This week not really a flash game, but we’re keeping with the tradition that you don’t have to install anything on your machine.

I ran across Battlestar Galactica Online browsing the SyFy website, and was curious about it. In one word: amazing. This is a MMO game, built completely in a browser, with real-time space combat.

It first lets you choose whether you want to play as a human, or as a Cylon. I chose human, but the Cylon perspective is not that much different, apart from the characters giving you the missions and some flight characteristics of the ships.

The game then puts you in the driver’s seat of a Viper or Raptor, with other spacecraft available later in the game. You get your first assignments from Admiral Adama, and after completing those, you get assignments from Captain Adama and from Starbuck. These missions are intended to get you familiarized with the game controls and the dynamics. Just like in the SyFy series, there is a shortage of supplies, so even fighter pilots are mining for resources. You can reconfigure your plane for each mission, replacing a mining laser with a missile launcher, if you’re going after the big boys.

I haven’t seen a lot of bad things happen when you die, which adds to the gung-ho attitude to dive in and slaughter some toasters, or defeat some evil humans. Loads of fun, both as a quick intermission, or as a long-term commitment (if you earn enough merits, you can command the Galactica!).