Active Reviews

Written by Edward Hankins

Space Interceptor: Project Freedom, developed by City Interactive and published by Merscom, is a combat space simulator, with a heavy emphasis on the combat. It is sometime in the distant future, more than a millennia from now, the world is a far different place. The frantic pace of the humanity has finally caught up with itself; the resources of Earth have been completely depleted forcing colonization of the solar system. The only entities capable of raising enough capital for these adventures are giant oligarchies on Earth, not all of them “reputable.” You represent your company as a pilot, and at any time the company may require your services.

As any good pilot will tell you, “You are only as good as your ship.” So to keep you in the race and in the field be prepared to pilot one of several spacecraft each with its own characteristics. As important as your ship are the munitions that you carry. In order to carry out your specific mission you are given several choices in weapons technology: plasma bombs, photon torpedoes, lasers, homing air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles. With this kind of arsenal you are ready to start world war III and bring home the spoils of war.

Installation:

The installation process was as simple as putting the CD in the machine, though it was a lengthy process. Don’t expect to play this game if you own a machine with a second rate graphics card or if you don’t meet its minimum specifications because it will not start. Just like the installation, be prepared to wait a bit for the uninstall.

Control:

In a space combat simulation control is of the utmost importance, you must be able to quickly switch from target to target while laying down a field of fire. Luckily Space Interceptor gives you this precise control because it is totally customizable. In the menu you are given the usual choices, and can change options or buttons for game control, though the default set-up works fine. The games default setup uses the mouse for your movement along the X and Y axis. This works like any FPS just on a 360 degree axis, and it may take a little getting used to. I found that a laser mouse was much preferred to the older wheel version mouse; the laser mouse seemed to be much more accurate and its movements were fluid. The mouse wheel can be turned up or down for acceleration and deceleration, but you can’t reverse thrust so you, because of those darned laws of physics, are always moving forward. Game control is very simple and can be learned in a matter of minutes, Space Interceptor is more of an arcade shooter than a realistic flight simulator.

Graphics:

Graphics is where the game really stood out for me. When you purchase a new game, that doesn’t cost you a kidney, you always suspect the quality of the graphics, but Space Interceptor really impresses. Right from the start you can tell that some serious work went into the graphic design of the game: the images in the game are sharp and crisp and movement is fluid and believable. The only time movement becomes jerky is when there are more than 4 simultaneous explosions. That was the only significant problem noted. The renderings are precise and crisp; examples of this can be seen in the detail put into the menu system and the animation of the space ships. Another example of the attention to quality in the graphics of this game are the incredible backgrounds. As you move throughout space be prepared to encounter what you would normally in space: asteroids, space debris, even planets. All of these are not only rendered excellently but they behave with proper physics. All too often the physics of a game are ignored or just misunderstood; when these laws are ignored poor games are created. Luckily the physics engine behind Space Interceptor is about as flawless as they come, everything behaves as it should, as it should . With the lights turned down and a large screen monitor you can almost feel yourself in a cockpit ready to do life and death battle with your enemies. Space Interceptor is a shining example to the public that you don’t need to spend a bundle to get a good game with solid graphics.

Audio:

There are several aspects that make up the audio theme in a game. Obviously the background music and sound effects are crucial to a game, but now with story lines with long cut-scenes so are the character dialogues and performances. Space Interceptor is decidedly lacking in two of the three. Let’s start with the good; the sound effects are not bad, but they are not that impressive either. It just seems that explosions seemed distant and not proportionate. Other than those problems with a good audio system the sounds of lasers, missiles, distant explosions, and your thrusters kicking in can really create a mood of almost being there. Sadly this mood is broken by the repetitive cheap techno soundtrack that seems to consist of 3 songs at the most. You don’t have to hire a full A-list band to do the soundtrack but you should produce something that people don’t find annoying; and maybe a few people even enjoy. The third aspect of audio in a game is the character dialogue and I found this to be actually amusing. Sometimes something is so bad it becomes entertaining; the dialogue in this game is one of those things. The script is read in such a monotone and uninspired way that it becomes quite amusing. You keep listening to thinking just how bad will it get? Well enough to keep you entertained for awhile, then it just becomes boring, then irritating. The audio department is the only part of this game that does not come to par. If they would have just spent a little extra time and maybe money and found a soundtrack and hired real actors they would have had a near perfect game.

What it comes down to, is this game worth my hard earned money? That is the ultimate question when it comes to a game review, and in the case of Space Interceptor: Project Freedom I would say it is definitely worth the mere $20 that it costs. With current exchange rates in Europe right now that means it costs a mere $15 bucks. With its non-stop action and amazing graphics, Space Interceptor is the most fun and entertaining thing you can do for $20.00 that isn’t illegal.

Go back to the Space Interceptor: Project Freedom page.

Screenshots