Aside from the dry spells between promotions already mentioned, the game also
suffers from the time it can take to travel between locations. Space is
divided into sectors which are connected by stargates. Each sector is
filled with navigation points. Targeting a nav point and selecting warp
will automatically send your ship to the selected nav point. However, your
ship can not take the direct route, it must pass by all the intervening nav
points as well. In a fully explored sector this means that you will spend
time just watching your ship move as it makes it's way from point to point.
In a new sector, you'll need to discover the nav points. This involves
warping to a nav point to reveal the next one beyond it, and then warping again
to the new one. Needless to say it can take quite some time to leapfrog
your way across a new sector.
Also of issue is that fact that you are often told that you must visit
certain locations to complete missions, but you are never told how to get there.
If you have not visited the sector before, you'll need to try to hop your way
from one sector to the next in the hope that you'll find it. Once the
location is discovered, receiving your reward often involves trudging all
the way back to the location where you're mission was given. Obtaining
engine upgrades will help to increase your speed, but you can still expect to
spend a portion of your gameplay simply flying from one place to another.
In addition to the space sectors, there are also planets and starbases to
explore. The planets all look quite good in the game and feature day/night
cycles as well. However, you are stuck in your ship when flying around
planetary surfaces, so in the end they behave as if they were smaller star
sectors, except that you can not use warp to speed travel between nav points.
The starbases allow you to leave your ship and walk around. You'll find
most of the game's NPCs in starbases, as well as vendors who will buy and sell weapons,
trade goods, and sell ship systems. Players can also interact when in starbases,
there is even a cocktail lounge in each base, but in our experience players
don't talk much while in the bases. They're more focused on buying,
selling, and obtaining missions, and it seems that most of the interaction takes
place in space when you find other players at the same location you are
visiting.
Overall the game is a fun experience in spite of its few flaws. It does
have that addicting quality that will have you wanting to play just a little
longer so that you can finish one more mission or gain one more level.
Westwood has done a good job of making the game accessible to casual gamers and
in providing you with a lot of freedom in pursuing your goals. However,
this comes at the cost of simplified ship handling and combat and this may put
off more experienced gamers.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
84%. A fun and accessible multiplayer universe, but probably too simplistic
for the veteran space sim crowd.
System Requirements: 500 MHz Pentium III CPU; 128 MB RAM; 32 MB
Video RAM; 4x CD-ROM; 2 GB Hard Drive Space; Mouse.
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