Colony Wars: Vengeance

"A Truly Superior Sci-Fi Game"

Introduction
Colony Wars: Vengeance is truly one of the best science fiction games I have yet seen on the market. There's only one thing preventing me from giving it a 10. Without further ado, let's examine the game's merits.

Graphics: 10
There is nothing to complain about here. The ships are extremely well-done, going so far in detail as to include rotating sections on the frigates for artificial gravity. One tends to forget s/he is staring at a flat screen when beholding the beautiful space scenes and planetary surfaces. I actually found myself leaning this way and that in my chair as I maneuvered around asteroids, frigates, fighters, and ground bases. The FMVs, while giving the humans pictured a great sense of solidity and good facial expressions, did have the unfortunate tendency of making them look a little like dolls as well, but I personally think that's minor enough to be quite forgivable.

Sound: 10
Overall, sound is quite good, albeit a little bit staticky when you're out on missions, but then again, you're presumably hearing everything through a radio or transceiver of sorts in the cockpit, so maybe that was intended. For this reason I am willing to give Psygnosis the benefit of the doubt. On an irrational note, I find the woman from Ops's British accent adorable and one commander's thick Scottish accent hilarious. Wey're uhnduhr heyavy attahck!

Control: 10
Controls look a bit complicated at first glance, but you'll be amazed at how quickly you adapt to them. It's quite easy to sift through Primary and Secondary Weapons and Forward and Backward Thrusters will likely prove second nature. Just remember that using both Thrusters at once will not make you stop but rather will activate Afterburners and Afterburners always go forward. If you should ever be made unsure of which way is up, L2 or R2 (it doesn't much matter which) should easily set things right.

Plot: 10
Maybe I'm just sentimental, but I really felt for Mertens and found the story captivating, with all of its plot twists and alternative sequences. It kind of takes the form of a Choose Your Own Adventure book, with your actions determining how the story progresses. I can't go into much detail without risking a Spoiler Alert so I'll leave it at that.

Difficulty: 2
Here's the rub. As MAD Magazine might put it, Ecch! This game is so hard it'll give you a head hot enough to melt solid rock if you try to plow through it without using cheat codes. I guarantee on your first 100% "legitimate" play-through, you WILL fall short of a flawless victory. I might even go so far as to say that you will fall short of victory, period. Many of the missions are insanely hard and dare I say deceptive. You may think you've finally got things going your way, but that, say, Astro Gun proves to be incapable of defeat at your hands even though you punched through its shields long ago and have been hitting its hull with all you've got for a solid five minutes. Either I missed something or some of those missions can only be won through a combination of trial-and-error and Godlike patience. If anyone tells you this game is too easy, that person is lying like nobody's business.

Gameplay: 10
In spite of the downright infernal difficulty involved, the game is still very fun to play. You are very likely to vicariously experience the thrill of the life of a Navy fighter pilot and feel great personal satisfaction as you stick it to your foes.

Replay Value: 10 or 2, depending
If you are gathering enough forward progress, you will most likely have little to no trouble replaying this game, but if you're stuck at one of those really hard missions and/or lost at a point where you have to start a mission or two before where you crashed and burned, you may have more fun grinding your teeth down to the nerve with a nail file. Hence the two ratings.

Overall: 8
I'll leave it in your hands whether or not to agree with me, but I think the good things far outweigh the bad, so I say, full speed ahead. Buy the game 1. because this game is so much fun, and 2. because it's very hard to fully appreciate this game in all its glory over a rental period. If you liked the television series Babylon 5, I cannot recommend this game enough to you. I'm beginning to seriously think Colony Wars: Vengeance was designed by some British Babylon 5 fans because of the remarkable similarities between Navy and League ship designs and those of Earth Force as well as between a certain organization which plays an important part in the plot and a division of Earth Gov. You'll know which one when you see it. ;)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/05