Game News Renamed Space Hack demo is out

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Rebelmind; Space Hack

Remember <a href=http://spacehack.rebelmind.com>Space Hack</a>, a Diablo-like sci-fi RPG with some really stupid design ideas? Well, it's been renamed and the demo is out. The new name is <b>Maximus XV Abraham Strong: Space Mercenary</b>. No, I aint kidding you, that's the name now. Very catchy. At least the publisher thinks so. Anyway, if you are still interested in playing a Maximus XV Abraham Strong: Space Mercenary demo, <a href=http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=20772&mode=thread&order=0>click here</a>.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPG Dot</A>

 

[Whipporowill]

Probably the worst name change in history - I also seem to remember the game having a new title in Germany as well.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I also seem to remember the game having a new title in Germany as well.

I bet the Germans simply refused to play a game with such a stupid name.

 

[Whipporowill]

Novaspehere 13 in Gemany...

 

[The Pope]

That's even worse than Divine Divinity. :shock: :D

 

[fnordcircle]

Why stop there? Why not make a Dr. Strangelove title out of it.

MXVAS:SM or How I learned to stop worrying and love the Tyrrany of Choice.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Why stop there? Why not make a Dr. Strangelove title out of it.

MXVAS:SM or How I learned to stop worrying and love the Tyrrany of Choice.

The above post gets my vote for Post of the Month.

It really is a pretty bad title.

 

[geminito]

Actually, the game in kinda fun. Click and kill mindless fun.

My magnetic gun ran out of ammo, I think. I don't see anywhere that tells me how much ammo I have, and I tried to "recharge" it, but I didn't get a message that says whether I succeeded or not. I also tried to recharge my sling shot, and got no message... Other than user-friendly issues like that, it's a neat game.

But I think I've had enough Diablo for a while.

 

[Elwro]

The new title looks like a horrible joke.

 

[Sol Invictus]

You probably wouldn't be able to buy this game in a store without eliciting a lot of laughter and funny looks from other people and the guy at the counter.

"Why hullo good sirs, I'm fairly interested in doing business with you, by mayhaps partaking in the purchase of a game likely known to you as Maximus XV Abraham Strong: Space Mercenary"

Are you fucking kidding me?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Hell, as bad as the new name is.. It beats the hell out of "Space Hack".

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Hell, as bad as the new name is.. It beats the hell out of "Space Hack".

Sorry Saint, but no, just no. Space Hack may sound corny, but it never reaches the flowery, over-the-top nonsense of the new name.

 

[RGE]

Actually, the game in kinda fun. Click and kill mindless fun.

My magnetic gun ran out of ammo, I think. I don't see anywhere that tells me how much ammo I have, and I tried to "recharge" it, but I didn't get a message that says whether I succeeded or not. I also tried to recharge my sling shot, and got no message... Other than user-friendly issues like that, it's a neat game.

The message on their website says that energy weapons use the energy cells that you are apparently supposed to pick up and use as money. Perhaps the demo has a limited amount of energy cells and you've run out? That would make sense.

About the name change, I agree that Space Hack is nice and simple, but I like the new over-the-top name. It's funny. :D

Alluring screenshots too. Too bad the Europa mirror for that demo seemed to be down or lacking the file. Guess I'll try a USA mirror and see what I've been missing.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Yeah, I had the same problem with the magnetic gun. I couldn't figure out what I was doing with the thing once it ran out of ammo. I couldn't recharge it either. The idea that weapons use up your money for their ammo is kind of lame, if you ask me. That's a poor mechanic.

I decided to get myself a club and just started wacking away at the critters. Once I got some armor, I was having a decent time with the game. BEFORE I got the armor, though, I was getting mauled by nearly everything. It feels like before you get some armor, it's just a little too difficult, even with the difficulty set to EASY.

They should have taken a page from Diablo 2, where the first area is just mind numbingly simple and easy - it's really only there so you can get some armor and maybe a decent weapon or so. You don't really have to worry much about health right outside of town in Diablo 2, but you do in Max15.

And back to the subject of the name, Abraham Strong is a HELL of a lot better name for the character than Space Hack. The game is named after the character you play, so given that criteria for the game name, I think Maximus 15 Abraham Strong is a HELL of a lot better than Space Hack.

Oh yeah, and this game really needs multiplayer. As a single player game, there's just not much to keep it interesting.

 

[Dhruin]

Absolutely hilarious all round, except for the Germans who get something that sounds fairly cool.

 

[fnordcircle]

Hell, as bad as the new name is.. It beats the hell out of "Space Hack".

No way dude. Space Hack sounds like a child of 'Hack' set in outer space, which is why I even bothered to read up on the title in the first place.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

And back to the subject of the name, Abraham Strong is a HELL of a lot better name for the character than Space Hack.

For the character? Yes. But that's not the entire case here, because the name of the character actually larger than that.

The game is named after the character you play, so given that criteria for the game name, I think Maximus 15 Abraham Strong is a HELL of a lot better than Space Hack.

I don't like either of them, at least in regards to being the character's name; however, I concede that for a name, Abraham Strong is much better than Space Hack. Short names are usually a good rule when it comes to naming videogame characters (and some titles). Lara Croft. Duke Nukem. Max Payne. PacMan. Short and to the point.

But like I was saying, the problem is that the name isn't just Abraham Strong, it's Maximus XV Abraham Strong. The title of the game is not just Abraham Strong, it's the entire name, plus the guy's freaking job, Space Mercenary. That's an unecessarily long title that doesn't really sound better or causes a better impact than the other one. If they wanted a sounding title that was short and made an impact, they could go with something like Maximus Strong: Space Mercenary, or even Maximus Strong: Space Hack.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Maximus IX might be the name of the ship or his rank, because in the game itself, they refer to him as "Abraham Strong". Even if it is his full name, it's a hell of a lot better than calling himself "Space Hack". There's nothing dumber than being a sci-fi mercenary/soldier type guy named "Space Hack".

 

[Whipporowill]

I think I read about Maximus being names of the ark-ships... so it's probably number 15 in the series. Still. Freaking odd name.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Maximus XV - Abraham Strong: Space Mercenary

Maximus XV is a good name, but only if you add a nice dash before Abe's name.

 

[Fez]

I'd like to see how they are going to arrange that moronic title on the packaging.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Get the demo, it's pretty sweet. If only it had multiplayer... sigh.

They arrange it nicely. The Maximus XV words are at the top, and Abraham Strong is in big letters in the middle, with Space Mercenary at the bottom, small again.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Maximus IX might be the name of the ship or his rank, because in the game itself, they refer to him as "Abraham Strong"

If that's the case, granted. As I've said before, my point is that its unecessary long - Abraham Strong suits it just fine (even if its a silly name; it evokes imagery of an Amish superhero for some reason).

Even if it is his full name, it's a hell of a lot better than calling himself "Space Hack". There's nothing dumber than being a sci-fi mercenary/soldier type guy named "Space Hack".

One comes off as being inadequate because its a silly name for character, and the other comes off as inadequate because the excessive size isn't conveying anything about the game or character that is necessary, or that a shorter name wouldn't convey. Space Hack could've just been used as a game title instead of the character's name, though.

 

[HanoverF]

Click on the blue bars to on the right of the screen to convert the cells to energy.

 

[RGE]

The idea that weapons use up your money for their ammo is kind of lame, if you ask me. That's a poor mechanic.

I disagree. The other weapons also spend money as they're being used, since you have to repair them unless you just use them until they break and then switch to some other weapon of the same type that you found. With the free energy fill at every level up I didn't use the gun enough to need to reload it until I was almost halfway through Murderous Hill and decided to bump Knowledge and go all with guns. I realised that the guns didn't spend more money than repairing my light axe would have cost me, and they are more versatile too, since they have at least a short range. The cheap and easy-to-handle cold ray rifle I managed to get late in the demo was a real energy cell guzzler though, and even with Knowledge 50 and the 150 extra energy that I got from that (compared to Knowledge 15) the rifle just wasn't a viable option compared to a high damage cold ray gun.

I decided to get myself a club and just started wacking away at the critters. Once I got some armor, I was having a decent time with the game. BEFORE I got the armor, though, I was getting mauled by nearly everything. It feels like before you get some armor, it's just a little too difficult, even with the difficulty set to EASY.

I don't think the light armour did a whole lot for me. Most of my trouble came from Larvae missiles, which I had to learn how to dodge, and Toasters, which I learned very late in the game how to dodge properly. Apparently they shoot twice and then spend some time to reload, and that's when it's reasonably safe to attack. The red ones only took noticable damage from magnetic rays, and the green ones were vulnerable to cold rays. Everything else seemed to die just fine to any gun, so it was a good thing that I didn't burn a lot of cells on the wrong kind of gun right before entering the Underground of Fear.

Horrible voice acting in that game though, and the huge focus on melee weapons and low tech projectile weapons seemed inappropriate, as did the various teleport devices. I much prefer the way strange aliens and high tech stuff is shown in System Shock 2 and Half-Life. Maintaining the status quo of Diablo 2's fantasy setting, only with high tech instead of magic, seemed a bit too lacking in imagination. I liked the Alien's Ov-somethings that acted as barrels though, because they also acted as cover for the aliens since I'd shoot the green stuff instead of the alien hiding in it. Annoying, but cool. Oh, and the ambient music was good too. The controls were less good. I missed the ability to turn the view by moving my pointer to the edges of the screen, and over all I had trouble steering Abraham Strong. Don't remember having much trouble steering my Diablo 2 characters, but I haven't played that game in a while.