Vendetta Online (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.1 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Desslock
• Reviewed on: 02/23/2005
• Released on: 11/04/2004
• Originally published on GameSpot: Vendetta Online (PC) Review

Back in the early massively multiplayer salad days, several developers gambled that space sims would be the next big online genre. Those bets largely didn't pay off, as online space sims have struggled commercially, even when they were critically well received. Microsoft, 3DO, and EA launched and then abandoned Allegiance, Jumpgate, and Earth & Beyond, respectively. But with less green expectations, smaller developers still hope to prove the genre's potential. Vendetta Online was largely created by four individuals, and its modest production budget is sometimes unkindly evident. Yet the game offers a reasonably effective mix of space-based trading and multiplayer combat.

Vendetta Online's combat is twitch-based, but unlike most space sims, it doesn't unfold like a flight sim in space. Fights don't feel like traditional dogfights where you maneuver to tail enemy ships, and you are able to avoid the tiresome turning battles into which those skirmishes frequently devolve. The most effective evasive tactics are actually side-strafing and rolling rather than turning. Joystick support is included, but a keyboard/mouse combo is also effective. You can use a flight-assisted flight model that always moves your ship in the direction it's facing, or you can turn off that assistance in order to retain momentum and move and fire in different directions. Disabling flight assistance also allows you to maneuver backward, which, combined with the need to make frequent use of the strafing keys, makes combat almost feel like you're playing a first-person shooter instead of a flight sim. Missiles are deliberately weaker threats than they typically are in space sims, which forces you to rely primarily upon energy weapons and your own aiming abilities. The game's novel combat system requires you to overcome a bit of a learning curve to become proficient, but it does a good job of making battles feel tactically dynamic.

The setting is a distant galaxy, a few thousand years from now. The galaxy is controlled by three human factions, two of which are at war while the third comprises independent traders. You can create a character from any of these three factions, but your choice only affects your initial reputation with the other factions and various other groups in the galaxy. Choose one of the warring factions and you'll be unable to freely enter into systems controlled by the opposing faction. There are nine common ship types, each of which has several variants, and there's also a unique ship type for each of the three playable factions. The choice between factions isn't particularly meaningful. Since there's only one online server, you could make an alternate character from one of the opposing factions solely to spy on enemy ship movements. But the gaming world really isn't dynamic enough to make doing so worthwhile.

The galaxy consists of 30 sectors, and each sector is divided into 256 different jump zones. The environments are colorful and stocked full of suitable asteroids and crystals, although there's not a tremendous amount of variety and the graphics are only decent. Sound effects are rudimentary and the music lacks variety, but it is suitably atmospheric. Ships are a hodgepodge of uninspired geometric shapes, and space stations aren't particularly large. There are also no capital ships. The developers gave one faction a dreadnought in the beta, but they were forced to remove it from the retail release until they manage to correct its artificial intelligence navigation and other issues.

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