In
space, no one can hear you make a pizza. by
Jason Ru
April
20, 2006 -
Space
Rangers is not your typical space exploration game.
It's filled with all kinds of interesting and somewhat
bizarre things to do. It's totally unpredictable as
you go from battling pirates to making pizzas. It's
a little complicated to learn the control system but
after a few hours it should be smooth sailing across
the universe.

Space
Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators is the sequel to
Space Rangers. If you haven't played, or even heard
of the original, not to worry. It wasn't officially
released in North America - until now. If you purchase
Space Rangers 2, you will get, at absolutely no extra
charge, a free copy of the original Space Rangers.
Act now. Operators are standing by.
That's
a pretty good deal, you've got to admit. With casual
play, an hour here and an hour there, this package
could last you months - but it won't feel like it.
There is so much to do that you won't want to close
it for the night. I will warn you that there are some
translation problems that you will run into and occasionally
you will encounter some actual bugs in the game which
is frustrating since you can't always be sure if the
problem is with the translation or with the gameplay
mechanics.
In
the role of a Space Ranger, it's your duty to keep
the universe safe of pirates and the dangerous robots
known as Dominators. There are five different classes
to choose from. Each will have slightly different
attributes which can be increased throughout the game.
The type of ship that you acquire and the amount of
money that you receive will also be determined by
your class. All of your paths and options available
to you will be a result of the choices that you make.

Travelling
through the universe is basically a point and click
operation. Just map out your destination and let the
computer take you there. You can stop anywhere just
by pressing the space bar. There are many inhabited
planets that you can land on but you should only land
on planets where you are welcome. Your class and your
reputation will affect your reception on a particular
planet. Your reputation could be that of an exemplary
law enforcer or a low-life pirate. The freedom of
choice is yours.
The
Ranger gig doesn't pay well very so you're going to
have to find supplemental income to earn money for
new upgrades on your ship and weapons. You can choose
to land on hospitable planets and contact the appropriate
government officials to see if there are any missions
that you can carry out for them. Missions range from
delivering pizza to another planet to defending an
entire solar system from the threat of the Dominators.
Other missions include interesting puzzle solving
games to economic sims. As an example there is one
mission in which you have to refurbish a decrepit
alien ski resort and turn it back into a flourishing
business. You are free to accept these missions or
refuse them. You can even tell the computer to stop
offering these kinds of missions to you.
For
the entrepreneur that prefers to handle his or her
own affairs, you can purchase merchandise on the various
planets and transport it to other planets where you
can sell it for a profit. For more exotic goods you
can even attempt to land on less-than-friendly planets
by offering the powers that be a bribe. But if commerce
isn't your thing, and you're looking for some action,
you might just decide to become a pirate. You can
extort civilians or plunder freighters. This will
have a different affect on your rep, allowing you
to visit planets that would be inadvisable to visit
as a do-gooder. Landing on the wrong planet can wind
you up in the clinker. While in jail you will have
different options available to you to help pass the
time. Many of these play out like wacky mini-games
and are not only unexpected but lots of fun.

There
are three different forms of combat. The main one
is turn-based but it's very quick and feels satisfying.
You can attack your targets automatically or manually.
At first you might want to try the automatic method
because the manual one appears somewhat complex. If
you want to attack the larger ships it's best to do
it manually as the AI will tend to go off course.
Destroyed ships are a good source of salvage so the
less damage that you can do to a particular ship the
better. When defeating Dominators they will drop Micromodules
which are essentially power-ups that you can use to
upgrade equipment and weapons. They will help increase
the range of weapons or reduce the costs of some supplies.
If
you want to do a little real-time shooting you can
enter into a black hole and shoot at enemies while
flying around a 2D sphere. You use the arrow keys
to move around and the Ctrl to fire. There is an automatic
targeting feature but if you're going to use that
you might as well just avoid flying into a black hole
in the first place. You will find plenty of power-ups
in the black holes but thanks to the poorly translated
manual I have no idea what they are or how to use
them.
Ground
combat is the third and final form of combat. It's
based on real-time strategy but it's not as deep as
a dedicated RTS game, which is fine because as it
is it's a great diversion and we really don't need
to rely on the manual for further clarification. The
objective is to build an army of robots with lots
of weaponry to take over as much territory as possible.
There are enemy bases that you have to capture. You
can take control of any individual unit but overall
this portion of the game plays out at a much slower
pace. If RTS isn't for you, you don't have to accept
these missions either.
Each
time that you load a new game a new galaxy will be
randomly generated so that no two games are ever quite
the same. Unlike some space exploration games you
never feel lonely in this one. The universe is a busy
place with hundreds of ships going about their daily
business. The universe is alive. It's interesting
to see how the various fleets of ships, planets, governments
and individuals react to the choices that you make
in the game. While you may be an unimportant, impotent
little dweeb in real life, In Space Rangers 2, you
can actually make a difference.

This
isn't a great looking game but it gets the job done.
It features a lot of 2D graphics with the occasional
3D background which will make this game compatible
with a variety of PCs. The background music is really
good but the voiceacting is awful. I wonder if these
actors are the same people that wrote the manual?
Space
Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators is definitely a
package that will give you great value for your dollar.
There are some elements that will remind you of a
budget title but for the most part the gameplay makes
this title worth looking into.
Features:
- One
of the most critically acclaimed games of the year!
- Turn-based
RPG encompassing various gameplay genres in a vast
and open-ended interstellar world
- Unique,
ambitious vision that delivers epic gameplay on
a new scale!
- Added
bonus includes the original Space Rangers 1 and
a collectible poster!
By
Jason Ru
CCC
Freelance Writer
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