A review by Russ Aaronson

5-2-02

Escape Velocity: Nova Review

I've only used three Apple laptops for any extended period of time, and every copy has had a version of Escape Velocity nestled away on it, somewhere.

My first Powerbook was the venerable (and still quite upgradeable) Powerbook 1400/166. I had the pleasure of using that 'book for two years, and in that time I often pushed it to its limit. Occasionally, I pushed too hard; most notably when running enormous PowerPoint presentations, but also with games that just weren't happy living on its little hard drive. I will never forget the crushing realization that my little 'book had limits when Mechwarrior ran too slowly to complete the timed trials during training missions.

That moment also forced another epiphany: not every game was meant to be played on a laptop. The dream of portable gaming nirvana quickly dissolves when playing a first person shooter, or any other thriller requiring deft mousing skills. Trackpads are hardly suited for split-second timing, and external mice are, well, external. Unfortunately, laptops lag behind desktops in other game sensitive performance areas like hard drive size/speed, graphics card quality, and screen size.

Of course, I've been an occasional gamer since the Atari 2600 days, and I've learned that performance doesn't guarantee pure gaming satisfaction (and anyone who can remember the halcyon days of the old Atari/Intellivision debates is certain to agree, or disagree, with such an assertion). Rather than fault my venerable 1400 for its shortcomings, I decided to make an informal list of qualities a good laptop game should possess. I now present that list, made formal for you, the laptop gaming public.

The Ten Commandments of Good Laptop Gaming:

1. No serious mousing required. - This one's fairly obvious. With the possible exception of Oni, most FPS games just aren't worth playing using a trackpad.
2. No CD required - This is the only category that caused LodeRunner2 to stumble in its quest to be the king of laptop gaming. Though this is more important for laptops with swappable drives, remember that everything you carry adds to the weight of your laptop bag, and they get heavy, fast. You could always use a disk image, but that still eats up a chunk of valuable storage space. Do you want to choose between a multimedia project for work and your 27^th level fighter-cleric from Icewind Dale? I didn't think so.
3. Modest system requirements - Everything your laptop does eats away at battery time. Extra batteries are heavy and expensive. You do the math.
4. Limited graphics acceleration (none, if possible) - In addition to the reasons for the previous rule, you should get used to limiting your tastes now. Tomorrow's games use tomorrow's chips, and your laptop shipped with yesterday's graphics card the day it rolled off the line.
5. Not too hard on the keyboard - Especially on the newest Powerbooks, bashing away on the keyboard means pummeling the heart of your system. Also, a hearty, key-pounding round of Maelstrom is almost certain to be frowned upon when you're in the proverbial "center seat" (the guy from those iBook ads was annoying enough, wasn't he?).
6. Good gameplay when sound is muted - I don't want to hear you discuss your hemhorroids with your travel buddy, so I know you don't want to listen to the theme music to Bugdom for four hours. If it's no good without the sound, it's useless on a laptop.
7. High replay value - How many games can you fit on your laptop's hard drive? Use the space for the ones that keep going longer than the Energizer bunny. Modestly sized plug-ins and expansions earn bonus points in this category.
8. PG-rated content - This category got Shadow Warrior deep sixed from my last laptop. Mixed company may not appreciate the fine art of decapitating an opponent, and then holding his head like a bowling ball to kill more mutants. If you cannot live without sex, violence, and mature language when you travel, pick up a Carl Hiaasen novel at the airport bookstore.
9. Multiplayer is unimportant - Some games find their strength in giving players the ability to virtually taunt and kill close friends and loved ones. If your favorite coffeehouse hasn't set up a free wireless network, you're just blastin' away at those big, dumb bots.
10. Variable length gameplay - They've changed your departure gate three times within an hour. Do you know how long you'll have before you have to put your 'book back to sleep? Bye-bye, Risk.

The Escape Velocity series has lived on every hard drive of every PowerBook I've worked with because it addresses every concern in my list. The original EV ran perfectly on the PB 1400, and Escape Velocity: Override fit my Pismo Powerbook quite nicely (though many of the new ships were quite ugly). Now Ambrosia Software threatens what's left of my productivity with an OS X native version of Escape Velocity: Nova, a totally revamped, 16 bit version of my old laptop favorite. Is EV:Nova the perfect game for my 400mhz TiBook?

I'm new to the Mac, and I have no idea what this Escape Velocity game is all about.

Congratulations! You're about to learn one more reason why Mac fanatics feel superior to Windows users. None of the EV games has ever been ported to any other platform (at least, not officially), and we're quite proud of this rare chance to enjoy a fantastic game the other guys can't. I still believe that the best way to learn about the game is to just sit down and play it, but here's the important stuff you need to know.

See that dark little speck in the center of theEarth? That's your ship at the start of EV:Nova, and it reflects how important you are to the universe around you.

You start the game here, as a young star captain in a tiny little shuttle, orbiting around a planet near Earth, but many years into the future. After following instructions to land your ship, you'll meet Barry, an experienced captain willing to show you the basics. If you're familiar with eariler versions of the game, feel free to tell Barry to cop a walk, but most folks will want to run a few cargo missions with him to learn the ropes. It doesn't take long to make enough money to soup up your ship, and as you complete different missions in the game, more options become available to you. Frankly, this is the part of the game that everyone seems to love, and the part that makes you forgive its inconsistencies. The dizzying array of upgrades includes weapons, shielding, sensors, engines, superstructure, countermeasures, cloaking, and power. You can also shop around for the perfect ship to fit your tastes. Do you crave a nimble little strike vehicle? There are plenty to choose from. Prefer an enormous warship? Save up enough money and the battles will come to find you. If you see another ship you like more than yours, you can always try to disable and capture it.

Stock up when you have the chance -- you'll need 'em!

All of these options are available at the start of the game, but the way you live will determine which outfits are available to you, which missions are offered to you, and even which ports you can call home. There are six major mission strings in the game, and they each cater to a different gamer's personality. You can aspire to work for the man and join the Federation; but if you think the Star Trek-esque Federation is more like the Star Wars style Empire, the Rebellion is always an option. The Klingon-inspired Aurorans make for an interesting, battle-filled campaign, as will an alliance with the Pirates. If you prefer the unknown, the remarkably deadly Polaris or the mystical Vell-Oss are interesting choices. Whichever path you choose, you'll find a combination of arcade warfare, RPG character building, and choose-your-own-adventure-styled storytelling in your future

.

This mission is easy money, but you'll have to earn the trust of the Nirvana Terraforming company first.

If you don't like being told what to do, just ignore all of the campaign mission requests and do your own thing. You could even trade your way to the biggest, baddest ship around, capture some escorts, and go around the universe demanding tribute from any planet in the system

.

This is what the universe looks like to the novice pilot Cade Connely.

And this is a close-up of the universe as experienced Federation Bureau commander Yossarian sees it.

And don't worry about running out of planets to conquer, because a universe this big will take a while to explore. The sheer magnitude of the Escape Velocity universe is dizzying, albeit repetitive at times.

EV:Nova and the Ten Laptop Gaming Commandments

Does EV:Nova stack up to its predecessors as a fine laptop game? Let's take it item-by-item.

Mousing/Controls - The controls haven't changed much since the very first game. Your ship's controls are basically those of the old Asteroids arcade game, with extra buttons for navigation and escort. Weapons controls are simplified to primary fire and secondary fire, with each button controlling unlimited and limited ammunition weapons, respectively. The inclusion of turreted/guided weapons allows for a remarkable variety of firepower within a simple control scheme. Overall, EVN continues the same perfect laptop controls of its brethren, and if it ain't broke…

No CD Drive? - No problem. This is shareware, so a 30mb download should cover it. That's a long download for us 56K folk, but not impossible, and I'm certain that EVN will appear on all of the major Mac magazine CD's if you're discouraged. Once unstuffed, the game takes a svelte 70mb of hard drive space, and the inevitable plug-ins that will soon follow should be small in size.

Modest system requirements? - 128mb RAM, PowerPC, Mac OS 8.1 or later (Mac OSX Native) Basically, if it ain't beige, it's good to go. Even some of your Gil Amelio-era workhorses should be able to handle EVN.

This is not the proper way to successfully conquer an Auroran planet.

Graphics acceleration? - None needed. Of course, the graphics here aren't likely to win any awards, but they've improved tremendously. From the running lights on your first shuttle to the wonderful pulsing clouds of an exploding Electro-Magnetic Pulse torpedo, this game looks polished. Besides, a shift to 3D graphics means 3D piloting, and then you have Descent -- another decidedly non-laptop-friendly game.

Not too hard on the keyboard? - You can expect to smack the keyboard from time to time; but the primary weapons key (in my case, the spacebar I've abused so heavily during MacMame rounds of Galaga) is basically an automatic-fire setup, and mindlessly pounding the other fire key could leave you with an empty missile launcher, fast.

Good gameplay without sound? - EVN isn't just playable, but preferable when muted. I'm not saying the sound of several cruisers duking it out isn't fun, but many of the incidental sounds (orders acknowledgements and hyperspace jumps) can wear on you at times. Cue up iTunes, then get back to blasting.

High replay value - First off, you have six different major campaigns, and it will take you hours to finish each one. Then you have a slew of minor mission cycles (some of which are far more enjoyable than the campaigns). Toss in that big, empty map to fill out, and you have more than enough bang for your buck. I have one pilot who has completed the Federation campaign, and it's still fun to find new ship configurations and pick fights with tougher enemies. I've found that there really is no "killer configuration", and that a clever pilot can make almost any ship into a veritable death star. Just wait until you see all of the plug-in campaigns that users will make, and you'll wish you had much more time in your day.

PG rated content. - No harsh language, no graphic violence, no problem. Half of the ships even have escape pods which you can't target. If the Star Wars films didn't offend your delicate sensibilities (Jar-Jar Binks notwithstanding), you shouldn't have any problems.

Multiplayer is unimportant. - And that's a good thing. Take a quick look at the Ambrosia web boards and you'll see innumerable requests for a Multiplayer version of EVN. You'll also see an emphatically negative response from the developers every time. Much as we'd love to build up our ships, and then square off against each other in mortal combat, this is still a story-based game. Period.

Variable length gameplay - Again, a perfect score for EVN in this category. Aside from a long load time, this game benefits from five minutes of play, or fifty hours of sleep deprivation. All in all, EVN still ranks as one of the preeminent laptop games on the Mac. And better yet, it's all ours.

Criticisms

• Some of the campaigns can get repetitive and boring. There are even times when a situation will arise that stalls, or even derails the campaign. Maybe someone never meets you "in the bar", or you're considered a hostile enemy on the planet you need to land on. If this should happen, go on a little vacation to another part of the galaxy and explore, or run some cargo missions to raise some cash. I've found that this solves the problem most of the time. If not, check out the web boards at Ambrosia for a way out (there's even a way for you to edit your pilot file and re-enable the mission). Nevertheless, such bugs can be quite annoying.
• Some of the missions seem to amount to some kind of stamina test, designed to measure how much boredom you can endure before you get the good battle/warship/weapon. That's just a bit too realistic for me. Of course, these are fine opportunities to look up from your laptop and see if your life has remained intact.
• Major battles can be over by the time you get there, and the conclusions to most of the campaigns are unsatisfactory, so remember to enjoy the trip.
• As I said before, the sound needs work, and you should have the option to mute some of the more disturbing effects.
• There are many typos in the game's mission texts. I honestly believe that this is the only telltale sign of the oxymoron "quality shareware" in this game. Most of these typos should be corrected in an upcoming maintainence release, but such a wealth of typos is hard to accept in a thirty dollar game, shareware or otherwise.
• The price seems a tad high. Not that EVN isn't worth thirty dollars (and not that I've paid thirty dollars or more for less enjoyable games); I simply have trouble justifying spending more than twenty dollars on any game, ever. This puts me into the gaming minority, but it is a consideration.

Conclusion

Escape Velocity: Nova is a fine addition to Ambrosia's legendary series, and it is still one of the best laptop games available. Very few shareware games are worth purchasing, and this is one of the select few. If you've played EV before, you're probably playing the game instead of reading this review, and your check is already in the mail. If you're new to the Mac, or shareware games that are worth buying, download the demo and give it the full thirty days. When Captain Hector's shareware reminders start getting violent, you'll have just one more reason to buy this game.

So go ahead and buy Escape Velocity: Nova -- your laptop will thank you.

Russ Aaronson
English Teacher,
Pompano Beach, FL

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Product: Escape Velocity: Nova	Additional Links Other Game reviews Graphics Card reviews PowerBook reviews iBook revierws Cider Press Index
Company: Ambrosia Software
Price: $30
Rating: (5 possible)