Rebel Galaxy Outlaw

Privateer 2: The Darkening is one of my favorite games of all time. REBEL GALAXY OUTLAW is more fun that Privateer 2! I've been trying to scratch this itch for years, trying Star Citizen, Elite Dangerous, looked at X4 and many others. This is it! If you love role playing, immersion, simple old-school gameplay without a 400 page control manual, this is the game for you. The space combat is more visceral and enjoyable than P2, the AI is better, it's faster, more intelligent, and the radio music gets your blood pumping. God damn this game is fun. Looking for jobs, getting credits, upgrading your ship, transport, damn it's ALL better, and bad ass to boot. In P2, it was Ser Lev Arris that was the badass and you filled in the gaps in tiny little portions in space. In this game, YOU'RE the badass. F-ing awesome. This game kills on keyboard and mouse. It just takes some customization. Use my setup, seriously try it out! If you have a full sized keyboard and mouse with two left side buttons, you're good to go. ==KEYMAPPING== boosters TAB steer left A steer right D roll left Q roll right E roll modifier SPACE throttle up/context ALT secondary throttle up SCROLL MOUSE WHEEL UP secondary throttle down SCROLL MOUSE WHEEL DOWN secondary weapon RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON command menu CTRL cycle mfd/secondary context KEY ABOVE TAB lock target FORWARD MOST SIDE MOUSE BUTTON target nearest hostile BACK MOST SIDE MOUSE BUTTON cycle next target W cycle previous target S scan area MIDDLE MOUES CLICK ==SETTING= all axis flips NO =MOUSE= VIRTUAL STICK RETICLE YES 75% 0% NO 25% inflight subtitles NO That's it! Hold down KEY ABOVE TAB to sub-light jump. Press ALT to drop out (for distress beacons for example) Really this is it!

I reached the end game but the experience was far worse than the first game. The biggest flaw is that the game forces you to use a fighter and rogue tactics - if you choose another ship there is no chance of winning. In a fighter I was destroying everything on my path, when I tried to use a bigger (and slower) ship with the best gear and turrets it was destroyed in mere seconds - it simply was to slow (it was like a flying garbage truck, not some kind of destroyer class). There are no "cool big ships" in this game and that is why it doesn't deserve more than 3 stars (maybe even 2). I want to have a choice - fast, nimble and dangerous fighter or slow, armored and packed with heavy weaponry capital ship. This game doesn't give you such choice.

First impressions were good because visually and mechanically the game borrows heavily from Privateer and Freelancer. Sadly I just couldn't enjoy it. The aim assist system removes any challenge from combat because it does the flying and aiming for you. At least you don't have to use it. What can't be avoided is the design decision to swarm you with enemies. Evading is impossible once you run out of power for the afterburner, and you'll run out fast while still being a punching bag with 6 or 8 fighters on your tail. The game has a nasty habit of not forewarning you if the mission you took is too much for you with the craft and gear you have, especially the main story missions. The side jobs are a color coded to tip you as to how difficult they are and it supposedly scales with the player's ship and gear, but its a cheat. Odds are overwhelmingly against you at all times, and being ganked by 8 fighters is not my idea of a fun challenge. I would have rather faced few enemies that maneuver cleverly, but with the Aim Assist system the only way the game has to challenge you is to overwhelm you. If that's your idea of fun times than this game is for you. I simply don't have the patience for this kind of challenge, to grind against overwhelming numbers to "git gud." A real shame, because I love this type of action space sim. I just don't think its combat is conducive to a fun experience.

Those who want this game to be like the original are in for disappointment. Those who want this to be a space sim like Elite Dangerous are looking in the wrong place. This game is an incredible love letter to the classic open-space adventure, Wing Commander Privateer. If you've played Privateer you can probably just jump right in and fit at home. Energy management, commodity trading, mercenary missions, merchant missions, everything from WCP is here but improved. More variety, more ships, more weapons, more to see and do and experience. WCP was always one of my greatest gaming loves and this game takes everything in it and improves upon it. The soundtrack is amazing and the custom mixtape option in particular makes flying around between stations just perfect. It's everything I wanted in a sequel to WCP and more. That said, it's not gonna be for everyone. Sometimes shit's gonna happen. You're one ship in a huge universe - sometimes you'll jump into a pirate ambush, or respond to a distress signal only to find it's a trap. Yes, you'll die. But that's half the point - you gotta play it all smart. Fight when you can take 'em, flee if you can't, and don't be afraid to swallow your pride and ask for a break when against insurmountable odds. The sector's a big place and you're a small fish, so until you can build up your fortune and deck out an incredible ship you gotta be smart, careful, and maybe a little lucky.

I wonder what went wrong when they made this sequel. The first game was a smooth, fun space game with a good looking and intuitive UI, smooth controls, nice graphics and designs and it just all came together really nicely. I even enjoyed the whole "broadside" concept with "2D" flying because it worked and one often fly kinda "2D" in space games anyway. I also love the colorful characters that have quite good voice acting. The sequel, despite being released 5 years later feels much older. The UI is ugly and clunky, the controls are sluggish and imprecise, the graphics are surprisingly mediocre and it all feels cramped. The first game I love, completed it several times, I got sick of this sequel after just a few minutes. I'm glad I bought it on sale, definitely not worth the full price. I really hope the game studio can make a strong comeback with a third game, since they got so many things right in the first game.