Space Rangers 2: Dominators

Space Rangers 2: Dominators (Russian: Космические рейнджеры 2: Доминаторы), released in North America with the subtitle Rise of the Dominators, is a multi-genre science fiction computer game developed by Elemental Games for Windows and first published in 2004 by 1C Company. The player takes the role of a spaceship pilot, and may explore, trade, engage in space and ground-based combat, and undertake various types of missions. Space Rangers 2 is the sequel to the 2002 computer game Space Rangers.

Space Rangers 2
Developer(s)Elemental Games
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)Windows
Release
  • RU: November 25, 2004
  • EU: June 17, 2005
  • NA: March 27, 2006
Genre(s)Text adventure, real-time strategy, space trading and combat simulator, turn-based strategy, shoot 'em up, role-playing game, third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Setting

Space Rangers 2 is set in the year 3300. Sentient combat robots known as Dominators are attacking the five civilizations of the Coalition: the humans, the Maloqs, the Pelengs, the Faeyans, and the Gaalians. There are three Dominator types, each at war with each other: the Blazeroids, the Kelleroids, and the Terronoids. The player begins the game as a trainee member of the Space Rangers – a corps of pilots charged with defending the galaxy from the Dominators.[1]

Gameplay

Space Rangers 2 combines multiple gameplay modes. Space travel takes place in a third-person perspective turn-based 2D engine. The game also includes a 3D real-time strategy engine for planetary battles, with the option to control units within the RTS engine to play the battles as third-person shooters. The game also features an arcade shoot 'em up mode, and text-based missions that include interactive fiction and logic puzzle elements. The player character can gain experience points and improve skills, and the player character's ship can be upgraded as the player earns more cash. Sources of income for the player character include trading, piracy, completing missions for various factions, mining, and deploying research probes.

Reception

Space Rangers 2 attracted mainly positive reviews from the gaming media. Many reviewers noted its extreme open-endedness, the variety of its mini-games, and its off-beat style. Criticisms centered on its perceived lack of polish, the uneven quality of its various mini-games, and the poor quality of the English translations.[2]

It has a metacritic score of 84 (out of 100).[3]

The editors of Computer Games Magazine named Space Rangers 2 the fifth-best computer game of 2005. They called it "an expansive, diverse, and irresistible amalgam of genres bundled within an impressively dynamic universe."[4] It also won PC Gamer US's 2006 "Best Turn-Based Strategy Game" award.[5]

Publishing history

Space Rangers 2 was originally published in Russia by 1C Company in November 2004.[6] In June 2005, Excalibur Publishing released a DVD version that included both Space Rangers 2 and its prequel, Space Rangers.[7] Australian distributor Red Ant Enterprises released a CD-ROM version (Space Rangers 2 only) in 2005. In March 2006, Cinemaware Marquee released a CD-ROM version subtitled Rise of the Dominators in North America.[8] Space Rangers 2 is also distributed electronically via Trymedia and TotalGaming.net. It was also added to Good Old Games on February 3, 2011, and updated to include the Expansion free on June 6, 2012. The Good Old Games version, however, has since been removed from sale on September 2012.

Expansion Packs

Elemental Games broke up in 2004, from which several members formed Katauri Interactive in Kaliningrad. They have released an expansion pack called Space Rangers 2: Reboot as a download from Stardock. The European retail version also includes the original Space Rangers, along with a combined version of Space Rangers 2 and the expansion pack.

The Russian version of the game also has Space Rangers 2: Revolution an informal Non-commercial addition (addon) to game Space Rangers 2: Reboot. New fighting maps, arcade, planetary, new text quests, set of governmental tasks and non-standard situations are added.[9] A test-build of Space Rangers 2: Revolution (English) is also available.[10]

A new official version Space Rangers HD: A War Apart has been released by Katauri Interactive. It now includes all expanded content from the Reboot expansion pack as well as new content with newly updated HD graphics.[11]

Notes
  1. "Space Rangers 2 Manual". 1C Company / Excalibur Publishing Limited. 2005. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Space Rangers 2: Dominators". Metacritic. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  3. Metacritic
  4. Staff (March 2006). "The Best (and Worst) of 2005; The 15th Annual Computer Games Awards". Computer Games Magazine (184): 42–47.
  5. "The 13th Annual PC Gamer Awards Reveals The Best Of The Best For 2006" (Press release). South San Francisco, California: Future US. February 2, 2007. Archived from the original on June 17, 2007.
  6. "Space Rangers 2". 1C Company. Archived from the original on August 11, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  7. "Space Rangers 2 Delayed". GamersHell. May 28, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  8. "Cinemaware Marquee Unleashes Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators". GameSpot. March 28, 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
  9. "Ндмс Яейсмдс". Snk-games.ru. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  10. "CHK-Games - Просмотр темы - Space Rangers 2: Revolution (English)". Snk-games.ru. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  11. "Space Rangers HD: A War Apart". spacerangershd.com. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
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