ubSpace is the souped-up, colorized, high resolution, Internet descendant of one of the original arcade games, Space War. This top-down spaceship dogfight game uses the venerable four-button flight interface -- left, right, thrust and fire -- but adds much more. For starters, players can choose to fly one of six different spaceships, each with different characteristics (such as stealth, quick recharge or bouncing bombs). There is also an arsenal of extra weapons such as the Repulsor, which flings enemy ships and shots away, and Thor's Hammer, which shoots right through walls. Players can also lay mines or bricks, and they can warp instantly across the arena.
The most interesting thing about SubSpace, though, is that it's an Internet-only game. It can't be played solo. Players can practice flying in an empty arena, but the only way to fight an opponent is to get online. When a player logs onto one of the numerous arenas, they are assigned to a team. New entrants arrive weak and need to collect powerups to strengthen their weapons and defenses. The good news is that whenever anyone picks up a powerup their whole team receives the advantage.
Life in the arena is a constant running battle. The more powerful a ship is, the higher its bounty, which is the number of points a player receives for destroying it. After being destroyed, ships reappear elsewhere in the arena, stripped of all powerups but ready to blast again. Thus it's sort of an electronic Valhalla.
Fly. Shoot. Explode. Repeat.
Virgin Interactive has clearly put a lot of thought into this game and has worked hard during the testing period to make sure it is rock solid. Download and installation are a snap, and there's an interactive tutorial that teaches the basics of flying and shooting before players are cast among the wolves. Plenty of help -- both offline and online -- is provided.
The weapons and ships are all quite creative and beautifully rendered. Things explode with satisfying fireballs and debris. The game's chat system is a marvel of usability, giving players the ability to broadcast to the whole arena, just their team, or a single person. Special keywords can be inserted in chat, so that, for example, "I'm at % location" automatically becomes "I'm at upper left corner."
Gameplay itself is a blast, especially when players go beyond the simple fly and shoot tactics and learn to use the special weapons and terrain to really rack up the kills. A multiplayer battle, with bombs bursting and booster rockets kicking in, is a wild, marvelous sight to behold.
One word of warning: logging on and diving right in, while fun, will result in repeated death at the hands of taunting pros. It's important to power up first, and it's too bad Virgin doesn't really make this clear, because new players could easily become discouraged.
With its arcade game look and feel plus live opponents, SubSpace is truly innovative and a ton of fun.
