fiction written with enough proprietary vocabulary to suggest a world that existed before you arrived, which is exactly the intended effect.

Why this will run three hours longer than planned

Because the loop is a trap, in the good sense.

The game stacks three things that individually already eat time. One, exploration: more than a dozen regions, each with its own challenges, quests and loot, plus secret stargates leading to lost pockets of space. Two, collection: over eighty weapons and ship abilities, with combinations to try, the classic fuel of one more run. Three, construction: base building and upgrade mechanics, with defensive structures to craft in order to hold off waves.

Add the expedition structure, where you raid the ruined empire for resources and must bring your haul back without dying, and you have the perfect five-more-minutes machine. You set off again because you are one component short. Always.

On the opposition side, four enemy factions with their own ships and tactics: pirates, legions of traitors, cultists. Plus large-scale fleet battles alongside the last Samarin loyalists, which promises a few moments of bravado.

What we do not know yet

A great deal, in truth. Omen launches today, developed and published by Codex Interactive, with no user reviews, which explains the absence of a score here.

The points to watch are those of any game mixing this many genres. A title doing space combat, base defence, building, exploration and fleet battles at once can produce a rich whole, or an accumulation of systems none of which fully satisfies. The quality of the flying will be decisive, since it is what you do most, and the balance of expeditions will decide whether the loop survives past the tenth.

One practical caveat: the game is available in English only, and given the density of its proprietary vocabulary, that is not a neutral detail.

If the atmosphere already speaks to you, it probably will not let go. Just plan on warning the children.