and
Microsoft is preparing to release a couple of BIG outer space shoot-em-ups soon. Allegiance and StarLancer may seem similar at first glance but beyond outstanding graphics and plenty of chances to blow stuff up, they really are quite different from each other.
ALLEGIANCE is a space-action game that combines detailed 3D graphics, fluid motion and rich sound with the intellectual challenge of a strategy game. Players can assume the role of pilot, turret gunner or commander and fly a variety of classes of ships from space tugs to huge carriers. Hundreds of players engage each other online in a territorial war between teams, providing deep and diverse game play with a virtually endless combination of roles, missions and challenges.
After a catastrophic asteroid collision resulted in the devastation of Earth, humanity was in a cataclysmic state of disarray from which it would never recover. If it weren’t for the recent discovery of wormholes, which allowed transit to distant and fantastic reaches of the universe, the destruction of our home planet would have consummated the extinction of the human race. As it was, these wormholes, codenamed Alephs, turned out to be humanity’s only salvation. Instead of humans banding together in a quest for survival, groups with conflicting ideologies were formed with the intent of eliminating each other and gaining total control over their own destinies.
Allegiance’s principal design structure is based upon cooperative play where gamers perform a variety of functions. Ultimately, your goal is to bring prosperity to your aligned faction at the expense of the opposing factions, resulting in far-reaching space battles, research for the advancement of technology, and extensive strategic coordination.
Allegiance is massively multiplayer: players can choose games with anywhere from 2 to 300 simultaneous players. A player’s identity, accomplishments and monuments are enduring in the Allegiance universe, which gives combatants the chance to achieve legendary status. Players’ statistics and individual standings are also posted on a global leader board which is viewable by all combatants on the MSN Gaming Zone.
Space is a big, lonely place so you’ll want to take advantage of Allegiance’s sophisticated features for large-scale team matchmaking and team strategy. Squadrons and alliances are the keys to long careers and universal domination. Players vote on and share research, investments and strategies across groups, races, squadrons or alliances. Integrated communication functionality brings gaming and social interaction into the spacecraft.
The extent to which players can coordinate a comprehensive plan of attack is certainly one of Allegiance’s attractive features. Originally designed as a mission-to-mission campaign with artificial intelligence dictating the enemies’ course of action, Allegiance is now much more dynamic in nature, with players determining how the game pans out by using the extensive tools at their disposal. Only a basic premise and objective are used to keep the structure intact; players shape the rest of the game. You can contribute to your faction by assuming one of several functions including turret gunner, investor, fighter pilot, commander and more. It will be difficult to become a legend in Allegiance without cooperating with others. One cooperative point of particular interest is that players would vote on research investments—putting money together with your clan, squadron or allies will make research much quicker.
Utilizing 3-D accelerated graphics and realistic special effects, Allegiance puts you in command of over 30 unique spacecraft, 40 pieces of special equipment, 22 different weapons and 10 missile types. Unique stereo sounds range from the thud of asteroid impacts to the scream of failing shields. Planets, novas, black holes, asteroids and naturally occurring wormholes are rendered in graphic detail.
The flight model in Allegiance is easy to learn yet offers a “realistic” space-flying experience. Ships can be flown in a traditional point-and-fly mode; as players improve, they can learn to use additional controls for maneuvers such as thrust vectoring, rolling and “sliding,” which allows players to face one direction and travel in another.
There’s also a large-scale sector view where you can participate in an RTS mode, controlling the harvesting of helium, building research facilities, and generally follow the tech-tree process associated with most RTS games. The gameplay in Allegiance offers a terrific variety of challenges, with arenas that will support a diversity of skill levels. Different victory conditions in assorted games allow for a variety of team and individual strategies. Players can also create custom games to run on servers with small groups of players. Allegiance has just gone gold and should be hitting the shelves any day now.
STARLANCER combines the action of first-person space combat with the drama and intrigue of a classic air combat movie. Countries from around the world including the United States, China, Russia and Great Britain have formed strategic alliances and now battle for control of Earth, Mars and other planets across the solar system. As part of a newly formed ragtag aviation unit, the 45th Volunteers Squadron, players must prove themselves and earn the respect of their peers.
StarLancer is set roughly 150 years in the future. Mankind has colonized Earth’s solar system, has not yet travelled outside the system. There are two major power blocks - the first is the Alliance, consisting of the old NATO powers of the 20th and 21st centuries; the second, the Coalition, is made up of the old Warsaw Pact, with Russia as the major player. There has been a huge amount of colonial friction between these two powers and at the onset of the game they agree to a treaty intended to usher in an era of peace. Turns out the Coalition has other ideas, and it uses the peace to effect a surprise attack.
The Western Alliance was terraforming Mars and establishing small colonies on the outer planets and their satellites, and the future looked bright until the Coalition launched their sudden attack on Alliance ships and sites. Io and Europa were conquered immediately, and their protecting Italo-French fleet decimated. Mars and Earth become the scenes of innumerable pitched battles. The Alliance High Command’s main base at Ganymede is destroyed. The Alliance retreats to Oberon, a moon of Uranus, and a call goes out for help.
As a pilot for the 45th, you’ll be able to choose from 12 unique ships. Overall, you will fly with and against over 80 unique spacecraft - ranging from single-seat fighters to huge Super Carriers. Weapon choices are also varied, with over 20 weapon types available including Nova Cannons, Pulse Lasers, Collapser Guns, and Jack Hammer Missiles.
Consisting entirely of volunteers, some that lack any military training whatsoever, the 45th finds itself getting little respect from other Western Alliance squadrons. Seen as expendable, they’ve been assigned the most dangerous assignments with the worst (and often obsolete) equipment. As a member of the 45th, you’ll begin the campaign on the good ol’ ANS Reliant, an out-of-date carrier.
Gameplay in StarLancer is similar to that in the Wing Commander series, with scripted pilot missions linked by cinematic cut scenes. There are 24 missions, plus 3 training missions and an instant-action mode that lets you launch directly into combat without concern for objectives or waypoints. Although StarLancer is linear, it progresses in such a way that your actions can impact the game’s missions. That linearity is further disguised by briefing cut scenes that are geared to your team’s recent performance. There are 30 different wingmen and 168 pilots in all, each with individual stats, personality, courage level, and AI
Audio-visual feedback gives you the feeling of aggressive, adrenaline-inducing combat in space. Every laser bolt, missile and explosion resonates with color and sound. And it’s a great game to play with a force feedback joystick. Then there’s the Director Cam, which automates the players viewpoint to show key action sequences during missions. This gives the game a cinematic feel without losing immersion. There’s also messages and chat from non-player characters, which is often as funny as it is informative.
The StarLancer storyline has a feel that’s inspired by events ranging from 19th century colonialism to World War II. As the game unfolds, players’ actions are shown in context of the larger picture and while you can affect events, it’s only as one part of the big picture. As the player’s squadron gains respect and rank, expect the Alliance to use them on more important missions.
In most real-time games, the move from single-player mode to multiplayer means the loss of the campaign mode and its substitution by a variety of player-on-player scenarios. Although there are six deathmatch scenarios in StarLancer that allow up to eight players, the game’s single-player campaign also supports up to four players. The multiplayer experience mirrors single-player but replaces some of the wingmen with players. One player still leads each mission, so the numbers on the Alliance side remain the same. StarLancer is scheduled for an April release, right on the heels of Allegiance; it’s a great time to be a pilot in outer space.