Reviewed: January 17, 2003
Reviewed by: Aaron Daigle

Publisher
Got Game Entertainment

Developer
Palestar

Released: November 23, 2002
Genre: Strategy
Players: Online Multiplayer
ESRB: Teen

7
8
7
7
7.8

System Requirements

Here is the gratuitous list of DarkSpace features:

• Featuring 3D accelerated graphics using PaleStar's proprietary Medusa engine!
• Command over 18 unique spacecraft and installations from the three warring factions!
• Dynamic stereo rendered environmental sound, ranging from the crackling hum of alien particle beams splitting 5-kilometer capital ships in half to the frantic radio distress calls from allied ships on the verge of destruction!
• Massive planets, asteroid fields, orbiting moons, brilliant stars, wormholes, and black holes rendered in beautiful detail!
• Real time particle systems showing ship damage, torpedo impacts, nebulas and various other gorgeous effects will startle the senses!
• Players subscribe and participate in massively multiplayer world shattering campaigns, receive dynamic content updates of new ship types, new races, technology, and strategies that will make the game virtually replayable.
• Global Ranking boards keep an active career report on players: tracking ranks, achievements, kills, campaign wins and a host of other statistics and accolades, such as Merit badges, medals and commendations. Subscribing members only!
• Team play capability supporting anywhere from 1 on 1 skirmishes to an all out 200-player grand scale war with a full host of capital ships, frigates, interceptors, multi-atmospheric bomber squadrons, orbiting battle platforms, stealth craft, marines boarding ships and assaulting planets. Zero- G commando units and over 25 unique weapons systems with each faction having its own specialized weapons!
• Use the intuitive command system to send orders to subordinates, allowing player-to-player communications with a click of the mouse. View your ship status from the Engineering window, setting repair priorities and viewing the state of ship's systems and weapons!
• The game play supports a variety of skill levels. New players will be commissioned on a smaller, less complicated craft learning how to handle basic tasks and eventually gaining prestige and rank to take on more responsibility and command!
• Various victory conditions in different scenarios will challenge even the most skilled players allowing a multitude of strategies and attacks. Intuitive control allows players to set waypoints, pre-plot hyperspace travel routes, and move fluidly through the universe!
• The Fog of War requires stealth and scouting to know the enemy's location and win the battle. Spies can raid enemy installations and gather valuable intelligence on fleet locations and technology. Spy drones can be attached to enemy ships to intercept valuable enemy communications!
• Over 49 types of versatile starship enhancements, ensuring each player becomes a vital team-member!

The actual space flight in DarkSpace is restricted to only the “X” and “Y” axis, meaning that while the game features some sharp 3D graphics, ships can only travel on a two dimensional plane. While this is a little off putting to the part of your brain that has perhaps become overly accustomed to all of the true 3D space combat games, once you start playing DarkSpace the flat field feels just fine.

There are two basic types of game servers you can log on to from the game’s lobby, Metaverse and the Skirmish servers that are labeled via the difficulty of the scenarios, Fleet Admiral boasting the most complex battles while the Captain and Newbie severs are slated more towards the beginner. The Metaverse however is a fairly persistent setting where the three warring factions battle to control the entire galaxy, once a team wins, the Metaverse is reset and the three forces go at it again.

There are a wide variety of ship classes to choose from, each with their own mission profiles and attributes. The ship selection available to a player depends on their status within the game, rank, number and type of badges earned along with the resource cost of the ship. Ships vary from the speedy Scout class to the lumbering but deadly Dreadnought cruisers and each one is designed to fill a specific role on the battlefield. The most interesting vessels in my opinion are the engineering ships that allow for the development of planets into supply and repair depots. By orbiting a properly equipped planet, ships gradually have their battle damage repaired and have their ordnance and supplies replenished.

Even entering a dogfight in DarkSpace is an exercise in tactics. Depending on tye type of craft you are piloting, you need to alter your approach to battle if you want to live to see the end of it. For example, some ships are setup mainly for assaulting surface installations from orbit. When piloting one of these it seems to work best to warp into a system after the main part of your fleet has started its attack. While the enemy ships are trying to contend with the frigates, fighters and cruisers assaulting them it’s easier to slip through the chaos and drop a few bombs on their surface facilities. After you’ve dropped all of your ordnance on the heads of your enemy, you can employ your other weaponry against the opposition in orbit by using your beam weapons to pickoff incoming missiles or softening up enemy ships with ion cannon fire. Once your ship is on its last leg you can try to dock with an enemy ship and then self destruct to deal out some final damage. That’s just one example of fairly advanced tactical strings I’ve seen being utilized to ensure victory.

As for the control setup, that is where the game’s steep learning curve makes itself apparent. There are times, especially in the heat of battle, where it feels like every key on your keyboard is mapped to a function and all you want to do is bring up the map so you can find your fleet after you emergency jumped out of the battle by accident. Once you figure out the keys that are used on a regular basis things get easier, but until I got to that point I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish this review.

Reading the manual and completing the tutorial mode are critical if you want to excel or even just play the game, period. Most of the important functions, such as weaponry selection can be accessed by left clicking on the corresponding icon on the left side of the tactical screen. I have to say the icons are frequently a life saver, at least till you are well acquainted with the keyboard commands.

Other than the complex control setup and some server side lag when things get real busy in a very localized area, DarkSpace plays very smoothly and feels a bit like Homeworld in the way that all of the ship types complement each other when in the hands of skilled pilots. Being that this may be the first MMOG real-time strategy title, developer Palestar may have just thrown down a serious gauntlet for the rest of the industry.

The most important part of any MMOG is its player community and DarkSpace is no exception. While small in numbers, I think you would be hard pressed to find a cooler group of folks playing any other online game out there. The lobby is always a good place to intelligently discuss strategy, and advanced players don’t hesitate to help the newbies along. It could just be the complicated nature of the game that weeds out the kinds of dorks you run into playing Counter-Strike and Everquest, but in DarkSpace they’re no where to be found. The lack of bitching is so refreshing it should almost be a feature listed on the box. Also the Fleets (clans) are fairly open to accepting new members, and most of the players I encountered belonged to one fleet or another.

All of the ship models look slick and functional, though some battle animations would have been cool. Most of the game’s objects reveal more and more detail the closer you get, making the time spent in observer mode seem more worthwhile. The particle effects seen in combat are also pretty good looking and the flashes of missiles whizzing past your ship manage to thrill and build tension at the same time.