| Accelerate Your Mac! Mac Game Reviews by Dominic Di Salvo |
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Introduction- This follow up to the ever popular original Escape Velocity, is not a continuation of the original plot. In EV, there were two main forces, the Rebels and the Confederation. Each fought each other in seemingly endless battles, in the end you thought to yourself if you were even making a difference in the war. Then there was the Lethean, Cydonian War, which seemed more of a War of the Roses family feud than a war, but never the less it raged on, day after day, year after year with no let up in sight. Ladies and Gentlemen, the entire EV engine has evolved, and its better than ever. This is EV:Override, there are no Rebels or Confeds and no one has ever heard of the Cydonians. Now there is the United Earth Government pitted against the Voinians. I won't go into to much detail here, but the Voinians have very powerful ships with incredibly thick armor. All that comes at a price though, they are slower than the UE ships, and have little shielding. Up north is the Miranu. Further up north is Renegade space, the Renegades take the place of Pirates in EV:Override. Down south past UE space is an assortment of Independent worlds and some more Renegade systems. To the left of UE space are the evil Voinian systems, and to the right and north are divided up by the three Strand Governments, the Azdgari, Zidagar and Igadzra. Each involves in the Strands War, and each similar in military power. EV:Override's AI (artificial intelligence) has improved a lot also. There are more personalities in EV:Override than in EV. Plus in EV:Override, every battle counts. Destroying a Voinian Task Force could mean a decisive victory for the UE and an eventual end to the war. Now each mission completed can mean fame in fortune in the Galaxy or certain death. This is EV:Override a revolution over the original. Governments- The United Earth- The good guys. Currently in the heat of a war with the Voinians. Control a good portion of habitable systems in the galaxy. All of the well guarded against Voinian raids and Renegade attacks. Look for some exciting missions available on Earth and Luna. The Voinians- Attacked Earth without warning, crippling the planet, but the humans rallied. There ships superior speed and shielding was no match for the Voinian slow but powerful turreted rockets. Small human fighter ships swarmed Voinian capital ships tearing through their armor with little casualties. Eventually a good portion of the Voinian Navy was destroyed. Earth had rallied as the underdog and won. Miranu- Previously unheard of. This civilization occupies a good part of the northern galaxy. Their technology is par with that of the UE and Voinian. Miranu physicians are well known for being some of the best in the known galaxy. The Strands(Azdgari, Zidagar and Igadzra)- The Strands War has taken its toll on all three of these civilizations. Many casualties have been caused due to ruthless attacks on non military ships by all three governments. All three have equal military power, but each has there own little secrets.  Playing the Game- The basic concept hasn't changed since EV, you still fly around in any of the available ships, you can make your pay as a trader, hauling cargo from system to system. You can join the UE to rid the galaxy of the Voinians. Help any of the Strands to destroy each other. You could also become a Renegade, plundering innocent ships to advance your economic needs. Or help the Voinians and take over the galaxy. EV:Override has replaced all the original sounds and graphics except some of the planetary sprites. One thing I didn't like was most of the ship detail was less than that of EV, they look like untextured polygons. But the Comm Screen pictures are a lot better than in EV. One thing EV:Override has over EV are missions. EV's missions seemed endless and pointless. But EV:Override's are interesting and actually make a difference. An example: on Luna, you may be offered a mission to help rebuild a space station in a nearby system. They have you take a some supplies to help production. After completing a few supply runs the station becomes operational. It goes from being nothing but an abandon station to a bustling place specializing in captured Voinian technology from plundered Voinian ships. In EV:Override, systems change, governments lose or gain power, new technology can be found or lost. The plot in EV:Override's missions is outstanding, they make sense and is intriguing. The galaxy in EV:Override is huge. Many times larger than in EV, it takes dozens of hyperspace jumps to get from end to end. It is populated with lush and beautiful worlds and barren, desolate worlds. In the beginning most of the worlds are forbidden from you. Such as most of the Strand worlds, they don't permit you to land until you join their side if you choose to. Battle in EV:Override is much the same as in EV, the weapons in EV:Override are new. There is the Blaze Turret, the main UE weapon, it has a good rate of fire and does a decent amount of damage. A few missiles are also available, most of them are fast and do some damage as well. The Strands also have some weapons of their own. They however, are a secret until you prove yourself to them.  The new ships in EV:Override as I said earlier are less detailed than in EV as you can see above. This disappointed me some, but was made up by the other strong points in the game. Most of the ships in EV:Override are fast and powerful. The can be outfitted to your desire for either cargo runs or battle. Its obvious a lot of work was put into this game. Overall, it is a solid game and worth the registration fee especially if you already registered EV. Pros: Good Game Play Great Plot Hours of Game play Cons: Less Detail than EV A few grammatical errors in the mission descriptions.
For more information, check out Ambrosia's EV Override page. Have you just played a Mac game or addon level that deserves attention? Reviews are welcome from all readers, contact me if you are interested. |
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