HOW DIVERSE THE ST?
An arcade game, a printing utility, an emulator, a clock, a
spreadsheet and a programming tool. Take your pick!
Psygnosis £39.95
This game is possibly Psygnosis' best yet. It is
similar in style to 'Elite', but you play the part of a freelance
buccaneer type character going by the name of Strix.
The action begins in the Al-Nair system which is
the least dangerous of a group of five hostile star systems. Entry
to each of the other (more hostile) systems, is gained by passing
through a stargate, which can be found somewhere within the system.
The basic idea of the game is to travel around and get rich. Money
units are known as credits, and enable you to buy energy and repairs
when you need them. To gain money you must destroy hostile craft
and, if possible, capture the pilots.
The screen shows the view through the cockpit
window of your fighter, which is controlled by a combination of
mouse and either joystick or keyboard, or both. After a few hours
play I decided that the easiest method of control was to use the
joystick for movement and to use the mouse for everything else
except to activate the engines.
The cockpit is generously equipped with various
electronic gadgets and gizmos. At the top of the screen you will
find the clock, an energy read out, and an alert system/status
display. The main controls are portrayed at the bottom of the
screen. On the left hand side is the main computer console with
buttons for activating six major functions, such as maps, auto
scoops, communications and damage reports.
The communications facility elaborates on what the
status display shows and will give you more than one message at a
time (sometimes). The auto scoop facility shows you the position of
the Strix fighters scoop, which is used for capturing items such as
energy or repair drones or even pilots who have ejected from hostile
space craft which have been destroyed. Capturing these pilots can
become quite profitable as the 'Agency' (the people who pay you) pay
a fair bit for picking up one of the little green guys for
examination.
The long range map consists of a split screen
display. The left hand side shows a view from above your ship, the
right hand side shows a view from behind, thus giving you the X, Y
and Z co-ordinates of different craft and planets within the system.
The navigation computer is set by moving a small cross-hair on the
long range map display, and is best described as a series of squares
which must be kept in line to stay on course. When playing the game,
it is a simple instrument to use and especially useful on later
levels.
In the centre at the bottom of the screen you have
the main console consisting of two moving parts, a speed
lever controlling velocity and the control column for direction. The
speed lever can be activated by either the mouse or the keyboard and
the control column by either mouse or joystick.
Over on the right hand side is the 'function pod',
which lets you activate some of the ships major functions such as
shields and retro thrusters. Also from this pod you can change
weaponry, look aft and move the viewing window about without
disturbing the ships course. Finally, on the far right is the short
range scanner which 'pops-up' when activated. It displays the
relative positions of any objects immediately around you and can
operate at five levels of magnification. This scanner is especially
useful for finding drones (the craft which bring repairs and energy
etc.), and during combat it is extremely useful as it shows almost
exactly where an enemy ship is, in three dimensions.
The graphics in 'Deep Space' are fantastic. The
cockpit is shaded in different tones of grey, and the enemy craft
are true, solid, 3D images. They are colourful and extremely fast,
although a little blocky and the animation is quite jerky, however
you don't notice this as the combat action is fast and furious.
You can also fly around the planets, moons and
even the star at the centre of the particular system you are in. The
overall scale of the game is most impressive. Each of the five
systems are filled with planets, moons, meteor fields, meteor
storms, mine fields and they all (except the most dangerous system -
Vexon) have two Stargates within them. Your main objective in the
game is to gain credits, as mentioned earlier, but your final task
(set by the Agency) is to destroy the Vexon mother ship, which can
only be destroyed by special weapons known as 'Quark bombs'. I have
never got this far, as the game gets very difficult at later stages,
and attacks by Vexon fighters become highly lethal!
My only complaint about the game concerns the
method of control. The pitch of the craft would appear to have been
implemented upside down! To move upwards you have to push the stick
forwards, not downwards as you would expect. This is quite
irritating at first, but you will (eventually) get used to it.
Psygnosis really have got to concentrate on control methods. They
have not yet brought out a game which is easy to control!!!
The sounds within the game are fairly competent
but, as with a lot of ST games, there are not enough, and they are
not exactly amazing. The packaging is superb, the game comes on two
single sided disks, in a largish cardboard box, with a good, well
written manual and, believe it or not, a comic book! This shows what
happened leading up to your position at the very beginning of the
game.
Deep Space is very good, if a little expensive,
and I can really recommend it to anyone who likes a game where you
need to use both adventure gaming skills and a pretty good trigger
finger.
top
