Space Rangers 2: The Rise of the Dominators

List Price: $29.99 Discount Price: $9.94

Features:

• One of the most critically acclaimed games of the year!
• Turn-based RPG encompassing various gameplay genres in a vast and open-ended interstellar world
• Unique, ambitious vision that delivers epic gameplay on a new scale!
• ADDED BONUS, includes the original Space Rangers 1 and a collectible poster!

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Easily overlooked, but definately addicting and replayable. [Posted on 2006-11-17]
I don't know where or how I found out about this Russian game. I think there were a bunch a rave reviews about this seemingly indie game about a month back or so. Played the demo and it was ok. Nothing special only because you can only play the demo for a timed period then it advertises itself and exits. The gameplay intrigued me enough to scope out the price on Amazon.com. I was shocked to see a good review by an actual game creator for this old AtariST computer game called Sundog: The Frozen Legacy, which I used to be completely addicted to. This guy claims that Space Rangers is everything that he wished he could have done with Sundog.

After that, I was sold. Bought it the next weekend and I've been playing religiously for about a month now. The majority of the game is a 2D, turn-based space adventure. You can fly to different planets and trade to build up cash. Planets usually have quests ranging from FedEx missions to "take down this Pirate in such and such star system". Some will even offer a text adventure! Yes, these are the old-timed text adventures of old and are quite fun, even if they can be oddly translated sometimes. There are even black holes you can fly into and have yet another game that is more arcade like that anything where you fly around with the WASD keys and shoot anything that moves.

When you are not flying around, interacting with other ships, trading with other planets, buying and re-fitting your ever-changing ship, you will have to occasionally fight the nefarious Dominators. Dominators are evil robots with the intent to completely wipe out all organic life. Dominators are usually fought in the 2D space, but if you land on a planet in a recently liberated star system, you will be asked to assist in wiping the remaining dominators off the planets surface. If you agree, prepare for a not-too-shabby RTS game.

So there you have it. With all these game types, and the sheer addictiveness of constantly bettering your ship and skills by doing missions and trading, its very hard to put down. You won't be blown away by the graphics really, but the fun factor and freedom to do what the hell you want anytime holds the key to this game's victory in my book. Ive put more hours into this game than Oblivion or any big name Role Playing game out there to date. Check out the reviews at Gamespy, IGN, MetaCritic, or G4. This bargain title scores high 90's all over the place. Its worth checking out.

Awesome Game!!!! [Posted on 2007-03-18]
This game is like StarshipTrader, a web game that I played online once, but with better graphics and more activities.

Oh, yeah ... is StarForce that bad? To the people who purchased this game: Have any of you had bad experience with the version of StarForce that was included with Space Rangers 2?

Holy Spacemonkeys! [Posted on 2007-06-27]
Space Rangers 2 is pure fun. It reminds me of an old game named Privateer that ran on DOS. You run around the galaxy in your spaceship fighting, trading, doing small missions and buying upgrades for your ship. You can play the game as a fighter, merchant or pirate. Part of the game includes a StarCraft like element where you fight in a real-time strategy mode, but for those who don't like that kind of action you can skip those missions entirely. You start off as a weakling and build up as the game goes on acquiring rank, skill, money and reputation. You can also hire other rangers to work under your direction as you build skill so that when you get into battles you bring your entire "entourage" with you.



The game is highly addictive and you will find yourself engrossed for hours (or days) at a time. The Space Rangers 2 development team has done a great job of creating a totally unique genre with this game. If you're into flashy graphical games with weak story lines and marginal game play development this title is not for you.

Star Force protected despite Bruce's comment [Posted on 2008-03-21]
I purchased the game based on Bruce's assertion that Starforce had been removed. I don't know how he got a copy that didn't include Starforce but the version just delivered by Amazon does include it.

Hopefully Amazon will accept the return.

How do games like this go unnoticed? [Posted on 2008-06-18]
I bought this game off a clearance rack at a closeout store for four dollars. It sat on my shelf for a while so I could finish some other things, and I was hesitant to install it after reading so many accounts of "StarForce copy protection" wreaking havoc on their computers. Honestly, I think alot of geniuses installed the game and forgot to put the play disc (disc 1) back in the drive. I've had no problem with it whatsoever.

Alot of the other reviewers have already gone into explicit detail about what makes this game so great... I felt the need to write a review because I beat everything and anything the game has to offer and don't know what to do with myself for the moment now that I can't get anything more out of it. It's really that good, and that addictive. Translation, presentation, implementation is all nearly flawless, now I hunt for any "Cinemaware Marquee" products I can get my hands on. My computer isn't so great, so it was very satisfying to play a recent game (2006) that forgoes graphics that are out of the reach of my system and puts so much attention into the gameplay, strategy, and AI. Seriously, the NPC's can do anything you can do, short of exploring new planets and black holes. I woke my roommates up swearing because another Ranger had gotten to a planet that received a shiny new prototype ship I had researched on the game's "planetary search function", saved up for game weeks (real life days), and had driven through four star systems to buy... he got there one day before me and passed by me with it as I approached the space-dock. This sort of reaction may sound like I wasn't enjoying myself, but I was mostly just floored by the fact that people can and do make products like this.

Word of advice to players: do yourself a favor and play on Easy, or at least use the mercifully planned custom difficulty to tweak some of the money and enemy strength settings. Unless you like waking up your roommates with swearing, as I noted above. While I was learning the ropes on Normal the Dominators were conquering system after system, killing many of my fellow rangers. After buying the best gear available at the time and spending thousands of credits to convince a planetary government to dispatch a battle fleet, I charged into an occupied system (just far enough behind to not get shot first!) and barely made a dent before all my allies were crushed and I had to jump back to where I came from... now needlessly short of alot of cash, having had no time to safely collect floating loot from fallen enemies and allies (Dominators, aware of your intentions to collect their superior technology, have a nasty habit of destroying any and all space debris they fly by, leaving you with the options of filling your airlock in the heat of combat or killing them all and cleaning up afterwards) and with a hefty repair bill to boot. Don't be ashamed to run from every ship you see, pirate or otherwise, while you make a lot of merchant shipments and save up for your days of glory, and make good use of the "search function" to keep an eye out as new technology hits the market.

I don't mean to write a strategy guide as part of my review, but explaining circumstances like this should truly inform you of just how different your playing experience will be. The best I can explain is... Grand Theft Auto (in its 2D roots and freeplay glory)+ Strategy RPG + Space.

As soon as I finish typing and click submit, I'm going to install Space Rangers 1 (graciously included in the retail box, a hell of a bargain for four dollars). Hats off to a handful of small companies with a truck-ful of big ideas.

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