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Shattered Galaxy By John "Award" Del Percio,
October 17, 2001
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Developer :Nexon
Publisher :Tri-Synergy
Release Date :Quarter 3, 2001
Demo Available : No
Table of Contents

· Introduction
· Closer Look
· Facts
· Final

POCed The Genre

Shattered Galaxy, though the first real title in its type, appears to be the game that will hold the genre for some time, despite it's graphical problems. Anyone who has read part one of our debate on massively multiplayer gaming may recall that, as a whole, I greatly dislike it, yet Shattered Galaxy has managed to win me back a bit. I haven't seen a MMO game with this strong of a design in some time. Though it's almost painful to say it, I'm actually going to be rather dissappointed when my free month runs out. Dissappointed enough to consider buying more time (and thus the addiction begins...)

Rating

Personal Note

Graphics - Sound - Gameplay - Depth - Multiplayer  Reviewed by John Del Percio
GRAPHICS
80 %

Yuck! It almost makes Diablo II look as though it was made in this century. Seriously, the graphics that don't look like they were traced over a Starcraft screen shot look like they are a decade old. Fortunately, you do get used to them after a while, and with such great gameplay, you hardly notice the bad graphics. On an up-note, there's a pretty nice looking (and lengthy) intro cinematic that's worth watching a few times (ok, not the little flip-art one about the mouse in the transporter...that one's just wrong. <g>)

SOUND
90 %

The sound, while there's nothing exceptional in terms of effects, it is all high quality. My favorite part in terms of sound, though, is the music. It's almost mesmorizing, I wish it was stored in a readable format in the game directory, I could see myself drifting into oblivion listening to that while writing reviews (though I'd need quite a coffee fix to get back into action after it, though.)

GAMEPLAY
100 %

The gameplay, balance, cooperation between players, and nearly everything else about the implimentation of Shattered Galaxy is exemplary. Never have I been so entrhalled with the gameplay and cooperation of a MMO game before. The balance of units, the concept of a small squadron of units teaming up with other player's units, and even the way victory on a map is achieved really make the game stand up above the crowd, even if it is a little under-marketed.

DEPTH
90 %

There isn't anything exceptionally deep. There is relatively no story (can we think of any other great games without a story?) and the learning curve is fairly simple. Still, though, the ability to fully customize your units so that nobody knows fully what you're capable of certainly does a lot for complicating things, though entirely for fun.

MULTIPLAYER
100 %

Well, it's an MMORTS, so multiplayer has to tie in with the gameplay score. I was somewhat amazed to find that I very rarely had lag problems. The lines in my area are typically fairly congested, so it shows me that SG has a low bandwidth profile. It certainly helps a lot. What's more remarkable, though, is that, generally, the players on the SG servers are really great people who don't mind helping a newbie out, and make it fun and pleasant to hop on the server and play for a short while. Unlike some other multiplayer networks (Battle.net) there is relatively little rude behavior. Mostly everyone is out to have fun playing a game, and meet other gamers.



As I mentioned in the conclusion, I find it exceptionally rare for there to be an MMO game that is worth the monthly fee. This time, though, the game seems to form a mini-community which doesn't seem to happen too often, even in the RPGs. Nexon really did a great job in bringing this title to a near-perfect state, though that patch installation problem concerns me a bit. Shattered Galaxy is nominated for the 2001 Top Pupil Awards in the category of Best Online game, or Best Strategy Game, depending on if we create an Online category (there was none in the past.) Finally, on a very personal note, a special thanks goes out to Steel, ChronoGod, Toraro, and RedEye (Solan faction on the planet Relic) for your help in showing me the ropes of building up a strong hero. And thanks to the rest of the players on Relic for your hospitality and great gaming experience. It's been fun!

Overall Rating

 



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