Galaxy on Fire 3

Galaxy on Fire 3: Manticore
	;
Release Date	December 8, 2016
Price	Free
Addons	iAPs
Follows	GoF3: Manticore Rising
Predates	None
Close Date	August 21, 2020

“

"The Neox Sector. Purgatory on the outskirts of space. Out here, pirates rage, and crime lords rule. But to us, they're just another payday."

”

Galaxy on Fire 3: Manticore was the sequel to Galaxy on Fire 2, developed by Deep Silver Fishlabs and was the fourth entry into the Galaxy on Fire series. On August 21st 2020, the mobile game's servers were closed down, rendering it unplayable. GoF3 no longer exists on the App Store.

In its place is Manticore: Galaxy on Fire, available for the Nintendo Switch and Apple TV. For all intents and purposes, the games are identical to GoF3, apart from some menu layouts - and the freemium aspect is removed entirely.

Plot

The game is set in the Neox Sector, a far-off part of the galaxy that is filled with warlords and mercenaries. The protagonist for the Apple TV prequel - Rising - is Hayley Snocom, but the protagonist for the main game is created by the player themselves. Bryce Vantok refers to you as "kid", but can later on in Act 2 calls you "ace".

The initial plot (Act One) revolves around hunting for the leader of the Gr'Gath pirate gang, Sh'Gaal. When Act One concludes, Act Two, and subsequently, the Porros sector is unlocked. For well over a year, Act III was not released. However, in update 2.0.0 (Wayfarer) the Rigant sector was unlocked for those who had completed Grey Shadow.

Characters

Gameplay (iOS/Android)

Manticore is based around the "freemium" scheme, involving multiple currencies – the original credits, and the new ore exclusive to this game, Mhaan-tiq. Mhaan-tiq is a much rarer currency, and is less easy to obtain, compared to credits. Minimal amounts are given out after missions, alongside credits. However, it can be obtained via iAPs (In-App Purchases) – or as it is called in-game, the black market.

Primary Weapons, Secondary weapons, and Ships can be upgraded, but are unlike those in Galaxy on Fire 2. There are currently five upgrade 'stages', and for Ships, four elements can be upgraded five times: Reactor, Generator, Structure, and Engine. Depending on the Ship or Weapon, a certain amount of credits is needed. The higher the upgrade stage, the more costly the upgrades become. Upgrades will take time to take effect, costing more and more each level. Upgrades require credits, not Mhaan-tiq. However, Mhaan-Tiq is required to speed up upgrades, similar to other freemiums.

The game has a ranking system which is based on your gained XP. Each ship also has a ranking, which is determined by your ships 'hull', 'energy' and 'shield' stats, and by the stats of your primary weapon levels. Secondary weapons and sip specials are currently not included in this ranking. New weapons and equipment will be made available with higher ranks.

There are three classes of ships: Scouts, Fighters, and Gunships, each with their own characteristics. Depending on the type of mission, one type suits better than the other. Some ships will be familiar for GoF and GoF2 players. All ships have two primary weapon slots (equipping four guns in total), one secondary weapon slot and 1 or 2 special slots. There are Terran, Vossk and Nivellian ships, as well as a variety of specially adapted ships based on their original hulls. Interestingly, the once-powerful Aegir and Bloodstar are incredibly weak from around level 7 onwards, making them effectively a waste of 1K+ Mhaan-Tiq.

There are currently three primary weapon types: Plasma, Laser, and Ballistic. You can fit two primary weapons (giving it 2 of each) on your ships. Each weapon is measured by 'impact', 'fire rate', 'range' and 'accuracy'. The strongest enemies in the game have certain weak spots based on these three weapon types. Meaning, you might need to adapt your setup to counter certain enemies.

For each mission, you can select two wingmen. The wingmen ships and load outs are based on actual players, and these players get a mercenary payout each time they are called in by another player. You can make friends and select wingmen from your friends list, as some are stronger than others, or use a specific setup, you need for a certain mission.

As of update 2.0.0 (Wayfarer) in May 2018, there is an option to purchase a 'premium' version of GOF3 as an in-app purchase. For a premium price, you now have the ability to completely skip all informant missions, allowing you to drectly progress to the next boss. Power levels are also removed, meaning you don't have to grind ship stats to get to the next level. Moreover, every time you defeat a boss, you earn a new ship, free of charge. This means blueprints are no longer needed either.
- Whether or not you should purchase premium is up to you. Although you effectively remove all freemium aspects of the game, the cost is high (even at half price) and ultimately removes an aspect of gameplay.

Manticore Rising

Galaxy on Fire: Manticore Rising is the Apple TV-exclusive prequel to Galaxy on Fire 3, and was released in September 2015. The story follows that of Hayley Snocom, and how her deeds and outstanding reputation earned her nickname (and subsequently a station named after her), Manticore. 'Not much has been documented about this version, but from screenshots and gameplay videos, Rising acts as a 'lite' version of Manticore, offering basic gameplay and is limited to three environments (one from each GoF3 sector) and three ships - the Nivelian Tripura, Vossk Shamash, and Terran Styx.

Nintendo Switch/Apple TV

On April 19th, 2018, Manticore: Galaxy on Fire was released for Nintendo Switch - making it the first and only Galaxy on Fire game to release on a console. The core game mechanics are near identical to the mobile release, however the freemium aspect has been removed, and the UI layout is better suited to match physical controls. It costs $27.99 to play.

No friend system exists, with two members of the Manticore crew replacing the wingmen. Credits are also removed, with upgrades requiring only Mhaan-Tiq, which is now the only resource in the game. Only 9 ships are available and automatically unlock through story progression, with the exception of 3 ships which have parts hidden in the free-roaming mode (one in Act 1, two in Act 2).

Not much else has been reported on this version. In August 2020, it was ported over to the Apple TV, with no change to gameplay other than controls.

Dev Blogs

At this time, DSFishlabs announced an exclusive 360° video of official Manticore gameplay. This video can be found here.

DEV BLOG #8 – Setting the Galaxy aflame in full 3D: How the Game World of GOF3 came alive

June 2016

DEV BLOG #9 - Harvesting Resources: The Exploitation of the Neox Sector by Starfire Survey
DEV BLOG #10 - Digging for Mhaan-tiq: On the Neox Sector’s mysterious resource

July 2016

DEV BLOG #11 – Navigating the Galaxy Map: On the Neox Sector and its different Regions
DEV BLOG #12 – “Rat ‘em out!“: Gaining valuable intel from informants
DEV BLOG #13 – Full speed ahead!: Mkkt Bkkt’s illegal space races

August 2016

DEV BLOG #14 – Manticore has landed in Cologne: Presenting GOF3 to the press at gamescom

September 2016

DEV BLOG #15 – Saya, Chief of all Things Flying: Meeting the Manticore’s head mechanic
DEV BLOG #16 – Community Poll: Tell us what you want to see in GOF3!

October 2016

DEV BLOG #17 – Thanks for voting: Following up on our community poll
DEV BLOG #18 – VIP Package: Gear up for the coming fight

November 2016

DEV BLOG #18 – The “Space Trinity” update: Hunters, mercs and explorers

At this time, DSFishalabs revealed a cinematic teaser for Manticore. The link can be found here.

Trivia

Free roaming (flying outside missions) wasn't present in the initial release, however, is now a minor part of the game involving scavenging.
Originally all speech was shown solely through text, with no audio. Nearly full voiceover is now present (excluding boss splash screens, and on loading screens and certain boss-less missions the audio doesn't line up with the text)
There is no ability to dock at any station/Jumpgate, etc. After every mission, you are automatically returned to The Manticore. In free-roam, flying to a Jumpgate will also return you home.
After patch 1.6.10, Galaxy on Fire 3: Manticore was renamed to just "Galaxy on Fire 3".
The Nintendo Switch and Apple TV's versions are named "Manticore – Galaxy on Fire".