Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => Gaming Discussion => Topic started by: Linklaters on September 05, 2008, 02:55:42 am
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Hi
Could I get some idea of what you guys thik of other games which are similar to Freespace 2? Here's some I've played/looked at :-
Freelancer - i always get this and FS2 confused but now I play multiplayer Discovery Mod and its not bad.
FS2 - I played multiplayer beifly and I didn't really like it cos -- well probably cos i suck bad at dogfighting lol.
Nexus Jupiter incident - wow i want to try this one. Uses latest Black Sun engine, steadily being patched. Massive cap ship battles but very strategic in real time.
Starfleet Command 1/2 - much like Nexus. I played both. Very hard game I found cos a lot of thinking involved.. duh lol.
Any others? hm privateer, wing comander (predecessors to FS - all now gfx outdated). Elite etc.
I like open free playing space sims. Maybe this is why I like Freelancer a bit more than FS2. Can play cops, robbers or traders.
What do you guys think of them? I just like to discuss and see what you guys think.
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I've heard a lot of great stuff about Tachyon: The Fringe, but I haven't had the chance to play more than a few minutes of it yet. I believe that has a more open structure than FS2 did, so it might be worth your while to check it out. I never had much desire to haul cargo around the galaxy, so I've never played any of the more economy/trading-based sims myself.
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tachyon is good
also try sword of the stars
jumpgate evolution should be out soon
X series is pretty okay if your persistent
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except hm privateer, elite and tachyon i have played the others. they are all good in their own way, however to ask opinions of these games from us wont compare to how you will like it. i suggest you make your own determinations on these games.
freelancer: you play a character named edison trent who is a free agent (freelancer) who has lost his livelihood when 4 unidentified ships destroy freeport 7 a zoners base in sigma 17 nearby the honshu system and the nearby system where freeport 9 is located. you have been rescued along with at least 7 other survivors from the destruction of freeport 7 and now you have to rebuild the life of freelancer trent however it gets put on hold when these same unidenifieds pop up and you find out that a chilling scenario is in the works within the colonies.
the game is simple enough hold left mouse button and guide the ship where the cross hair goes onto the small or big red cross in front of the ship you intend to destroy and right click to fire and forget. where as freespace you can use the keyboard for more direct control over the ship.
freespace 2: you play alpha 1 of various squads assigned to keep the peace within the GTVA systems from hostile forces.
as mentioned above, direct control is archived with freespace 2, can be interesting trying to shoot down a dragon with a boarnergses for example, unlike freelacner where its far more simplified.
Nexus: you play as captain of an expeditionary force having to track down and locate and isolate trouble within the sol solar system which leads on more then what was expected.
space building game, nothing like freespace 2 or freelancer, you just build, selection box and move then here or their in a 3d area.
starfleet command 1 and 2: your mission on behalf of the federation is to investage and/or eradicate forces that act against starfleets man-date.
its a very limited movement simulation, you left click in any place and the ship will turn in that direction, in order to attack a target, you need to lock on and actually use your mouse to fire, its more gui controlled then space ship combat.
Wing commander: you play as a member of a wing assigned to various ships to protect them against nearby attack or used to go on offensive missions in the name of the human forces.
limited version of freespace 2's movement however it has a slide feature that freespace 2 doesn't really have or understand, the accelerate is very quick and the decelleration is too quick even for Newtonian physics.
other games you might not of considered: major stryker(dosbox maybe required), star trek bridge commander, star trek armada 1 and 2, starlancer and their are more then what ever i can figure up.
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Wing Commander 3 and 4. No question about it. Also Tie-Fighter :nervous:
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independance war 1+2
http://media.putfile.com/IWar
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independance war 1+2
http://media.putfile.com/IWar
And Defiance :nod: Sniper cannon'o'sexiness.
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independance war 1+2
http://media.putfile.com/IWar
Get an Amiga or Atari ST emulator and play Warhead if you like those.
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Would that mean i have to re-learn how Atari ST and Amiga operation? Because my minds displaced that knowledge with FS2 ship names :rolleyes:
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warheads?!! :lol:, loved that game!, firing nukes to destroy enemy orbiting ships, was a lot of fun for an arcade game.
Amiga and Atari emulator!? i never heard of these devices before. must be ancient technology.
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Would that mean i have to re-learn how Atari ST and Amiga operation? Because my minds displaced that knowledge with FS2 ship names :rolleyes:
I use Steem for that. http://steem.atari.st/ (http://steem.atari.st/) It's not too difficult to use, but I haven't figured out how to get games that come on more than 1 disk to work. Probably 'cos I'm too distracted by playing other stuff on the PC.
The Tomorrow War looks like it'll be nice. But I don't think it's a "freeform" type space sim.
Edit: Oh and X3 Terran Conflict looks awesome.
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I played a lot of games and since I am Sci-Fi fan you could guess I post here too. Let's get started. (only space-like games with Lasers and stuff, otherwise this list would go on forever).
X-Series isnt that great, only the first one is decent.
Freelancer could have been a blast and the story is great, sadly, the game suffers from design choices (rpg-like increase of ship stats) and the battles are boring (Evasion is impossible and the mouse control lets you feel more like a driver than a pilot).
WingCommander Games rocks of course. Especially 3, 4 and 5, these are some of the best games ever made. WC4 still has THE best space fighter dogfight system. Sadly, doe to their age, these ships lack massive capship battles, story and missions always flows around these. Well, we got WC:Saga for that ;7.
Privateer was way ahead of it's time too.
Nexus is the best space rts made so far. Fact. Outstanding visuals, music, gameplay, story. If they just had made the sequel :( (the trailer looked godlike).
The X-Wing Series (including Tie-Fighter) is very well executed too, however the story is a little on the short side and I don't even want to mention the difficulty of X-Wing 1. (WC:SO is a cakewalk compared to the original DOS version of X-Wing)
Sword of the Stars sucks. Sorry dude. Continue playing Master of Orion 1 and 2 or take a look at Sins of a Solar Empire, that's good.
Independence War 1 and 2 are both pretty good games. However, part 1 suffers from bad mission design almost to the point that it breaks the game. The story saves it.
Homeworld Series: The first true Space RTS using 3d. Still a blast, especially HW2. There are also some neat mods for this one.
Haegemonia: Overlooked in stores, this one is actually a pretty good RTS, crossed with a 4X game. And it's nice. The graphics were way ahead of their time and the explosion effects still impresses in today's Crysis-times. Ignoring some logical errors, you will have a good time leading humanity into the stars in a well written (and easy) campaign.
Multiplayer is great.
StarTrek Games. Difficult to judge. Most suck. Some are good (EliteForce Series, some RTS). Two are outstanding: ST:Bridge Commander which is exactly what you think and DS9 The Fallen, an Action Adventure.
Aquanox Series: To me, it's transcendend. Starting with Archimedean Dynasty, this series provides simply the best game world ever made. Not in outer space but in the oceans of our planet, where a doomed humanity struggles for survival. Mature themes, mature language, not some over-the-top teen game. This is a serious story in a world full of drugs, terrorist, cyberpunks, mercenaries, pirates and fanatics. An outstanding experience.
Tarr Chronicles: Good story, lame dogfights. Far too short. It's getting a sequel now but for what purpose?
Parkan 2 (never even played 1): Always good for a laughter: Die you ugly monkey!-robots. The rest is trash.
Advent Rising (on PC): The first game of a never finished trilogy, featuring the best game soundtrack up to this day. It suffers from some glitches and design errors but still tells it's story very well. And it's fun. You feel really powerful when playing this game, imagine JediKnight and MaxPayne in one game.
Halo: Hey, do I need to mention this? Sure, the level design sucks in 1 and 2 but the rest is outstanding.
StarWolves 1 and 2: And RPG in which you control a group of mercenaries. First one is outstanding, second one disappoints. Still, try it out.
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I use Steem for that. http://steem.atari.st/ (http://steem.atari.st/) It's not too difficult to use, but I haven't figured out how to get games that come on more than 1 disk to work. Probably 'cos I'm too distracted by playing other stuff on the PC.
And UAE is the way to go for Amiga emulation http://www.winuae.net/
You'll need the ROM images though.
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I
Halo: Hey, do I need to mention this?
No as its not a space sim
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Sword of the Stars sucks. Sorry dude. Continue playing Master of Orion 1 and 2 or take a look at Sins of a Solar Empire, that's good.
Heresy!
Don't listen to this imposter. Sword of the Stars is one of the best games EVER made. It offers a lot of tactics and strategy, but is simple and doesn't burden you with tons of micromanagment. Space battles are utterly sweet and use real physics - turrets track their targets, shells can bounce off, ships can be pushed...very epic
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homeworld 2 is good :eek2: :eek2:
:lol:
its total ****.
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indeed. the weak storyline and overpowered vaygr prove that.
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Sin of a Solar Empire :nervous:
Though I admit to never actually finishing a session of it. Other than the friends I was playing with deciding I had the advantage and admitting defeat. Otherwise it takes a long ass time investment to finish even a 1v1. Saving mid game isn't as good as it sounds. Its usually better to start over than to reload a stalemate.
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i agree that sins is a very mutinous game, i said this on another thread. however rush tactics would be good, build a destroyer or dreadnought as soon as and a few frigates, head to the enemy destroy their frigate and captial ship stations and then their construction frigates, take down their economy and the planet at the same time. rush to the next planet along the line and keep wearing them down until the only thing they can do is just colonize. once thats done, build up your forces and send a few ships in from the other sides to destroy the colony ship and join the main force to destroy the planet :P.
however it does get very boring after a while if the fighting keeps going, their is such a thing as being so balanced that certain tactics become void. the only way to beat a full on assault is to direct all your ships into attacking the most destructive ships, even though you will loose a few ships, the more powerful ones you have will prevail in crippling the enemy, assuming the enemy doesn't take up the same tactic or you will become "a dead duck" along with the enemy.
another tactic that works, is "a Calvary raid" send a few ships into the enemy space, break through their defenses, head to one of their planets that supports the most resources, destroy these and take as much with as you can, and try getting back if you can otherwise rebuild these ships, it will keep off balance long enough to use some of their forces so you can go in and actually take on their force, albeit diminished. once you removed enough of their ships force your way into their colony and take it one planet at a time.
i think i have given you enough info that will definatly work unless the enemy realizes the tactics.
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I've seen Tachyon: The Fringe recommended a few times so far in this thread, and while I don't disagree with that recommendation, a little context might be useful. The game is highly mediocre, with the flight engine lifted from some flight sim series and slapped into a space sim. Capitol ship combat is pathetic, and the sounds weapons make seems like some guy making Millennium Falcon sounds with his mouth.
But the game is still awesome, because the main character is voiced by Bruce Campbell. Plus the space stations are absolutely enormous, and the universe is immense, with all kinds of optional missions and areas to tackle, and 2 sides to eventually join. Tachyon's universe is pretty much exactly what I wanted Freelancers to be: Not randomly generated. It has the same progressively unlocking more and more of the universe gameplay that Freelancer did, with new ships to buy, upgrades for weapons and whatnot (though not nearly as many), without the annoyance of the alliance systems or the drudgery of randomly generated dialog and missions.
Plus, it's freaking Bruce Campbell. He makes anything awesome.
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Space sims:
Freespace - Imho simply the best, both of them
Wing Commander - All of them AWESOME, except for Arena of course, which is simply an Asteroids clone, play Secret OPs, if you didn't do that
already
Starlancer - Well, the story was a bit cheap (cliché russians are evil and want to take over the universe), but great in all other aspects
I-War 2 - Great story, nice graphics, but DAMN, it's hard.
Freelancer - I don't mind the mouse control very much, cause it works very well. It's a great game. Nice story and graphics and surprisingly long (in a time you can finish new games in one day...)
Except for the story missions, there isn't very much interesting stuff to do after a few days of playing it. Ship wrecks and of easter eggs didn't keep me busy for long. Freelancer is clearly one of the best games in the genre, but lacks content. Some more non-story missions would have made the game even better.
Darkstar One - I'm currenly playing it. Simply put: It's a Freelancer clone. While it doesn't feel quite as polished as Freelancer, it also has a few more features, plus it has better graphics. Sidequests and more generic missions fix one of the weak points Freelancer has.
It's a good game, but really not outstanding. I bought it for 10€ and that was a really good buy.
X³ - Still nice graphics. The feeling of beeing in space is really great. It also has an interesting story, but can't deliver it very well...
The trading part is very complex and takes a lot of time. The interface is a bit confusing too. Well, if you like complex games, X3 is a good choice.
The space action part is very weak though. It's neither easy, nor fun to fly a fighter in battle imho.
Space RTS:
Homeworld - Both parts are great. HW2 is imho the best space RTS out there. The gameplay is great and I love the art style. Watch out for HW: Cataclysm. It's like HW1.5. And the storyline simply rocks. It's even more immersive than HW2.
Haegemonia - Wow... I didn't pay much for it. I could have gotten a burger for the money. ;) It's very well balanced, and there is a lot of tension during the campaign. The story is quite nice and the graphics are still amzing, so is the music.
Just watching the spectacular space battles is fun enough. ;)
Sins of a Solar Empire - Sweet! It's hard to explain... I didn't have much trouble finding my way into it. Even though you can do a lot, it's all pretty simple. Great music and graphics complete the game. And you can build gigantic fleets. Seriously, your fleet can be really really huge, which results in pretty cool battles. Plus there is an active modding scene of SotSE.
I have only two complains:
1. There is no single player campaign (unless you count the tutorial). Even though the game would be perfect for it, it's either multiplayer or you fight the CPU. This hurts even more, cause the story in the intro sounds interesting...
2. It simply takes too long. Invading systems puts you at the disadvantage, so you can't do it until you're clearly stronger than your opponent.
So while you try to build more ships to beat him, he probably does the same. Sometimes there isn't much fighting until two big armadas crash into each other.
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EV: Nova, great story, fun to play, easy to learn, but a bit more difficult to master. If you do play it I highly recommend you get the Ship Variants plugin so the NPCs don't feel as broken as they sometimes do. :P Only real downside is no music for the game, but that gives you some freedom to select your own via your player of choice.
Galactic Civilizations 2, the strong, handsome grandson of the MOO series, and its expansions, are definitely worth a look if that's your sort of thing.
I personally recommend skipping HW2 unless it's for mods or multi.
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The best:
Homeworld: 1 and Cataclysm- they both have exellent gameplay and storylines, HW2 has great gameplay but the story leave alot to be desired.
Starlancer: Fun playthrough, a little weak on the story
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Excellent renders though. I less than three digital anvils work across the board.
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Starlancer: Fun playthrough, a little weak on the story
Weak on the story? It has optional news reports between every mission to present the wider picture of the war. It has a great backstory, and the overarching war has some emotional weight to it. You really feel part of a war effort, contributing to greater strategies on a theatre-level, even if it's a case of god syndrome where you have to do everything. If anything it's weak on gameplay, the story is one of the best elements.
In other words, you fail.
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you confuse atmosphere with story.
Yes, it had great atmosphere. But a great story?
Let's see, the Coaliation had every possible advantage you can think off, and yet you, a new unproven pilot, take place (or stumble into) EVERY SINGLE VITAL MISSION in history. I can get it with one or two, but everything?
It's worse than Scooby Doo and the gang constantly running into spooky houses and ghosts- no matter where they go.
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Let's see, the Coaliation had every possible advantage you can think off, and yet you, a new unproven pilot, take place (or stumble into) EVERY SINGLE VITAL MISSION in history. I can get it with one or two, but everything?
Familiar much *cough alpha one cough* ?
Yeah i know, Alpha one was ordered to do it all and the starlancer guy just got attacked, but it's fair to say the enemy would go for the weakest point in the line, (noob squad) plus the Pirates and buccaneers were doing all the good stuff behind enemy lines. :lol:
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Tachyon the Fringe + 1 vote
We loved it, spent years in it online despite it's many many many flaws.
The developers were not given the chance to do the game justice, but that's a long story.
That's why there's FringeSpace to recreate and update the Tach universe.
For those that haven't had a chance to play, FringeSpace will be hosting a Tachyon
tournament at the end of October. We're planning on getting as many folks in as possible.
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Let's see, the Coaliation had every possible advantage you can think off, and yet you, a new unproven pilot, take place (or stumble into) EVERY SINGLE VITAL MISSION in history. I can get it with one or two, but everything?
Familiar much *cough alpha one cough* ?
Yeah i know, Alpha one was ordered to do it all and the starlancer guy just got attacked, but it's fair to say the enemy would go for the weakest point in the line, (noob squad) plus the Pirates and buccaneers were doing all the good stuff behind enemy lines. :lol:
You don't do every critical mission in the universe in FS2. A lot of things are done behind the scenes - you hear of others doing it.
Starlancer is just terrible in that regard.
The Coalition has far more ships - you take out a whole fleet of theirs
They have a super-secret carrier - you destroy it
They have jump-gate technology - you capture it
They have a massive supply depot - you destroy it
They have a elite carrier - you take it out along with it's elite fighters
They have a strategic evil mastermind - you capture him
They have a secret Ion Cannon weapon - you take it out
etc...
With all of these advantages the Coalition could have jsut steamrolled over the Alliance...but no, they just wait politely as you take turns removing one advantage at a time. Yes, I'd call that a friggin bad story.
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At the start of the game they took out every major allied inner planet base and two national fleets. Doesn't it make sense that all our good **** would be in those bases? :p
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How many revolutionary, ground breaking secret projects that are nearing completion, all withing a span of a week or two, does one have?
Ye gods man. You'd have a easier time defending Little Red Riding hood trough the scientific scrutiny than this.
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I found Starlancer to be good but I felt the story to be just a bit too cheesy for my liking.
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they're not all within a week, check the comp between missions, also each launch shows the date :p
PS, lighten up Freelancers story is worse by extension.
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This thread makes me want to play Starlancer...
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*cough alpha one cough* ?
well, Alpha 1 isn't in all vital battles no, neither in FS1 nor FS2 (although the reason for that were that PCs were not able to handle the required stuff.). Battle of Deneb, the major offensive against the NTF half-way through the game, the original plan to stop the Sathanas, ...
Oh, I disliked Starlancer. Gameplay is just to weak, especially those super-rapid fire weapons.
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Starlancer: Fun playthrough, a little weak on the story
Weak on the story? It has optional news reports between every mission to present the wider picture of the war. It has a great backstory, and the overarching war has some emotional weight to it. You really feel part of a war effort, contributing to greater strategies on a theatre-level, even if it's a case of god syndrome where you have to do everything. If anything it's weak on gameplay, the story is one of the best elements.
In other words, you fail.
Really?...... I guess some people just like rehashed versions of WW2 in their games.
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they're not all within a week, check the comp between missions, also each launch shows the date :p
PS, lighten up Freelancers story is worse by extension.
Bah. Almost every mission in Starlancer is "OMG! They have a secret superweapon/tech that we just stumbled upon. You must destroy/capture it."
Repeat ad nauseum.
Freelancers story is ....acceptable...delivery is superb but the Nomads suck. Up until the moment I ran into them the story was great. But the body-snatching cliche was just too much.
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Starlancer is easygoing fun. FreeSpace is a space opera. Wing Commander (also by Chris Roberts) is the stopgap inbetween.
What would Starlancer be without the imposing weapons of doom? (Dark Reign platform, Czar and stealth is all i can think of at the moment) the Alliance had blindfire and nova cannons i'd prefer those to be honest.
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Since everyone is rehashing what they already said....
and few seem to know about Tach...
Here's a "banner" I'll be using for the tournament, which I'll post about tonight or tomorrow.
If it's too big I'll make it a link. Most of the pics on the sides are captures from in game.
(http://files.fringespace.org/jgz/Tournament-Postersm1.png)
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Tournament?
Squeeee, i need to dig out my copy and play it again.
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Double post i know. But i just wanted to withdraw from this Starlancer themed pro-con thing going on. Because i just realised i'm 26 and i'm going clubbbing and i don't need to prove i like it. I just like it. Oi yeah the boys are in a cab on our way to sunny Romford!
Expect updates on monday assuming i don't lose my phone. . .again.
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Tachyon rocked
/must install it again....
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I-War 2 and HW: Cataclysm are damn near impossible to find without going the copyright-infringement route. As a result I haven't been able to get or play either of them.
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I can't find my Tachyon... Another one of those times when I stumble across a topic about something I have, only to realise I can't find it... :(
The only thing I did in Tachyon was mount a Railgun onto the Mako and go sniping, with and without cheats depending on the mood (it was usually more of the former though :lol:). One frag per shot! XD
Wasn't fond of the graphics and other stuff but at the time my computer could barely make it, so I made do. Same with the ending, it's not one of those "unrealistic happy endings" :lol:, but I consider that "reality" in a way, so that's fine.
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You can buy I-War 2 here :
$9.99
http://www.atari.com/us/games/iwar2/pc
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You can buy I-War 2 here :
$9.99
http://www.atari.com/us/games/iwar2/pc
Plus $16 to ship to Canada.
Pass =)
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This here text reformattin aye it be irritatin to me eys...
I'm sure yous can find that there's Tachyon around on dis here interwebz.
You'z haf to addz the patches anyway to play onlinz.