
<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Platform PC Genre RPG / Sim Publisher 3000AD Developer 3000AD ESRB T (Teen) Released Q4 2001

- Near limitless possibilities and many, many hours of gameplay - Lots of meat for those that get into it - Complete manual and (html) tutorials - A half-way good backstory

- Staggering learning curve - No multiplayer – yet - Bugs - Lacks direction

Review: Shattered Galaxy (PC)
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Battlecruiser Millennium

Score: 7.3 / 10

Imagine yourself standing at the base of a mountain, say Everest or Mount Logan. You’ve heard rumors that the view from the top is so spectacular you may never want to come down. But of course, you – intrepid you – want to see it for yourself. Have you prepared? Do you have the right tools? A strategy? You look up at the pinnacle and it seems so far away. Should you even bother?

Now imagine you’ve just installed Battlecruiser Millennium (BCM) – it’s not much different than standing at the base of a mountain. The only real difference is that you’re probably not likely to break your neck while playing BCM.

Love him or hate him, Derek Smart (the chief muscle behind BCM) has produced a monumental game, unfortunately not everyone will partake in the romp simply because 1) they hate Derek Smart and 2) the learning curve is steep enough to be considered an overhang.

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BCM can be described as a massive intergalactic RPG. There are two modes: Roam and Campaign. Campaign mode presents specific missions to go on, while Roam is self-explanatory – you traipse around the galaxy getting into all sorts of conflicts without any real purpose or overarching story. The lack of story got to me after a while because what was the purpose of trying to change things when there was no real point – no way to change an outcome? Mining ore for fun and profit is great

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but even miners like to be able to affect what’s going on around them (even though NPCs move around on their own errands). Because of the strong RPG aspect of BCM, one would have expected some kind of story, even in Roam mode.

It doesn’t seem to matter what role you assume (Commander, Space Force Marine, Elite Force Pilot, the list goes on), what race you pick (there are 12) or what caste you enter (such as Mercenary, Raider, Scientist, the list goes on) BCM has something for everyone. What other game lets you go from piloting a ship to exploring a planet's flora then being court martialed for doing something stupid? Not many. Of course, moving from one mode to the next isn’t all peaches and cream.

“Learning curve” takes on a new meaning (for me) with BCM. It is the proverbial mountain to be climbed. So when I say “BCM has something for everyone” I really mean for people that don’t mind sitting down with a game and really learning it inside and out. Getting a handle on everything could be considered a game in itself, but fortunately, once the controls become comfortable (I never had the Game Commands card more than three feet away while playing) there is quite a lot of enjoyment to be had, especially commanding a big ship. BCM is so wide open you can do practically anything you want to – so if that’s your idea of fun (i.e. not being funneled from one point to the next by some whim of the game’s designer) – BCM should satiate you for at least a few years. But for some, boredom will set in.

Graphically, BCM isn’t shaky, but it’s no Quake 3 – it seems to run the middle ground but I never found it to be distracting. Yeah, some buildings I could walk through but as BCM is funded without the deep pockets of a major publisher, I’m willing to let this slide. Besides which, 3000AD is supporting BCM with regular patches and updates (one of which is multiplayer). Sound although limited and a bit generic isn’t too bad either. It doesn’t grate on the ears, which is probably as much as one can expect from most games.

I could go on and on about Battlecruiser Millennium because, honestly, I’m having some fun with it still (after putting in the initial time to learn the essentials which was frustrating at times regardless the tutorials). It’s a game where I can do what I want (for the most part) in a massive universe complete with wormholes, alien races, and fancy ships to command (lack of story, and all). It’s got its flaws and it's share of bugs, but being able to have free reign almost cancels them out.

- Omni