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It
is now more than two hundred years since the defeat of the
Klissans and the events of the original Space Rangers
game. The year is 3300 and the universe is experiencing
a period of relative peace. The several indigenous races compete
for political and trade advantages; fat merchant ships ply
the trade lanes with only the pirates to contend with. Trying
to keep the peace and defend the week are the Space Rangers,
a group dedicated to defending the galaxy. But after two hundred
years after the last conflagration a new menace has arisen;
The Dominators. Arising from one of the planets previously
controlled by the Klissans, these self aware cybernetic machine
are spreading out bringing with them fear and destruction...
Space
Rangers 2
is an open ended RPG/action game. The game is similar to Microsoft's
Freelancer, in some places too similar. Whilst the
graphics are not as polished as Freelancer there is
a greater overall freedom of choice in Space Rangers.
The game encompasses a huge area spanning 60 star systems
and over 250 planets, as well as sundry spacer stations. Within
the game there are hundreds of computer controlled ships all
going about their own business for you to interact with. As
a Space Ranger you are not alone as there are 50 more
rangers all competing with you to save the galaxy from the
Dominators.
When
you fire up the game the first thing you get is a nice little
CGI which is amusing and sets the slightly irreverent tone
of the game. From the menu you can choose to play as a member
of one of the five dominant races - Maloq, Peleng, Human,
Freyan or Garlian - each of these choices will determine which
other races you are currently getting along with. You can
also choose a profession - Fighter, Mercenary, Merchant, Corsair
or Pirate - your profession will determine the type of ship
that you start the game with. There is also a kind of Brucey
Bonus so that you can make minor configuration changes to
your ship.
Once
into the game proper, you appear on the planetary surface
and are presented with the option of going straight into the
game or run through a training scenario to get you used to
the controls. As ever, if you're like me and don't read the
manual, its well worth going through a little training first.
Once you're past this you're ready to play. You can choose
to trade, engage in piratical activities, or pick up the quests
available within the game. Obviously the whole idea is to
gain more and more credits to make your ship as strong as
possible prior to engaging the Dominators.
The
game arena is very open ended. Whilst it's good to play the
overall narrative out, there's nothing stopping you becoming
a successful trader or pirate, however the storyline continues
regardless of your choices as does the spread of the Dominators.
Combat comes in two types, space and planetary warfare. Graphically,
the space combat looks very retro with little 2D ships flying
around trading and blowing each other to bits. The planetary
combat utilises large robots in a 3D environment and this
section plays very much like the old Dune games.
So
whilst the game will not break any moulds its well worth a
play, there's a little bit of something for everyone and enough
variation within the game to stop you getting bored.
You should get many enjoyable hours of game play from Space
Rangers 2. Better still, if you like SR2 then the developers
have included the original Space Rangers absolutely
free. Not bad two games for the price of one.
Charles
Packer
Buy
this item online
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£26.99
(Amazon.co.uk)
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£24.99
(Gameseek.co.uk) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
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