Independence War: The Starship Simulator

aka: I-War, I-War: Enter Infinity, I-War: Rebellion im Universum, Independence War, Infinity Wars
Moby ID: 801
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Description official descriptions

The Indies, colonists from Earth, and the Commonwealth are engaged in a never-ending war in Space. As an officer of the Commonwealth it's your job to strip these rebels of their defiant natures and force them to re-join with Earth.

Independence War: The Starship Simulator is a space-sim with a twist. Instead of flying the usual fighters, you take charge of a 150-metre long Dreadnaught-class corvette. And all the goodies of a capital ship are included: big guns, big shields, lots of missiles. All the daily essentials for an officer of the Navy.

Mission times vary from 5 minutes up to 35 minutes without save point. If you have successfully completed the mission, the game will save. There are primary and secondary missions and, later in the game, you can change the sides from the Navy to the Indies. Later, the Dreadnaught become updated with more firepower, new missiles and a friend. The game has three endings.

Some of the missions require you to remote control other crafts, such as fighter, freighter, and more. Unfortunately, when you are controlling that ship, your own ship is flying with no one at the helm.

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Credits (Windows version)

50 People · View all

Design
Lead Programming
Programming
AI Programming
Music
Sound
Art Director
Briefing Animation
Integration & Game Test
Project Presentation
  • Jacqui Lyons & Marjacq
Voice Recording
  • M&S Music Tunstudio GmbH
German Voices
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 84% (based on 17 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 22 ratings with 7 reviews)

Puts the Sim on Sci-fi sims and does so with great missions and fantastic gameplay.

The Good
Independence War is probably the finest attempt there ever has been of bringing a semblance of realism and strategic complexity to the otherwise arcadey world of space "sims". The premise of the game is that you aren't in control of some Star Wars-like starfighter that is able to zip around space with the same physical constraints as an F-16 fighter plane, but that you are the captain of a light strike corvette that has to contend with inertia, mass, constant movement, etc... enough to change the rules of gameplay and introduce a more realistic edge, but not so much as to bog down the action and entertainment as in previous attempts like Elite, or MS Space Simulator.

The game does take a dip in the space opera waters, and comes laced with a tipically epic and end-all-be-all sci-fi plotline in which two factions (the commonwealth and the indies) fight for space supremacy. One does so for their typical "rebel colonists" ideals and the other does so because of said rebels resources and control of space, which prompt a reactionary and overzealous president to negotiate shady political maneuvers and send people to die recklessly on all out war and.... Holy shit! Is it just me or that sounds waaay to much like what's going on around the world lately??? Well, here's hoping that the next NATO summit doesn't end like the one on this game!... Anyway, you also have an Obi wan-like digitized ghost, some extraterrestial elements, betrayal, etc.. The plot does, shall we say... "pay homage", to Wing Commander 4, specially with some elements like the shadowy black ops militia, the deranged war-monger texan yelling for war... uh.. well, I figured he was Texan, y'know?:) and other recognizable ideas, but overall it's all quite good, and it's presented via some mighty spiffy fmv sequences.

As mentioned above, the new physics as well as the interface and other gimmicks make a hell of a change when compared to other "space-sims", making the game take a much more strategic approach to combat situations. Instead of doing everything from a cockpit, you alternate between a series of battlestations (you are, after all, in command of a cap ship), so you have the command center from where you review objectives, communicate, etc.; the pilot's station for navigation and flying; engineering for power allocation and damage repair; and finally the gunnery station which is able to switch from a standard "fps" viewpoint to a padlock-like display that will be most reminescent to players of real flight simulators and provides a more strategic view of combat situations.

Sounds like too complicated? We are not even halfway there. You have multiple flying modes, from hyperspace-like "teleportation" to LSD.. whoops, "LDS" drive that allows you to trip out in space at near light-speeds, as well as "standard" space flight. Said space flight involves the already mentioned physics factor, so turning at high speeds is accurately modeled, acceleration and reverse thrust is adequately handled, and you can also cut your engines and strafe and slide while your inertia does the driving. To aid you in keeping tabs for all those variables you have a pletora of auto-pilot options that allow you to match speeds, range, course, dock, etc. as well as other navigational aids suchs as trajectory displays on your HUD, multiple targeting and individual component targetting (say you want to just shoot the weapons off your enemy), auto-tracking turrets, missiles, etc.. etc... etc... I could be here all day listing the features available on I-War, and believe me, all of them are used in the game at one point or another, so it comes as a great surprise to see that the game integrates all of them so seamlessly and painlessly. It still takes a while to get used to I-War, but once you do, all the other space-sims star to feel like... I dunno... Inferior. And that's before we even get to the mission design!!

Clearly distancing itself from the patented Chris Roberts "go to the nav points, shoot everything and repeat" mantra, I-War features some of the most stellar mission designs I have ever seen for a game of this type. There is simply no "filler" material on this game! Each mission plays like a one-of-a-kind affair that has it's own set of rules and challenges, some even offering branching paths that take the plot different places. You'll test your mettle against battlestations, dispose of toxic waste, rescue freighters, infiltrate shipyards, disable battlecruisers, evacuate bases, tow mega-nukes out of range and escape it's shockwaves, etc. etc. etc. Even the final mission managed to be a standout and avoided the standard "all-out fights" that have become so common in this genre.

The Bad
There are some minor technical difficulties, like some resolution incompatibilities that make videos play in weird aspect ratios, or throw you to windows to see a video an come back for the game (??) but the main gripes I have with this game is that the mission design relies way to much on puzzle-based missions. Surely a byproduct of their uniqueness and originality, but still annoying as hell. Games like Tachyon, Freespace 2 or even Crimson Skies had their share of unique missions but you were never left stuck on any of them because you didn't think of doing exactly what the designers intended you to do...

Other than that there's also the fact that until you get in the mindset of the game things can get pretty hairy. The interface is very complex with dozens of keystrokes to keep track off (this is one game that is NEVER going to make it to any console) and a gameplay premise that calls for some serious re-thinking of time-honored game mechanics. As another reviewed noted, fights in I-War can turn out to be jousting matches that make little or no sense, and he's absolutely right! If, you make the mistake of handling it like other space shooters. Combat on I-War involves strafing runs, auto-pilot handling, using missiles, keeping your range and other concepts such as aiming to a target with your REAR weapons instead of hitting afterburner and slamming head-on against the incoming baddies, while proceeding with standard dogfighting techniques. You either get on with the program, or you are toast. And that's a fact.

Oh! And remote controlling other ships can be suicide most of the times as other reviewers noted, since your crew apparently decides to take a lunch break whenever you do this.

The Bottom Line
Different take on the whole space shooter subgenre that manages to improve on just about every aspect you can think of. Sometimes too brainy and complicated for it's own good, but otherwise an excellent game that breaks the mold and shows us what "space simming" is all about.

If you even remotely care about these types of games then don't even think about it, this is your holy grail.

Windows · by Zovni (10504) · 2003

This is one kick-ass game.

The Good
Everything. It's unfortunate that Ashely didn't share my inthusiasm. As for the graphics, if you're play with a 3D acellerator, they can match or top modern day computer games. The flight being like a "Bulky Y-Wing" is because it's realistic. If you were to really fly a spacecraft that large, it wouldn't handle like ships in other games. As for the weapons, there are more than one. The stations do prove little use, but if you need to see the damage of your ship, a breifing document, weapon selection or things along that line, changing stations is useful. This fourteen-minute intro video was actually VERY interesting and I had to watch it multiple times as I played the game to figure things out that I hadn't been able to before. It also had superb graphics that toped some modern-day videos. As for the combat, it gets back to the control: This game is going for realism. If you were to be shot by a laser cannon in the right spot, you should be sent drifting. But the good part of that is that you can get up again and fight. If you look at the Engeneering station, you'll see that the Dreadnoght CNV-301 has four repair crews whom you can dispatch acordingly.
Sorry to gang up on you, Ashley, but maybe if you picked up the instruction book more than just to take it out of the box, you might have discovered the magnatude of this game.

The Bad
Very complicted controls; almost every key on the keyboard has one or more tasks. For some people, the plot may be a bit to deep (but I like it). Not much more that's bad, but if you're into realist sci-fi games and are willing to take some time to study the controls, it's a great game.

The Bottom Line
It's an interesting idea indeed. And I think that Partical Systems\Infograms did a GREAT job on this game and deserve two (or more if humanly possible) thumbs up.

Windows · by Kahlon Graham (2) · 2000

The way I wish X-Wing had been . . .

The Good
The graphics were quite good and full of nice touches. Some examples are, the fact that space is dark (although you can make it lighter in the options menu), the unobtrusive lines that tell you your direction of movement, and the trails left by other craft which tell you their direction of movement. I also liked the neutral backdrops with the planets looming over most of the on-screen action.

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The fabled "Newton-ish physics" rocked. I loved the way they worked this. Instead of the "point-and-go" physics of most space sims (in which you have absolutely no inertia) you have mass, which means you have inertia and because you are flying a corvette, not a fighter, you have a lot of it. Once you're going 1000 meters per second in one direction, it gets hard to stop. Although some gripe about this, I found true depth here. You can do many things with your mass and inertia that you simply can't do in a game like X-Wing.

Some examples:

-You can circle-strafe. By matching a large cruiser's speed and turning off the computer-assist (which tries to keep you going forward), you can use your lateral thrusters to circle around the enemy and make yourself hard to hit, as well as give you a constant target.

-You can get off more rounds in a pass. You get going towards an installation and turn off the computer-assist. Then you just kepp your nose pointed at the target, as your inertia keeps ou going.

-You can ram. Because you have a large amount of mass, smaller ships will crumple when you ram into them at high speeds. The usefulness of this is accentuated by your sheilds, which can be turned on in a single large burst, making you practiacally invincible for a second.

And before anyone complains about the speed of acelleration and turn, as well as other physics related gripes, please realize, this is the future. Just because our space shuttle can't acellerate that fast, doesn't mean that ships in 2500 can't.

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I liked the high speed travel model. It was a lot of fun just cruising past moons in NAV training 2, by using the LDS drive (which moves you at speeds from 1 km/s to nine-tenths of the speed of light.).

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The planets exist! You can run into them!

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It was a fun game to play, in my opinion, and that recommends it by itself.

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It has a great intro. It's a 14 minute long, 3D rendered monster, that I have watched more than four times. It is, basically, the entire first disk, minus the install.

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The FMV is spactacular all the way through.

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It's complex. There are a lot of things you can do with your ship, or you can leave them all alone, and still do well. For instance, you can have your engineering teams fix your weapons systems first, if you need to shoot back, but your guns are damaged, or your LDS

The Bad
The scripting is carved in stone. While this makes it easier to keep the story in flow, it makes some missions rather difficult to win.

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No multiplayer.

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You can only fly the corvette, although you can fly some others by remote control at certain points.

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The interface, although bare-bones simple, is a bit vauge. Also, the red "back-up" arrow disappeared when I used my Voodoo 2.

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There's no 3D support other than 3Dfx (that I know of).

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Weapon accuracy seems a bit low sometimes

The Bottom Line
A great play. Although not without its share of flaws, it was a heck of a lot of fun, and I'd recommend it to any simmer, or gamer in general. I really wish that the original X-Wing had had a physics model like this, because I found so much fun and depth in it.

Windows · by Clinton Webb (19) · 2000

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Trivia

3dfx patch

There's a 3dfx patch that allows the game to use 3dfx 3D accelerators for improved graphics. This applies to I-War European release only, not the US release titled Independence War.

Editor

You can download the I-WAR developer's kit from the official website. It allows you to figure out the scripts and the events that goes into making a single mission, and create your own.

Version differences

The final mission of the game (Impeachment) was split in two missions for the western release (at the point were the Excalibur flees from the main navy fleet).

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 1999 (Issue #177) – Best Space Sim of the Year

Information also contributed by Zovni

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by faceless.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Maury Markowitz, Rebound Boy, Erwin Bergervoet, Kasey Chang, Joel Segerbäck, Independent, Patrick Bregger.

Game added January 27, 2000. Last modified November 16, 2023.