Windows

Allegiance

With its gorgeous graphics and innovative gameplay, Allegiance is a product with few flaws. Its steep learning curve may make you crave a few more training missions or even some single-player ones, but what better place is there to hone your skills than on the battlefield against live opponents?

For the casual gamer, Allegiance finally gives you a space shooter that's fun to play in multiplayer. It has a point, it has huge furballs with dozens of fighters flying around and it can be played at any time. Just fire up the computer, find a public or premium match, join in and fly. One of our complaints about Starlancer multiplayer is why did Digital Anvil even bother with deathmatch, since it was so uninspired? Well, with Allegiance it's a totally different story. With so many players, even a big fight over an empty sector is *fun*. Or you can take on and slowly learn the role of commander. With loads of responsibility on your shoulders, victory and your team's pride on the line, you're the one who's gets the glory or leaves with his head hung in shame. Just like in real life, if there's anyone who will get the glory after a win, it's the commander, and when it's time for a sacrificial lamb after a loss, guess who gets to step up and take it like a man.

As a rule, I hate exclusively online games! I am vehemently opposed to paying $40+ for the software and then having to pay $10 a month to play online. Allegiance, however, is the exception. You can play on the free sites or opt to pay the $10 a month to get some nifty extras. Although the extra things are nice, my wallet (and my wife) will be much happier with me playing on the free sites -- the free level is challenging enough. It may take some time to master and feel comfortable with the controls and movement, but the combination of genres (real-time strategy, space flight simulation, group cooperation, etc) makes it worth the effort. For this reason I have given the game a 91 out of 100. It remains to be seen how the game servers will handle the expected hundreds of players at a time. Right now is the time to get on and play; I have yet to see any slow-downs and there is a lot of open space in the games.

If this is the wave of the future for multiplayer games, I can't wait to see what's ahead. Allegiance sets forth a goal and achieves it on almost every level.

This game, while offering no single player except for a limited (but helpful) tutorial, leaves some memorable moments. Dogfights are fast and intense, graphics are great, and the sound quality is excellent (minus the lack of working hardware accelerated sound)! The Azone is one of the best online communities with some truly massive games. You can have a maximum of 6 teams with up to 70 players each (that’s 420 players in ONE game)! The netcode is another good thing, as players on extremely slow connections get good pings, no lag here! All and all, Microsoft has outdone itself in actually making another worthwhile product!

Allegiance is an impressive online game that fuses space combat simulation with elements of strategic military planning and command. It's exclusively playable online, and while it has an interesting premise, there's no real context to the actual battles you'll participate in. If anything, its lack of a single-player campaign merely clarifies the distinction between Allegiance and all other space combat sims - its real-time strategy elements and its focus on cooperative piloting tactics are so central to its gameplay that Allegiance can be very challenging to learn, but it's well worth the effort.

Picture your favourite space combat simulation. You're entering a stunning 3D universe filled with other ships just itching to begin an epic war. Now take out the AI and replace each of the ships' pilots with real human beings from all across the Internet. There's no scripts, no tricks that the computer doesn't realize, just human vs. human interaction. That's what really separates Allegiance from your average space combat title, each and every ship you come across is piloted by another human player. It's ambitious, unique and undoubtedly sets the standards for future multiplayer games of its kind. For those with the patience to learn its intricacies and metalwork, it's a gaming experience well worth exploring.

Allegiance is een verrassend knap online spacecombat spel dat het zelfs op de minder snelle verbindingen goed doet.

Neben dieser komplexen Weltraumaction wirkt der durchschnittliche 3D-Shooter wie ein Dorfdepp. Allegiance bietet genug Ideen und Designelemente für drei Online-Spiele: superb aussehende Flugaction mit konfigurierbaren Schiffen, Management von Ressourcen, taktische Entscheidungen bei der Sektoreneroberung. Klingt wie der Wunschtraum jedes SF-Piloten, verursacht manchmal aber mehr Stress als Spaß. Unter extremem Zeitdruck müssen die Teams kommunizieren, Einsätze fliegen und Strategien planen. Ohne Disziplin und Arbeitsteilung drohen Chaos und Verderben; die Lernkurve ist so steil wie die Eigernordwand. An Einsteigern geht das Spiel vorbei, als Dampfablasser ist es zu kompliziert. Wer geduldig ist, die anspruchsvolle Genremischung goutiert und auf nette Mitspieler stößt, erlebt die schönsten und cleversten Team-Schlachten des Internet-Weltraums.

Ambitieus en diep, lastig en uitdagend, mooi maar soms te uitgebreid, te vernieuwend en een tikkie verwarrend. Toch een spel dat alle lof verdient.

Kollegen, die mir beim Testen über die Schulter schauten, konnten es kaum glauben, hier ein Online-Spiel zu sehen: Allegiances Grafik und Sound degradieren viele Einzelspieler-Titel zu kümmerlicher Shareware. Wirklich brillant und eine echte Herausforderung ist der Conquest-Modus, der auch Nicht-Strategen anspricht: Neben den feindlichen Attacken setzt Sie oft genug das eigene Team unter Druck, das nach besseren Waffen und Teleporter-Plattformen schreit oder meckert, dass Ihre Grubenraumer untätig herumsitzen. Schade nur, dass die Mehrspieler-Varianten nicht offline geübt werden können. Unterm Strich gefällt mir Allegiance sogar einen Tick besser als Starlancer - auch wenn rund 20 Mark im Monat für die Allegiance-Zone nicht gerade geschenkt sind. Für den Preis sollte Microsoft noch mehr als nur die Bestenliste, registrierte Schwadrone, Medaillen und ein paar nebulöse "unique events" bieten.

In the game itself there is very little lag which, considering you can have dozens of ships in any one sector, I find frankly amazing. In terms of graphics, Allegiance is up there with the best of them. The ships are well designed and distinct and the effects far outshine any other online game to date. Whether it's worth buying is down to a number of factors. If you're a fan of space combat and prepared to put the time in Allegiance will reward you with months of online play and, as a team-based game, Allegiance is in a league of its own - the more people playing, the better it will be. Your space fleet needs you. Join today.

All in all, this is a good game for those with the proper machine, a good Internet connection and a joystick. I was able to play it with the keyboard, but would not recommend that to even my worst enemy. A solid 4 GiN Gems are given to this release from Microsoft!

Voordelen: Hele goede teamplay game. Snel, flitsend en adrenalineverhogend. Tactisch uitdagend, vooral als commander. Mooie alphecs en ship graphics. Stealth Fighters & verrassingsaanvallen. Zeer verslavend. Nadelen: De maandelijkse rekening weer. Het is zeer verslavend. Je moet een goeie commander hebben om het leuk te houden. In grote battles wel erg laggy, vooral op de "gratis" servers. Het verhaal is gewoon brak, zo eentje van 'twaalf in een dozijn'.

So there you are a unique mix of RTS and online flight sim. Is it worth it? Kind of. IF you like the Spacesim genre then give this a look. If you prefer single player Spacesims then go pick up Starlancer. The ultimate test of any game is how much you want to play it after you stop and quite frankly I found myself wanting to play FreeSpace 2 or Starlancer while I was playing Allegiance. I didn’t really like it, but it is a good game, it’s just not for everybody.

If you're in the mood for action and are either an excellent virtual pilot or a gamer patient enough to wait repeatedly for your life pod to dock or be rescued, free up some hard-drive space and test your space combat skills in Allegiance.

Allegiance is a fine game indeed, it is a social experience and can be fun for hours or just minutes in short games. But by creating a good gaming environment and team interactivity, the factions which team members must pledge allegiance to are too similar and are outshined by the bond between field pilots and the commander. Most of the time, players experience the feeling of pledging allegiance to none of the factions but fighting for the team's immediate commander.