Preview GameSpot checks out Space Rangers 2

[Spazmo]

Tags: 1C Company; Space Rangers 2: Dominators

<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/pc">Gamespot PC</a> have their own <a href=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/spacerangers2dominators/news.html?sid=6142753&mode=previews>preview</a> of Space Rangers 2 up. It seems press copies are circulating--where's ours, you jerks?<blockquote>You can best think of Space Rangers 2 as a combination of Star Control and Sid Meier's Pirates! with some real-time strategy and role-playing thrown in. Your job is to create your own unique avatar and fly about the galaxy, doing pretty much whatever you want to do. You can live the life of a trader, be a pirate or mercenary, or just go and explore the unknown sectors of the galaxy. Heck, you can even run for planetary office and govern a planet if you want--though if you do, you'll need to make all sorts of decisions to keep your grip on power. Or, you can attempt to conquer planets by commanding giant robots on the battlefield. It sounds like a crazy and ambitious mix of gameplay, but judging from the very positive reception the game is getting in Europe, it apparently works.</blockquote>It's kind of funny, but with all the crazy stuff Space Rangers 2 seems to do, Escape Velocity Nova, which was pretty awesome in its own right, looks downright limited in comparison.

 

[LlamaGod]

I'm looking forward to this game since trading has always been my favorite thing to do in space sims, but very few of them have any decent trading, or trading at all.

EVNova trading was okay.. Freelancer was crappy and then alot of stuff like Freespace 2 dont even have it.

I just want a big open space world to do trading and stuff in.

How is the combat in this game, by the way?

 

[Naked_Lunch]

The combat is alright, but nothing to write home about. Basically, there's two options: auto-combat where the AI fights for you, and regular combat where it goes turn-by-turn. Auto-combat is good against weaker enemies and such, but the regular combat is a must when fighting the dominators.

The comat could have more options, all you do really is just select the weapon types you want to use and fire away. Your skills adjust how much damage you do and how well you dodge missles, but it would be nice if you were able to execute some sophisticated manuevers or release garbage to get in the enemie's path.

 

[Nicolai]

I found the game's combat system to be a tad messy, but hey, it's turn-based, so it's all good. B)

 

[LlamaGod]

Well, it sounds better then EVNova

 

[Psilon]

EVNova's still pretty good. It's just more SubSpace, less Elite. And I think it would have held up better if there was a reasonable way to import plugins.

Between the asinine dependence on an antiquated version of StuffIt and the plugin-killing bugs in the initial PC version, there really weren't any good plugins. Oh, and of course the reliance on ResEdit for everything since no one bothered to document the .rez file format.

 

[Antagonist]

Does anyone know by chance which part Play.com is selling ? The game is just called Space Rangers there but the description mentions an original episode so I was hoping that they are marketing SR 2 as the first part of the series.

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=PC&title=587129

 

[Screaming_life]

Does anyone know by chance which part Play.com is selling ? The game is just called Space Rangers there but the description mentions an original episode so I was hoping that they are marketing SR 2 as the first part of the series.

http://www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=PC&title=587129

You get both in the same box. It was released as just "Space rangers" in the UK as the original hadn't been released before.

 

[Antagonist]

Thanks, I'm ordering the game right now.

 

[Trash]

The game is great, just don't expect the second coming of christ or anything. Combat is hard, but has a simple system behind it. The missions are fun (espacially the text ones) and the universe is big and varied, though the focus is more on trading/war then exploration. It's a fun game to sink some time into, but it can get a bit stale after a while.

 

[Antagonist]

In such times of mediocrity I would never dare to expect a classic even if the packaging came with a golden halo but I really yearn for a game which can capture me for hours like JA2 or X-COM did. But I'm bold enough to expect a good game (according to my standards) and I'm not aversed to giving a few bucks to a company which still makes turnbased games to boot. This is the first time I buy a game because it was recommended by the Borg...err, Codex regulars so it better delivers.

 

[Vault Dweller]

In such times of mediocrity I would never dare to expect a classic ...

However, it is a classic. No doubts about that. I've never had so much fun since... hmm, my memory refuses to go that far.

 

[Balor]

Well, something to counterbalance those spam post
And yea, like I said, it's like one of those classic games from the past, only with modern graphics... well, relatively.