|
North American gamers finally get to see what all of the buzz is about. The Space Rangers series was well received overseas but the game was never released in North America so few gamers knew of the series. Thankfully, Space Rangers 2 shows us what the series is about and leaves a good impression.
In the game, you play a space ranger who has to handle a number of tasks. Aside from policing the galaxy by controlling robots bent on controlling the galaxy you have to make sure you earn enough to live. This means that you can take side missions from other governments, buy goods (or trade them), or even play a bad cop and extort money from people. Of course, it’s hard to hide these actions, so while completing an assignment may let you get on the good side of one group, it may upset another. Nonetheless, you have to risk it to get money, money that you need to acquire a number of upgrades available in the game. The game keeps things interesting, even for multiple play-throughs since the galaxies are randomly generated.
In addition to the main game, the game includes a number of optional missions presented in homage to the old text adventures of years past. For instance, you may have to manage a property to make it profitable or win a race, but instead of actually racing, you’ll just be making decisions at key points in the race. These missions are made unintentionally humorous thanks to the translation in the game. Although you always have a pretty good idea about what’s going on, it isn’t hard to see that some things were lost in translation.
The game has a fair amount of combat, which is unexpectedly quick. Though the combat is turn-based, it moves quicker because all sides choose their moves for a turn and then everyone goes at it at the same time. There is also optional real-time strategy in the game. Interestingly, this mode has a slower pace than the turn-based combat since you’re essentially building a bigger army than the opposition and then crushing them. Building a sufficiently large army, as you can imagine, takes time.
Space Rangers 2 isn’t going to win awards for cutting edge visuals, but the art style does carry the game a long way. The visuals are colorful and fit the game’s myriad of gameplay possibilities. Some of the optional missions in particular have outdated graphics, though you’ll hardly mind since the actual gameplay is engaging.
The same can be said of the game’s audio. There are a number of sound effects but nothing out of the ordinary and they could be summed up as basic. The background music is largely comprised of techno music, which, again fits the game well but it isn’t particularly noteworthy.
Space Rangers 2 is enjoyable though not the most easily assessable game ever designed. If you’re willing to learn the nuances, you’ll discover a rich game with plenty to do from amassing large bases, to bribing officials, to playing delivery boy. You might just find yourself unable to let go.
System Requirements: System: 450 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 800MB free HD space
Recommend Requirements: 2.6 Ghz processor, 512MB RAM, 1.4GB free HD space, Direct X 9 compatible graphics card -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Jun 21, 2006
|
