Terminal Velocity

The Good
A lot. The graphics are quite good and, in my own humble opinion, hold up to the year 2000's resource-sucking "flatland simulators". Okay, so there aren't that many 80 degree slopes to be found on Earth, but, when you're not really trying to simulate real life, it sure is more fun. As for gameplay, think Descent outdoors. It tends to be more frantic than the Parallax classic, with enemies swarming in every direction. It can be a lot of fun, dodging hills while blasting tons of helpless aircraft, strafing ground targets, and watching an absolutely absurd amount of debris shoot out of the remains of the ships and buildings you indiscriminately blasted. But . . .

The Bad
. . . Like Descent, it can get old. It's really not meant to be a "suck you in and not let go" type of game, but a "have a blast for thirty minutes and leave" game. In holding with this style, the missions are simple. There are no complex objectives, it's simply "follow the arrow and shoot what's there". There's nothing really wrong with this, I just prefer a little more depth, and it makes the "briefings" sort of redunant. Also slightly lacking is the sound department, which is little more than a utilitarian collection of zots, booms, and forgettable music. Finally, I can't shake the feeling that it's trying to one-up Descent (hence the constant references). To be frank, it doesn't. The same-ness of the missions with the occasional boss and kill everything attitude are pretty much on par with it's underground cousin.

The Bottom Line
Yep, you guessed it, "Descent . . . The Outdoors Edition". Okay, so there are tunnels, but they're just a plug. It's a good game in it's own right, and a blast for thirty minutes, but I think a lot more could have been done with some imaginative thinking.

The Good
I'm not a fan of simulators and freespace games and usually find them boring, pointless and not much fun, but this game is clearly an exception. Though I didn't play it that much (it crashes on both my machines) liked what I saw - a groundbreaking 3D engine with great eye-candy and smooth framerate on a 486, excellent controls and good audio. The missions are well made though not very innovative. Gameplay itself is excellent with smooth transitions and good action.

The Bad
Well, a simulator is a simulator. This is a good one, but nothing new anyway.

The Bottom Line
A good freespace game, reminiscent of Descent.