Captain Forever's story attempts to put a twist on the standard infinite lives scenario seen in games today. You are not actually the pilot of the ship. Rather, you are controlling it remotely though a desktop terminal. Every time your hull is breached, your ship "realigns" itself, causing a sector-wide explosion that devastates everything in its path. After the explosion, pirate begin to search the area, and notice your lone command module just floating around. They then attempt to breach the hull to get at the goodies inside, and the process is repeated ad infinitem. It's quite a depressing story if one thinks about it too long, as the actual captain of the ship can never leave. If he ever tries to, the hull will simply realign and seal itself before he can get out.

The graphics of Captain Forever reflect the same clean, vectorized style seen in other games bearing the Forever titles. It looks fairly similar in its neon coloration and simplistic lines as Warning Forever or Battleships Forever, but it has less intricacy in the ship components. The graphics, thanks to their simplicity, are well optimized and run on a range of computers, from the ultra-high spec to the fairly low. The sound is alright, but it is highly advised that you put on some of your own music if possible, as there is none.

Your goal as the pilot of the fine self-aligning command module is to survive as long as possible while being assaulted by pirates and other hostile ships. There is no such thing as trade, the sector goes on forever, and you can not land anywhere. Captain Forever is a game all about modular combat and preserving the integrity of your ship. It lends itself easily to playing on lunch break, thanks to how different each play session is. Alternatively, if you can spare the time (such as at home), some of the much later enemies turn out incredibly tough, which makes marathon sessions just as compelling as short ones.

Every game has a draw, and Captain Forever is no exception. The draw here is in the different modules that you can attach to your ship. At the beginning of the game, an info buoy comes forth, informs you of a sector-wide explosion (I wonder what from!) and detaches a few modules for you to use. Modules are broken into three components: girders, thrusters, and lasers. Each type of module starts at level Alpha and progress upwards as the level of the sector increases. This is done by killing other ships. The best stuff (Omega) flashes between all the colors of the rainbow and is extremely tough to destroy while provide massive amounts of thrust or damage.

Girders are your basic module, and provide the structure to which the other two module types attach to. They also act as a makeshift armor as well, since they can take more damage than any of the other modules. Thrusters do exactly what their name suggests. Thrusters can provide any kind of thrust, although it depends on where they have been seated. For example, thrusters fitted on the side will provide you with more rotation than those on the back. Lasers are your only offensive weapon, and they shoot beams of varying length, power, and range. Lasers are the most fragile of all components, however.

Combat in Captain Forever is quite simple. You and an enemy (or enemies) must shoot the core inside of a modularly constructed ship. These modules are fragile, and will die after only a few hits. However, the same will happen to your core as well, and when your core is destroyed, the game resets back to the original position. No modules, just you floating through empty space. It's an extremely effective way of pushing the importance of survival, because the slightest slip-up can completely destroy a play session.

Some of the most effective tactics in Captain Forever are the unconventional ones. The most interesting tactic is the art of ramming and firing. You slam into an enemy ship so that your laser is next to his core, and then you fire over and over. Others include trapping info-buoys within cages for fun or building a ship that uses broadside firing to provide you with maximum protection. In short, there are a ton of tactics and ship combinations to try out, which makes this a very replayable game.

Captain Forever also has a sequel available, although it is not freeware yet. Titled Captain Successor, it has much more variety in its graphics, more details objects, and new modules to use on your ship. It's very interesting, and those that enjoy Captain Forever will no doubt like Captain Successor. There are more games down the line, but they have yet to be formally announced. Those that donate will have access to each game before it goes freeware.

Captain Forever is one of those games that just screams perfection. An endless amount of replayability, cohesive gameplay, and appropriate graphics all make it an instant browser masterpiece. While it does suffer from a few problems (such as a gigantic learning curve), it is overall one of the best games, browser or otherwise, that you can play. You can try out Captain Forever on the developer's website.

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