Reviewed: May 22, 2006
Reviewed by: Tyler Whitney

Publisher
Cinemaware
1C Company

Developer
Elemental Games

Released: March 27, 2006
Genre: RTS-RPG
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen

8
8
8
9
8.5

System Requirements

Space Rangers 2 features:

• Entirely new graphics: navigation, menu, ships, uninhabited planets, and equipment.
• Planetary battles are now in full 3D!
• A total of 18 planetary maps with their own flora and fauna.
• Research of uninhabited planets with the help of probes.
• Two new space station types: medical bases and business centers.
• A possibility to buy any ship available in the Coalition: pirate, civil or military.
• Each hull is equipped with a certain number of slots for equipment and boost support.
• Weapons are broken into several categories: fragmenting, power-weapons, and missiles.
• flexible equipment upgrade system using the micromodules.
• 12 foreign planet illnesses which your character can catch
• 12 stimulators for temporary improvement of your character skills.
• The player can now finance the construction of new space stations.
• An experience gaining system, which is being increased with the achievements of the player.
• Ordering military operations and the possibility to participate in them with the military base.
• Revised Hangar. You can now scan ships, located on the same planet with the player.
• The navigation system has been modified to use the common double click for action.
• Over 90 character avatars.
• The prices for goods can be obtained without landing on a planet.
• The Galaxy map has 3 new sectors.
• Dynamic video trailers creating a unique atmosphere of a Ranger world.
• The entire world of SR2 has become bigger and more comfortable to live in.

As you embark upon your journey into the unknown region of the universe, you are caught up in a struggle with an evil race of machines known as the Dominators. As a Space Ranger, you are tasked with protecting the various planets, space stations, trade vessels and more in the sphere…but you aren’t always limited to being the conventional good guy.

If you don’t want to act as “intergalactic Dragnet” you can always be a nefarious pirate, raiding cargo transports, or going after bounties. Or even negotiate with the Dominators themselves. There are even text-based missions based on following clues, for those not interested in pure action. Be warned, these are a tad buggy, mainly due to the wonky translations into English.

Often times, you may be a tad lost as to where you are “supposed” to be during the game. Obviously, the non-linear aspects of Space Rangers 2 may lose some gamers early on, but once you start running a few missions, the natural ebb and flow of the living universe, will force the gamer to adapt. For example, if you destroy a ship, you can salvage parts of it, to either sell, or use on your own vessel. This in turns adds items and/or money to the dynamic economy, which affects future purchases or sells. Now extrapolate that across countless star clusters, and you just have to say “Wow.”

Combat makes up a large chunk of the gameplay and is handled rather intuitively. Just click on the target and manage your wide array of weaponry as you fend for your life. And by wide array, I mean countless kinds of missiles, lasers, and solid-shells- over 15 in all. On top of this, you can overhaul sub-systems like shields, sensors, druids and more. The computer can also automate many of these actions, but I found it more enjoyable with the hands on approach. Then you have the black hole…yeah…what the heck was that? You enter some odd world that requires some more twitch skills, while you hunt for precious (and valuable) artifacts (basically power-ups).

Lastly, there is a very RTS-esque warfare on the planetary surface, much different the latter space combat. The way you can customize your vast army of robots is like a dumbed-down version of Armored Core-a very dumbed-down version. The selection is quite vast. You can opt for a tracked chassis, with a few hard points to toss on a motor or two to assault enemy positions. Or go with a fast anti-gravity legs, that allow for rapid advancement over rough terrain, as well as the ability to quickly strike with light machine guns and the like.

Like the black hole, here again you have first-person shooter controls if you so wish, another key in the variety of gameplay inherent in Space Rangers 2. This is no Mechwarrior though… The main goal of planetary action is the capture of resource points, and the final capture of the enemy strongholds. If this mode sounds too watered-down for you, hell, you can even opt to not install them from disc-quite possibly the first time I have seen such a system in place. Sadly, unlike the sharp space A.I., things on the ground seem a bit mired in sub-par intelligence-for both sides. Overall though, it shouldn’t bother you that much.

On the surface, visuals are elevated several notches, and perform quite well. The robots model well, and the environments are varied and very “alien” looking. There is even semi-deformable terrain! The art team at Elemental Games really put a lot of effort into this complex title, and it most definitely shows.

You should be busy with Space Rangers 2 for months and months, and that is not counting any updates/expansions, or even player generated material. Sadly though, there is no multiplayer action to be had here.