The Vault Dweller
always looking for water.
Over a year ago I had the game Space Rangers recommended to me by none other than The Commissar and old and very seasoned member here who hasn't been active at all lately. After seeing a review of the game (that gave it a 90%) and not seeing any advertisement for it at all I was curious. If the game is so great why no magazine ads, internet banners, or anything? After asking The Commissar (who heartily recommended it then threatened to kill me as usual) it turns out the game is Russian made and apparently they felt the American release wasn't worth advertising...I don't blame them...
The game is too large in free exploration design to summarize in ANY advertisement! Now let me admit I love free exploration games and it may just be a good game that I'm overhyping, but I'm fairly certain I'm not. I will have some problems explaining the game, because it's entertainment is strictly non-linear.
You can do anything, anywhere for whatever reason. You can trade like a merchant, fight like a warrior, or pirate like a robber. What's important is that you gain money and experience to get better equipment and skills.
You start the game having been briefed about your duties as a Ranger. In the known galaxy there exist 5 races that while having trouble getting along at times have mostly been friendly for the purposes of avoiding war and encouraging trade and sharing technology. They currently exist as a commonwealth. The galaxy as is known is being invaded by an unknown race called the which can't/won't communicate and is highly hostile. They control a significant portion of the galaxy (the amount is different based on the difficulty setting) and the budget for keeping orbital warships is extremely costly to the planetary governments. So they created the freelance Ranger organization. Individuals of good standing and high wealth can buy a ship and equipment and perform whatever duties they wish, assuming that most of them will help the commonwealth in it's war. With so many warships assigned to the war pirates have returned to harass transport vessels which slow the economy and decrease their efforst towards the war. You are told that depending on your choice you can trade both to make you money and support the commonwealth by doing so at places too dangerour for other merchants to go. You are also told you can equip yourself for combat and go wherever the battle is to make money (from picking up loot) and support the commonwealth by destroying its enemies. Of course once your out on your own you could actually turn to piracy yourself.
This is where the game gets complicated. You could equip yourself for trade and make small profit going between worlds in safe sectors and systems. But what if you take the money and buy some good combat equipment too? You could go to planets in systems with pirates and they'll leave you alone and you can make lots of money buying/selling on those neglected worlds that have problems getting traders. What if the system gets invaded though? Well you may help the local military and make such money you can have an all purpose ship. Of course you'll pay much more to maintain an all purpose ship with lots of equipment than a single purpose ship, but you'll also do alot more work for money to pay those fees.
What about relations? Certain races have rivalries amongst one another and you may find yourself having to bribe an official before they let you trade or get missions on a planet. In fact if they don't like you and you do something to wrong them (destroy a transport you were trying to pirate) they may arrest you and throw you in prison.
Speaking of which this leads to my favorite part of the game. Text adventures. Yes you heard me right. Some of the government missions are transporting of important cargo, or the destruction of a specific ship, but some are "quests" that are told through text descriptions and dialogue. I can't summarize any of them here, but they are beyond fun. Sometimes they present logical puzzles that you can solve by thinking. Sometimes they are "go this way or talk to this person" and making the wrong choice causes you to fail or even get killed.
What also makes this game stand out is that everything is alive
and acting on its own. Other ships have pilots who remember you and react accordingly. If you're a pirate and you take the cargo/charge toll on three different ships indidually who are weaker than you than in the future if all three happen to be in the same sector they will all come at you at the same time. While a pirate ship is much better than a merchants at combat two merchants can barely kill a pirate and three will easily.
What if you were a combat ship and you saved some transport from a pirate? In the future if you ever get attacked in the same system as someone you once helped they'll help you...even if the odds are against them (and always if the odds are for them even if they are neutral to you).
As you go about the game time passes and systems get conquered and liberated. Liberated systems can offer you opportunities that others can't and conquered systems need to be avoided then on. Unless you hear of a military operation to attack a specific system on a specific date. Then you can show up and help.
I read over my game review and let me just say I suck at explaining it and that the game is just too big for anyone (me or otherwise) to show justly. I hope you will take my word for it and try it.
One warning though...it is VERY difficult. Easy feels like normal and normal feels like hard. Of course it starts a lot harder in the beginning since other Rangers have been operating for years where you are just starting and are much lower in experience and equipment. However once you get equal to the best the game is much easier (normal feels like easy and easy is actually a pushover near the end).
Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
*EDIT*
Oops I forgot. Turn based battles in when in normal space and arcade battles when in hyperspace. Very fun for both strategists and twitch gamers.
Also here's a damn good review;
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61014
The review is for Space Rangers 1 and not 2 however Space Rangers 2 comes with 1 and they are both similar. Though I will admit 2 is significantly better for taking everything about 1 and slightly expanding/improving it while adding nothing bad and removing nothing good. Most notably in the second one you can study uninhabited worlds with probes, undertake an entirely new kind of mission in planetary battles, and also you can gain experience from everything instead of just combat.
*EDIT 2*
Here is a review of Space Rangers 2;
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/frontpage/node/29
The game is too large in free exploration design to summarize in ANY advertisement! Now let me admit I love free exploration games and it may just be a good game that I'm overhyping, but I'm fairly certain I'm not. I will have some problems explaining the game, because it's entertainment is strictly non-linear.
You can do anything, anywhere for whatever reason. You can trade like a merchant, fight like a warrior, or pirate like a robber. What's important is that you gain money and experience to get better equipment and skills.
You start the game having been briefed about your duties as a Ranger. In the known galaxy there exist 5 races that while having trouble getting along at times have mostly been friendly for the purposes of avoiding war and encouraging trade and sharing technology. They currently exist as a commonwealth. The galaxy as is known is being invaded by an unknown race called the which can't/won't communicate and is highly hostile. They control a significant portion of the galaxy (the amount is different based on the difficulty setting) and the budget for keeping orbital warships is extremely costly to the planetary governments. So they created the freelance Ranger organization. Individuals of good standing and high wealth can buy a ship and equipment and perform whatever duties they wish, assuming that most of them will help the commonwealth in it's war. With so many warships assigned to the war pirates have returned to harass transport vessels which slow the economy and decrease their efforst towards the war. You are told that depending on your choice you can trade both to make you money and support the commonwealth by doing so at places too dangerour for other merchants to go. You are also told you can equip yourself for combat and go wherever the battle is to make money (from picking up loot) and support the commonwealth by destroying its enemies. Of course once your out on your own you could actually turn to piracy yourself.
This is where the game gets complicated. You could equip yourself for trade and make small profit going between worlds in safe sectors and systems. But what if you take the money and buy some good combat equipment too? You could go to planets in systems with pirates and they'll leave you alone and you can make lots of money buying/selling on those neglected worlds that have problems getting traders. What if the system gets invaded though? Well you may help the local military and make such money you can have an all purpose ship. Of course you'll pay much more to maintain an all purpose ship with lots of equipment than a single purpose ship, but you'll also do alot more work for money to pay those fees.
What about relations? Certain races have rivalries amongst one another and you may find yourself having to bribe an official before they let you trade or get missions on a planet. In fact if they don't like you and you do something to wrong them (destroy a transport you were trying to pirate) they may arrest you and throw you in prison.
Speaking of which this leads to my favorite part of the game. Text adventures. Yes you heard me right. Some of the government missions are transporting of important cargo, or the destruction of a specific ship, but some are "quests" that are told through text descriptions and dialogue. I can't summarize any of them here, but they are beyond fun. Sometimes they present logical puzzles that you can solve by thinking. Sometimes they are "go this way or talk to this person" and making the wrong choice causes you to fail or even get killed.
What also makes this game stand out is that everything is alive
and acting on its own. Other ships have pilots who remember you and react accordingly. If you're a pirate and you take the cargo/charge toll on three different ships indidually who are weaker than you than in the future if all three happen to be in the same sector they will all come at you at the same time. While a pirate ship is much better than a merchants at combat two merchants can barely kill a pirate and three will easily.
What if you were a combat ship and you saved some transport from a pirate? In the future if you ever get attacked in the same system as someone you once helped they'll help you...even if the odds are against them (and always if the odds are for them even if they are neutral to you).
As you go about the game time passes and systems get conquered and liberated. Liberated systems can offer you opportunities that others can't and conquered systems need to be avoided then on. Unless you hear of a military operation to attack a specific system on a specific date. Then you can show up and help.
I read over my game review and let me just say I suck at explaining it and that the game is just too big for anyone (me or otherwise) to show justly. I hope you will take my word for it and try it.
One warning though...it is VERY difficult. Easy feels like normal and normal feels like hard. Of course it starts a lot harder in the beginning since other Rangers have been operating for years where you are just starting and are much lower in experience and equipment. However once you get equal to the best the game is much easier (normal feels like easy and easy is actually a pushover near the end).
Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
*EDIT*
Oops I forgot. Turn based battles in when in normal space and arcade battles when in hyperspace. Very fun for both strategists and twitch gamers.
Also here's a damn good review;
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61014
The review is for Space Rangers 1 and not 2 however Space Rangers 2 comes with 1 and they are both similar. Though I will admit 2 is significantly better for taking everything about 1 and slightly expanding/improving it while adding nothing bad and removing nothing good. Most notably in the second one you can study uninhabited worlds with probes, undertake an entirely new kind of mission in planetary battles, and also you can gain experience from everything instead of just combat.
*EDIT 2*
Here is a review of Space Rangers 2;
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/frontpage/node/29
