- To go where no man has gone before - The classes of ships themselves have been tailored expressly to have weaknesses and strengths. For example, there are slow ships with poor handling, incrediblbly powerful lasers and medium strength shields. There are also incredibly fast ships with superior handling, weak shields and weak lasers. These choices were to show that some races are simply technologically superior to others. Bear in mind that almost any super ship is "better" than any fighter and again this is intentional. You can use these details to handicap a superior or more experienced player in a network game, or you can use it to give your self an advantage or disadvantage in a one player game. In addition to all of these different flyable ships, you can eject from the ships an fly around as a little humanoid trying to get your last licks in before you are quite literally blown to pieces. Enemy piliots also have the option (if they are fast enough) and it is quite entertaining to see the arms and legs explode off of the main body. It generally takes only one hit to kill an ejected pilot. Essentially, they've added a little something to the gameplay and earned their "teen" rating in one fell swoop. There will be an endurance mode (for network or single player) where randomly selected enemy ships form in waves to attack the human opponents... first one, then two, then three, etc., etc. I jumped in on this mode at the 15 ships level and got my ass handed to me (and I don't mean a donkey). The best I did was two kills before I died in about five tries. Scott "claims" (and admittedly Steph backs him up) that he's killed 5 before dying at that level. Pretty damn good if you ask me. You say you don't have someone to network with? Well that's o.k. Scott, Doug and Steph allowed for computer wingmen for you to play with. You can even designate their target ships to go after. A variant of this mode for network (or modem of course) is something I called "tag". Essentially some one is "it" and remains "it" until they shoot another human player. While they are "it" they are the target of all CPU attacks. There is a "free for all" mode where each of the ships is simply out to kill one another. This mode is fun for learning how to play, however is quite easy as I won it several times in the course of my first few times playing. Just like it sounds, the ships engage in a battle royale on an intergalactice scale. There are some other modes involving the capitol ships and starbases, however we didn't discuss them. Essentially it will involve destroying opponent bases/ships while protecting your own. While engaging the enemy you have several weapons (in addition to your standard lasers) at your disposal. They include:
* Stasis Bolts: - these large spheres of blue energy freeze your enemy for 4 or 5 seconds. At this time you can feel free to drop mines all around him so that when he "comes to" he rocks his world. I think you get 10 of these. * Super Bolts: - This wasn't the name for these, but essentially they were really powerful lasers. You only got a few shots with them however... I think like 10. * Space Mines: - What better way to get that pesky bogey off your tail then sending him a little chin music in the form of these puppies. I think you get like 20 of these. * More: - There were like two or three more weapons but I've forgotten what they did.
As for your lasers, you can link your fire to do additional damage however,
you will need to wait longer for your lasers to cool before you can fire
again. Some ships have two main turrents, others three or four.
Your shield levels "regenerate" at a different paces depending upon which ship you are, the speed you are moving (moving slower allow the shields to regenerate faster). They may include some way to allocate the ships power to the different systems ala X-Wing/Tie Fighter to give greater control over the shield levels. Once your shields are completely down, you begin taking damage against your hull rating". When your hull rating level reaches zero, the ship explodes. Be sure to eject as you may get one more ship before dying. - Sven!!! |