Hard Nova

Moby ID: 4076
DOS Specs
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Description official description

A spaceship carrying a mercenary with the crew was hit by a meteor. Its hull was breached, and only the mercenary and the navigator A’kri Janr managed to escape. Gerard Kendall, the head of Starkiller Mercenary Group, gave the survivors a new ship. Now they have to find a new crew in order to complete their jobs. It's high time for mercenary work, as various groups are fighting for supremacy in the Four Systems. Meanwhile, the sun of a remote planet is dying, and only a miracle can save an entire race from extinction...

Hard Nova is a sci-fi role-playing game with space exploration, spaceship customization and combat, and trading elements, somewhat similar in concept to Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic. There is no character creation in the game: in the beginning the player selects between the female mercenary Nova and the male mercenary Stark. They have slightly different attributes and may gain access to different dialogue lines as the game advances. Most other crew members have to be recruited from within the game world. Three of them can be taken to locations on various planets, where they may interact with other characters and participate in combat, where only the leader is controlled manually. On-foot combat is done in real time, with delays caused by weapon properties and the characters' proficiencies. Guns play a prominent role in battles.

Experience points are awarded for harming enemies. When a character levels up, these points can be manually allocated to improve their parameters. Each character has two sets of abilities, land-based and ship-based. Land-based abilities include general aptitude in improving through combat, agility, stealth, fitness, various weapon proficiencies, etc. Ship-based abilities include mechanics, programming, gunner skills, and others. Each crew member is assigned a role on the ship, such as pilot, engineer, technician, and so on.

The player is taken to a hovercraft when reaching the orbit of a planet. An exact location can be selected, where the hovercraft can be controlled manually. Only a few places can serve as hovercraft docks, and the player needs to manoeuvre the craft precisely to land it. The hovercraft may also be attacked by hostiles, which leads to action-based combat.

When leaving an orbit, the player can navigate the starship J-21C Delphenus through space. There are four star systems in the game: the powerful and militant Ariel, the Rouyn system known for its valuable minerals, the Ciberan system with its supplies of water and fuel, and the Mastassini system, where the player starts the game. The systems are connected by stargates and each hosts several planets. The player-controlled spaceship may encounter hostile ships, which can be fought in arcade action style. The ship can be outfitted with various weapons, and improve in different aspects such as avionics, thrusters, etc. Better parts and fuel can be purchased on space stations. The player can also trade between star systems, using the money to buy better equipment for the crew and customize the ship.

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Credits (DOS version)

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Design
Tools Programming
Programming
Computer Art
Additional Computer Art
Music Composition
Music Technology
Sound Technology
Story Writing and Implementation
Original Concept
Producer
Associate Producer
Assistant Producer
Technical Director
Lead Tester
Quality Assurance
Product Manager
Package Art Direction
Package Design
Package Illustration
Documentation
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 70% (based on 14 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 25 ratings with 1 reviews)

Hard Nova Rocks My Socks!

The Good
Other than the plot line, which constantly has turns and twists, I liked the challenge of trying to figure out what to do next. Although the conversations in the game are very linear, they are still fairly entertaining, too. One of the awesome things is that the game doesn't restrict you off the bat - you can do practically anything you want at any time.

The Bad
Unfortunately, the game was created with the thought that the player won't explore what they don't have to - I've found myself playing around in places I shouldn't have and revealed parts of the story that I needed for later on - after uncovering and ignoring those parts and later needing them, I found you cannot recover past conversations.

The Bottom Line
All in all, for being a fairly old game, it's still highly entertaining, and very well done, all limitations considered.

DOS · by Alex Barry (2) · 2006

Trivia

Manual

The manual contains a page discussing what it would be like for you if you were a first-rate mercenary, but then somebody came along and cloned you and the clones did all the work and nobody would pay for your services anymore. It's probably the most entertaining way anyone's ever said, "Please don't copy our software." This "anti-piracy" story was a practice of EA for every game they put out during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

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  • MobyGames ID: 4076
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe.

Atari ST added by JRK. Amiga added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Patrick Bregger.

Game added May 13, 2001. Last modified February 9, 2024.