n the distant future, displacement technology has allowed humanity to explore--and exploit--the stars. Pioneering colonists have established interstellar communities in order to mine the rich resources no longer available on Earth, supposedly for the good of the universal Commonwealth government. But among the colonies an independence movement has arisen, led by an underground political organization made up of pirates and terrorists. The Indies, as they're known, have built (and stolen) a fleet of ships that they have been using in a war against the Commonwealth Navy that has raged for 100 years.
As Independence War opens, players will find themselves playing the role of a new Navy captain who must take charge of a corvette-class starship known as the Dreadnaught. The ship is controlled from a detachable command section that includes the four workstations essential for running almost any Navy vessel: Command, Navigation, Weapons and Engineering. Unlike most mission-based space-combat simulators that put players in the cockpit of a relatively simple single-seat fighter, in IW players will have to learn how to operate all four command stations if they want to become successful captains.
The game can be played either in Arcade or Simulation mode, and there is also an Instant Action option that lets players jump right into a never-ending battle. In the Simulation mode, the Dreadnaught will be subject to all the laws of Newtonion physics that a real spaceship would have to contend with. In Arcade mode, the Dreadnaught's thrusters are more powerful and help to overcome pesky flight problems such as slide-slip. The Arcade option also gives the Dreadnaught more fearsome weapons and more resilience to damage (systems can still be hurt, but they will never go entirely offline), though it will also increase the number of enemies in some scenarios.
More power to the shields!
Independence War is a highly polished title that has reached U.S. soil only after spending a year in Europe as the hit game called I-War. It's clear that a lot of thought and effort has gone into making sure the Dreadnaught operates much like an actual spaceship might, and the payoffs are noticeable as soon as players walk onto the bridge of their new ship. Rather than running and gunning a la Wing Commander, in IW players will have to balance their time between the four work stations, doing things like shunting more power to vital systems during combat or successfully navigating between stars.
Flying the rather ponderous Dreadnaught--not to mention fighting with it--takes some getting used to, but a variety of automatic features minimizes much of the drudgery. There is the usual autopilot for routine point-to-point travel, but there are also auto-handlers for docking, undocking, approaching and formating (staying in formation with another ship). The approach feature is particularly useful in combat, when players will want to hop over to the Weapons station for precision firing, leaving them unable to pilot the craft. Fleeing on auto pilot will also buy players enough time to direct repair crews via Engineering (the repair teams will fix systems on their own, but not necessarily in the most advantageous order).
Inexperienced gamers might find this workstation juggling a bit confusing at first, but Particle Systems has made the process as intuitive as possible. Using a joystick will help out immensely, as will a few repetitions of the basic training missions. And while the four-station system does come with a bit of a learning curve, it's a welcome break from the zillions of space-combat clones out on the market. This innovative system not only makes IW a fun game to play, it lives up to the subtitle "The Starship Simulator."
