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(More customer reviews)Don't you hate it when you purchase something and the end product feels like it was rushed?
You certainly wouldn't want to buy food that was rushed. The end result would be something that wasn't cooked properly and could very well make you sick.
Books that are rushed are no fun to read. To me, I get the impression that the author was in a hurry to collect his royalty's cheque and be damned the fans.
Well, that's exactly the way I feel about the Battlestar Galactica PC game.
`Sign up to defend the Galactica or play as the ruthless Cyclons seeking to remove the Human Race from existence. Pilot Legendary ships from the series! Lead your squadron in enormous fast-action multiplayer space battles, or play sing-player missions based on the popular episodes!'
That's what the game boasts on the back of the box.
Ok, there are only 10 missions that are provided, each one based loosely on one of the episodes; most seem to be from the first season of the series.
I personally don't like multiplayer games. I avoid playing them, so I can't comment on the multiplayer aspect of this game. I didn't even try to find an online game while I played it.
As for Game play - it was just ok. The controls are pretty simple and easy to use if, like me, you're using a keyboard. I suspect that if I used a joystick it would have been a little easier to play.
Each of the ten missions that were included took very little time to complete. It took me less than two hours of game time to finish all the provided missions. Of course in order to play the missions, you have to initially play them in sequence, in order to unlock the next mission in line.
Yes, as the box stated, you get to pilot various ships in the game, including Cyclon Raiders. There wasn't anything really spectacular in the various ships, nothing that struck me with any sort of `wow' factor.
In addition to the multiplayer and the missions, you could choose `instant action' with no real goals but to destroy as many enemy ships as you can. This too was multiplayer, if you so chose to play.
As with most games, it has various difficulty settings, three to be exact. easy, medium and hard, so if you find one setting boring, you can always up the ante.
The sound effects were what you would expect to hear from the series, and with a good set of speakers it was a pleasure to listen to. The various weapons fire had its own unique effect, and I'll say this, when you're ship is badly damaged, it sure lets you know with a blaring siren.
But that brings up one serious fault with the game. The lack of any sort of voice-over. Even if they couldn't get any of the actors from the series to contribute, they could have used staff!
The graphics were ok. It felt, believe it or not, a little basic. It's the only way I can describe it. I've seen better graphics; I've seen a lot worse. At least it was bright enough to see clearly. That's a problem I've had with many games in the past. The on screen colors were too dark, and it made it difficult to play.
Now we get to another major flaw in the game. It was two dimensional! Space battles are supposed to be massive, three dimensional affairs. Not this game. It was like playing on a flat surface.
Ok, to the meat of the review. The pros...
1.Quick and easy to learn. No learning curve what so ever.
2.The missions were fast and furious. Some people might view this as a bad thing; others who don't have much time to play might appreciate it. I'm one of those who fall into the latter category.
3.Doesn't take up much room on your hard drive, and there are currently no patches, so no major bugs to deal with.
4.The price. At $20 for the game, I didn't feel ripped off. I got what I paid for. If I would have paid more, I'd be upset.
The cons...
1.No instruction manual at all.
2.No voice overs, no major cut scenes.
3.Lack of missions. 10 simply were too few, considering how little time was required to play each one.
4.Two dimensional space travel. Huh? I expect, in that sort of game for it to be three dimensional. Two dimensions just don't make the grade when it comes to space combat.
5.There could have been a larger variety of ships to pilot.
Hey, it wasn't the greatest game, but it was cheap, and provided me some entertainment for a couple of hours.
I figure the only people who would really appreciate this game would be die hard fans of the current TV series.
This game, despite the lack of any bugs that I could see, felt really rushed. I felt as if the various companies involved just wanted to get a product out to cash in on the popularity of the show.
For better game play though, I'd recommend the Battlestar Galactica game that came out for the PS2 about 2 years ago. Now that was a game done right!
2.5 out of 5
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