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Werit takes on The Order

Tuesday Mar 9,2010 01:08 PM
By Werit
In Uncategorized

I’ve talked about Gratuitous Space Battles a few times in the past. It’s a fun and original space combat strategy/simulator game from Positech Games. Recently, they offered me a review copy of GSB’s latest expansion pack, The Order. As I enjoy the game, I happily accepted. For my impressions and a video, continue after the jump.

The expansion pack adds a new race to the game, called The Order. They are on a crusade to convert everyone else to their religion (similar to the Ori in SG1). They bring with them a bunch of new toys for you to cause mayhem.

Let’s start with the ships. The pack comes with 11 brand new ships ranging from fighters up to the big cruisers. The art and design for these ships is amazing. They are pretty original as video game space ships go. I really like how they use a beam to hold themselves together rather than some solid material.

There are several new weapons, some of which can only be used on Order ships. A common theme for The Order is radiation. Two of the new weapons deliver this nasty payload. In MMO terms, it’d be a DoT. If you can get it through the shields, you will cause some nice damage over time.

The expansion pack also has two new maps in which you can fight. The first is a survival scenario. Survival maps are like arcade games. You will face an endless wave of enemies in your quest for the top score. Of course, what good is a high score without a high score list? The second is a regular battle map, but with asteroids.

The pack itself doesn’t change much about the game itself. Gameplay will remain largely the same, except for more toys to play with. If you are a fan of GSB, it is likely worth the money. If not, it probably won’t change your mind.

Overall, I liked the expansion pack. The new ships are great and add some more replay value to the game. The pack will set you back $6, so it is cheaper than a movie. It is a digital download, so go here for more information. As of this writing, it is not yet available on Steam but would be found here.