I'm not a game geek. I'm not completely clueless, but for me, it's either stuff with a cute female lead or nothing. For the first 12 years of my life, I've come in contact with games only in the form of those girly dress up / makeover things. I don't think I've ever played Mario Kart. I know, shoot me. So yeah, I'm as far from a game geek as you can get. However, I do enjoy sci-fi movies and books and catching all the references in Armada sure was a fun time. The nerdy part of me loved it. The part that is currently writing this review isn't so sure. 
 One of my all-time favourites (maybe even The) is Ender's Game, which I've loved since what, 13? The themes in Armada brought back all the good memories and all the good tropes; smart kids, extraterrestrial life, games that are actually not games, found families, not all aliens! On the other hand, it just wasn't Ender's Game. 
 When people complained about the romance in Ready Player One, I was the one to shout: "You see, a novel obsessing over 70s culture can't have the plot of anything less than a sterotypical 70s movie, hence the predictable and boring romance. It's actually brilliant." 
 I'm not saying I was wrong then, but I kind of see their point now. Armada was readable, entertaining and funny, but definitely not revolutionary. In the end, Zack's fate was nothing more than a nostalgic recollection of overused sci-fi tropes, average in almost all aspects.