Space Combat Articles 1996 - March 2001
 

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This Page: Space Combat Articles 1996 - March 2001.
Category Archive: Articles from 1996 to March 2001 ONLY! Does not include news.
Chronological Archive: Articles and news from January 2001 to Present.
Popular Sims: Collections of articles, files and links for one game (do not include news).
Article Database (NEW!): Eventually, all articles will be in this database.



Space Combat Articles 1996 - March 2001:
   
   
P r e v i e w
Echelon
Echelon takes a good space-flight-simulator engine and lets you fly over terrain. As our James Sterrett explains, the demo suggests Echelon is a good game, but not a great game.

   
   
F e a t u r e
Star Trek Armada Revisited
Jim "Twitch" Tittle takes another look at Star Trek Armada. With a strong user community, add-ons and mods have made it a whole new game.

   
   
R e v i e w
Starfleet Command 2
Starfleet Command 2 tries to improve on its predecessor, adding two new races, a host of new ships, and a persistent online multiplayer campaign. Some areas have undergone real improvement, and the overall package is a lot of fun! However, there are areas, especially the much-hyped online Dynaverse, where SFC2 promises but does not (yet) deliver.

   
   
R e v i e w
Intergalactic Pests: Starship Troopers
In Squad Leader, Hasbro showed how it could completely mismanage tactical games. With Starship Troopers, Hasbro shows how close it can come to getting it right.

   
   
Review
Star Trek: conQuest
Jim Tittle thought Star Trek: conQest would have a lot more combat. In fact, it has no maneuvering and firing and blowing stuff up, except in some detached Q-like mind game. As Jim explains, conQuest is like watching the QE II coming into dock versus a squadron of guys on a Kawasaki Jet Ski maneuvering all around the surf that Star Trek: Armada was.

Star Trek: conQuest

   
   
R e v i e w
Imperium Galactica II
Designers often make a mistake when making a follow-up to an almost-successful game. They tend to think that piling on more state-of-the-art features will rectify the flaws in their first effort. As James Cobb explains, Digital Reality and GT Interactive fell into this trap with Imperium Galactica II.

Imperium Galactica II

   
   
R e v i e w
Tachyon
Click to Proceed Tachyon is a world where you play Jake Logan, a pilot-for-hire. After a few missions, you are convicted of a crime you didn't commit and sent to the fringe. As Raul "Datajack" Rodriguez explains, the game grabs your attention as the story line draws you deep into this alternate space fantasy.

Review: Tachyon

   
   
R e v i e w
Star Trek Armada
Click to Proceed "Get this guy off my tail!" Kind of burned out on 20th century combat? Jim "Twitch" Tittle takes a look at Activision's Star Trek Armada which is an entertaining change from 109s, F-86s or F-16s.

Star Trek Armada

   
   
Preview:
Starlancer Parts I & II
Click to Proceed In part I, we have some first impressions of the single player features. Part II, we've had a chance to experiment with the multi-player features, and so far we are quite impressed.

Starlancer Part I
Starlancer Part II

   
   
Review
Freespace 2
LOGO Devoted fans of the Wing Commander milieu will probably never forget Spirit's sad choice, Maniac's antics, or Angel's tragedy. How does the Freespace series fare against the aged classics? Quite well, I must admit. The past week has seen me glued in front of my home system as I fought my way through Freespace 2's excellent campaign.

Freespace 2

   
   
Review
Starfleet Command
SFC Hands down "the best Star Trek game I have ever played." Is Star Trek Command the game you've been waiting for?

Starfleet Command

   
   
Review
X Wing Alliance
XWing Gavin Bennett takes us back to the nostalgic days of the Millennium Falcon. Does X Wing Alliance measure up to the challenge?

XWing Alliance

   
   
Review
Starsiege
Box I've been waiting for Starsiege for several years now, hoping it would take the Mech genre to the next level. The game's universe is largely fleshed out in the Compendium of this latest title. This detailed storyline, coupled with the game's rousing intro, sets the stage for some truly immersive gaming.

Starsiege Review

   
   
Review
Ares Rising
LOGO With a lot of media attention surrounding the releases of both Independence War and Wing Commander Secret Ops, we’ve had no lack of high end space combat sims. Both of these games not only have great gameplay but awesome graphics. Will Ares Rising survive in this market?

Ares Rising

   
   
Review
Independence War
BOX The design philosophy in I-War is for realism in a field populated with backwards rationalized explanations (you know, no flight model = some sci-fi buzz words). This Sci-Fi game is more on the level of a military simulation than any before it, especially in the area of "flight" model, and has "believable" speculations for other technologies.

Independence War

   
   
Review
Descent Freespace
BOX A couple of weeks ago I grabbed a copy of Freespace and found myself both surprised and a bit let down. After playing the game in both single and multi-player I came away with a good impression, but not a deep and lasting one. As long as Lucasarts and Origin continue to dominate this genre it will take a storyline as immersive as these can produce, teamed with either similar interactivity or some open ended options, for Freespace to truly compete.

Descent Freespace

   
   
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