Star Rangers

A Review of Star Rangers

by Mark W. Frantz

Ever since Wing Commander first hit the shelves a few years back, the

demand for space combat games has risen drastically. This craze has spawned

some great games, such as the LucasArts Xwing and Tie Fighter, and some

duds, like Mantis, and Lightspeed. And now, a new space combat simulator

from Interactive Magic joins the ranks. How does Star Rangers stack up

against the greats?

First off, the graphics are great. SVGA, to be sure, but not quite as good

as Wing Commander 3 (but then again, what could be better than WC3

graphics). Explosions are well rendered, and the appropriate explosion is

followed by the appropriate debris. Sound effects, however, are another

story. They’re not bad, per se, just strange. When your guns strike

another ship, it sounds a lot like popcorn popping. But mostly, it’s the

standard fair of laser sounds and explosions. Communications with your

wingmen or bases sound reasonably well done.

You begin the game in practice mode. Here you can sharpen your skills and

your shot with wave after wave of wave of enemy fighters. But, you won’t be

here for long, because, after all, it is practice. When you’re ready, click

on that Campaign button.

Here’s the storyline : you’re a border patrol pilot for the Star Rangers.

It is the 23rd Century, and Taureg bandits are making raids across the

demilitarized zone. It is your job to stop them. That’s basically where

the 17 missions take you. But the storyline really doesn’t come into play

that much. Most of the time you’ll just launch and begin to attack any

bandits that enter your screen. The storyline is unimportant, so if you’re

looking for an interactive movie, look elsewhere.

Game play is fast and furious. You and your wingman will take on many

bandits at a time. With a variety of capital ships and fighters, you’ll

have your hands full trying to stop the border incursions. You are armed

with a standard fare of weaponry, from heat seeking missiles to tactical

nukes. You also have, of course, your trusty plasma guns and auto cannon to

dogfight with. A unique feature of the game is the probability of crashing

into a destroyed ship’s debris. This will weaken your shields and spin you

uncontrollably for a minute. Needless to say, don’t do it.

The most innovative feature I have ever seen in a space combat game is the

ability to jump around within your quadrant to stop border raids. Using a

map, you pinpoint where you want to go, usually near a bandit, warp, and it

takes you there. This feature brings about whole new strategies of play,

such as deciding whether you have time to refuel before that cap ship gets

to that base. It adds another element previously unused in these games.

You can also send your wingman across the quadrant to attack bandits while

you finish off the ones in the area. He’ll then return when he’s finished,

or wait for you to arrive. Your wingman can do a variety of functions,

including returning to base, attacking a target, or open attack on any enemy

ship. You do get to choose your wingmen, but it seems somewhat superfluous,

for they all say the same things and fight basically the same.

Another interesting feature is the mere fact that no two missions are

alike. Sure, the objectives are the same, but enemies will appear in

different places, at different times, in different numbers. This adds some

replayability to the game that would otherwise have been severely linear.

As with other games of this genre, you get medals for extraordinary feats in

the cockpit. This is pretty much standard, though there is the McPhearson’s

cross, for extraordinary damage taken in the defense of a civilian. In my

40 some hours of playing, I achieved this only once.

As with every game, it has its flaws. The most two of note are lack of

variety and lack of difficulty. The enemies have only three different

fighters, and three different capital ships. You only get to fly in one

ship for all 17 missions. I was hoping to be able to try other ships, or at

least fight some different kinds then the same old ones. And even cranked

up to most difficult, I was able to fight my way to the end in a matter of

hours. The only thing I sensed was more difficult at the upper levels was

that if I hit something with my ship I took more damage. The ships didn’t

move faster, they didn’t evade, it was the same.

So, where does that leave Star Rangers? Well, it’s no Wing Commander, but

it never claimed to be. It is a good space combat simulator, with some very

well done game play and graphics. Its lack of variety and difficulty hamper

its ability to enter the realm of the greats, but if your looking for a

unique space combat simulator, you may want to give Star Rangers a shot.

Gamer’s Zone Scorecard

Product:	Star Rangers
Company:	Interactive Magic P.O. Box 13491 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 (919)461-0722

Cost:

n/a

486DX/66MHz, DOS 5.0 or higher, 8MB Ram,
SVGA, Soundblaster Compatible Sound Card,
Joystick, or Thrustmaster compatible and
CD-ROM Drive (2x).