This game is a hidden gem. I never would have found out about it if not for a friend telling me. It is only available online, not in any stores- but that said, the $30 is well worth it. The gameplay is what truly makes this game shine. It combines addictiveness with fun, and just the right amount of challenge. Although it can be tedious to just fly around carrying things from planet to planet in some missions, there are more challenging, more fun missions available through bars and storylines. There are several different storylines to follow, each of them giving a rewarding and entertaining experience. In one you establish a guild of pirates, in one you are taken as a mind-controlled slave and attempt to free yourself and friends. In one you do missions for the Federation, and you can also work for its enemies, the rebels and the Aurorans. These are not all the storylines! In contrast to the gameplay, the graphics definitely do not stand out. Stills of planets combined with 3-D ships with few moving parts will not make you gasp and stare in wonder, but it gets the job done, and if you take the time to appreciate them, some of the ships look pretty cool. The sound has a very Star Wars-esque feel to it, probably because it is almost exactly the same- hyperspace, lasers, missiles, they all seem just like their counterparts in Star Wars- which is, in my opinion, a good thing. So if you have $30 and some time to devote to a great game, look no further than Escape Velocity: Nova.
If this game had been free, I would become a Communist. Luckily, Ambrosia does charge a financial fee for this work. And a good thing too or I would have lost all faith in Capitalism and set up free stores across the n... Read Full Review
I first heard of my friends playing this open-ended, top-down space combat scroller years ago; they were playing the original Escape Velocity on MAC (circa 1995), and the ideas behind this game - choose your alignment, y... Read Full Review
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