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Shattered Universe

Lindley

Moderator with a Soul
Premium Member
So, a few months ago a guy I know gave me a copy of Shattered Universe. He had gotten it for free, but didn't have a PS2. I've been trying it out on my roommate's console this weekend.

This has to be the most frustrating game ever. Not only do they give almost-impossible objectives----like, "Defend the Excelsior against five squadrons of fighters and two capital ships, and oh by the way we don't feel like launching any fighters except yours *and* our shields and phasers are down, sorry"----but they start the relevant part of the battle *after* 20 minutes of dogfighting, and there's no way to save between the two steps.

Plus, the strategy guides tell you to use ships and weapons that aren't available yet at that point in the game. Ridiculous. Frankly, there's nothing more annoying than a strategy guide that says, "Then destroy the Orions", completely glossing over what a f*&#ing impossible task that is.

Eh, it's fun enough to keep me playing, for now. But this is bad game design. I mean, in TIE Fighter, you could target and destroy individual laser cannons and torpedo launchers on Star Destroyers, but in Star "target their weapons array" Trek, you can't? It's frankly ridiculous. The 3D radar is useless, my eyes aren't good enough to make out what dots that small mean, so there's no way to get an overview of the battle at any given time.

Speaking of being often the only friendly fighter, why the heck are you consistently able to take on and destroy 10 Klingon ships at a time? Talk about unbalanced play. I mean, TIE Fighter and Freespace also have issues with the player being better than the AI, but at least they make it *seem* fair.

Plus, I find it annoying that every single vessel that jumps in is hostile. Just *once* I'd like the last-minute arrival which warps in while Excelsior's hull is at 10% to be a friendly.
 
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If I remember right using the cheats made the game a lot more fun.
 
Actually, I went back at put it on Easy. Usually when I start a new game I haven't played before I use Normal.

On Easy, they actually give you fighters that are capable of dealing with the threats you face. Homing torpedoes are a necessity against Orion fighters.....

A lot more fun this way, really.
 
i thougt it was a fairly easy game. Its all about using rolls, roll your fighter in a spiral clockwise and counter cloak wise when attacking starships and try finding an area where you can't get fired upon. and when a ship about to explode get out of there FAST so you don't get damaged.
 
This has to be the most frustrating game ever. Not only do they give almost-impossible objectives----like, "Defend the Excelsior against five squadrons of fighters and two capital ships, and oh by the way we don't feel like launching any fighters except yours *and* our shields and phasers are down, sorry"----but they start the relevant part of the battle *after* 20 minutes of dogfighting, and there's no way to save between the two steps.

Star Trek: Encounters and Battlestar Galactica for PS2 were just as bad, and Galactica had many of the same problems.
 
This has to be the most frustrating game ever. Not only do they give almost-impossible objectives----like, "Defend the Excelsior against five squadrons of fighters and two capital ships, and oh by the way we don't feel like launching any fighters except yours *and* our shields and phasers are down, sorry"----but they start the relevant part of the battle *after* 20 minutes of dogfighting, and there's no way to save between the two steps.

Star Trek: Encounters and Battlestar Galactica for PS2 were just as bad, and Galactica had many of the same problems.

God, I hated that with all three of these games. I don't mind lengthy missions, but the lack of save points within missions is utterly baffling. Sometimes I wonder if the developers realize that not all of us are 13-year-olds who can spend six hours at a time playing a game over and over again to finish one mission. I generally have a few hours a week at most to play video games, and if it's simply going to be an exercise in frustration, I have better things to do.

The BSG game was particularly bad in this respect.
 
This has to be the most frustrating game ever. Not only do they give almost-impossible objectives----like, "Defend the Excelsior against five squadrons of fighters and two capital ships, and oh by the way we don't feel like launching any fighters except yours *and* our shields and phasers are down, sorry"----but they start the relevant part of the battle *after* 20 minutes of dogfighting, and there's no way to save between the two steps.

Star Trek: Encounters and Battlestar Galactica for PS2 were just as bad, and Galactica had many of the same problems.

God, I hated that with all three of these games. I don't mind lengthy missions, but the lack of save points within missions is utterly baffling. Sometimes I wonder if the developers realize that not all of us are 13-year-olds who can spend six hours at a time playing a game over and over again to finish one mission. I generally have a few hours a week at most to play video games, and if it's simply going to be an exercise in frustration, I have better things to do.

The BSG game was particularly bad in this respect.


I think the dudes responsible for Legacy and Starfleet Command III could do with listening to the same advice :p
 
i thougt it was a fairly easy game. Its all about using rolls, roll your fighter in a spiral clockwise and counter cloak wise when attacking starships and try finding an area where you can't get fired upon. and when a ship about to explode get out of there FAST so you don't get damaged.

Right... I have this game...

But i bet you also beat elite force on hard with no cheats.
 
Sounds a lot like Blazing Angels. I got so aggravated with that I took the disc out of the console, stepped outside, and threw it as hard as I could into the woods.
 
i thougt it was a fairly easy game. Its all about using rolls, roll your fighter in a spiral clockwise and counter cloak wise when attacking starships and try finding an area where you can't get fired upon. and when a ship about to explode get out of there FAST so you don't get damaged.

Right... I have this game...

But i bet you also beat elite force on hard with no cheats.

That's actually not all that difficult. The final EF boss being hard is mostly psychological. Keep to the pattern, and he goes down easy enough.

As for Shattered Universe, it *was* an easy game in terms of staying alive, and on Easy it wasn't really that bad in general. On Normal, the hard part was keeping the Excelsior alive. They just don't give you enough firepower soon enough on Normal to do it.
 
i thougt it was a fairly easy game. Its all about using rolls, roll your fighter in a spiral clockwise and counter cloak wise when attacking starships and try finding an area where you can't get fired upon. and when a ship about to explode get out of there FAST so you don't get damaged.

Right... I have this game...

But i bet you also beat elite force on hard with no cheats.

That's actually not all that difficult. The final EF boss being hard is mostly psychological. Keep to the pattern, and he goes down easy enough.

As for Shattered Universe, it *was* an easy game in terms of staying alive, and on Easy it wasn't really that bad in general. On Normal, the hard part was keeping the Excelsior alive. They just don't give you enough firepower soon enough on Normal to do it.


right:rolleyes:
 
By "not that difficult" I mean it's doable without excess frustration. It's certainly not a breeze or anything.
 
So, a few months ago a guy I know gave me a copy of Shattered Universe. He had gotten it for free, but didn't have a PS2. I've been trying it out on my roommate's console this weekend.

This has to be the most frustrating game ever. Not only do they give almost-impossible objectives----like, "Defend the Excelsior against five squadrons of fighters and two capital ships, and oh by the way we don't feel like launching any fighters except yours *and* our shields and phasers are down, sorry"----but they start the relevant part of the battle *after* 20 minutes of dogfighting, and there's no way to save between the two steps.

Plus, the strategy guides tell you to use ships and weapons that aren't available yet at that point in the game. Ridiculous. Frankly, there's nothing more annoying than a strategy guide that says, "Then destroy the Orions", completely glossing over what a f*&#ing impossible task that is.

Eh, it's fun enough to keep me playing, for now. But this is bad game design. I mean, in TIE Fighter, you could target and destroy individual laser cannons and torpedo launchers on Star Destroyers, but in Star "target their weapons array" Trek, you can't? It's frankly ridiculous. The 3D radar is useless, my eyes aren't good enough to make out what dots that small mean, so there's no way to get an overview of the battle at any given time.

Speaking of being often the only friendly fighter, why the heck are you consistently able to take on and destroy 10 Klingon ships at a time? Talk about unbalanced play. I mean, TIE Fighter and Freespace also have issues with the player being better than the AI, but at least they make it *seem* fair.

Plus, I find it annoying that every single vessel that jumps in is hostile. Just *once* I'd like the last-minute arrival which warps in while Excelsior's hull is at 10% to be a friendly.


just watch it online.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EpkCRbHmf8 gets you the story with out having to play the game...
 
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