Space Rangers 2: Dominators

[Crandaeolon]

Definite GOTY material.

Buy it now, the developers must have your money so they can make Space Rangers 3.

What? Not enough explanation? Gah, I wanted to go kick some dominator butt. Hm, guess I'll have to advertise a bit, though valuable gaming time is going down the drain...

SR2 is a turn-based 2D space adventure game set in an underlying 4X strategy-ish universe. The setting is a conflict between an intergalactic Coalition and the mysterious Dominators; the player is one of fifty Rangers who roam the galaxy at will, much like in Star Control 2, Elite and similar games.

The five races of the Coalition go about their business largely independent of the player; they manage their forces, research technologies and conduct military operations to capture and recapture star systems from the Dominators.

The player is a novice Ranger set loose in the galaxy. There's an almost complete freedom to pursue any activity that the player desires, be it trading, piracy, mercenary work, courier tasks, combat operations, exploration and so on. The other Rangers are also doing their own thing along with hundreds of lesser NPC captains.

Freedom of choice is mirrored in a wide variety of tasks and sub-games the player can undertake. There's of course the ubiquitous turn-based space combat, but there are also some RPG elements (questing and plot), 3D RTS ground combat, an arcade shooter part (!) and brilliant little text-based adventures. Most of these bits are entirely optional - you don't have to play a single ground combat if you don't want to.

Individually, the different parts are quite light-weight and wouldn't be enough for hardcore fans of a specific genre. But still, somehow it all comes together in a very entertaining package - it might have something to do with the light-hearted, easily accessible approach that gets gradually more epic as the game progresses.

If you like space games and play games of multiple genres, you should really consider picking this one up!

Linkage: http://www.excalibur-publishing.com/space.htm

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Is it being sold now?

[Crandaeolon]

Yes, it's being sold now. It's a low-budget, low-profile title, so it doesn't get much coverage in the gaming press, and can be a bit hard to find. I'm also willing to bet that it gets mostly average reviews, which further hurts availability.

It should be available via the various online stores, and I heard that Fry's has a good supply of copies in the US. The Euro/US edition is called something like "Space Rangers DVD Edition", and contains both SR1 and SR2.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Oh. I looked on Amazon and found the DVD but not "Space Rangers 2."

I'll certainly look into purchasing it. Thank you for the heads up.