Dynamix, a division of Sierra, has released their latest chapter in their ongoing mecha saga based on the Starsiege Universe, Cyberstorm2:Corporate Wars. Being a big fan of the genre, most notably Battletech and having played and enjoyed the original Mission Force Cyberstorm I've been wondering if C2 would outdo the original.

My first impressions were based on what I saw at E3, and I was impressed with the game interface, and still am. It's deep and covers pretty much all angles of asset management and research. In this the game is flawless. Once you get into gameplay, however, you may be disappointed.

Having several modes of play is a huge bullet to bite and Dynamix seems to have done their best trying to satisfy all aspects of a strat game by having real-time, turn-based and simultaneous turn-based. But in this game their best just doesn't seem to cut it, as real-time is a real letdown and can make even the most savvy gamer frustrated with the computer controlled corporations complete upper hand.

Turn based is fraught with the same problems as is real-time, your being outnumbered and facing much stronger opposition than you can possibly field in the first few missions. You must attempt to mine as much as possible and hope you are not faced with opposition.

Corporate Wars

As the title states you are in charge of a Corporation in the 31st century in the Typhoeus System. Each Corporation is battling for supremecy in the system and control of the "jumpgae" that controls travel to the other side of the galaxy. There are a total of eight Corporations to choose from, each having its distinct advantages and disadvantages, such as better starting tech levels, better intel, more cash. It's up to you to decide which Corp to represent. This way Dynamix/Sierra have given gamers a improved replayability. The missions are both scripted and random and you will see similar missions occurring over time.

The command interface is excellent giving you complete control over everything in your inventory. You create Bioderms, DNA clones who will fight your battles for you. You can either manufacture ones from prototypes already created or engineer your own, you may even receive some for successful missions accomplished.

The vehicle facility is where you build and customize your HERCs and you are limited by your Tech level as to what you may build and how you outfit them. Research is essential to gaining higher Tech levels, from which you can build the bigger and meaner vehicles and HERCs. You can also customize your base defenses, link and unlink derms to your HERCs and other vehicles, and choose missions all from one simple interface. Here the game has been rather well thought out and designed.

You even receive e-mail notifications from your Corp HQ and from within your facility about new discoveries and news events as well as being warned of probing attacks and the like. One thing I enjoyed with the e-mail system is that they've even included SPAM in your e-mails to keep things humorous. (yes, you CAN turn off the SPAM in Preferences if you don't want any).

Vehicle manufacturing is something that will take new players to the Cyberstorm Universe a little time to pick up, and you will have to pay close attention to where your mission is taking you. As some vehicles and HERCs will be great for only certain terrains and worlds. Those who played the original CS1 will enjoy much of the same in terms of HERCs and even more new variants as well including some Cybrid vehicles, the enemies you faced in CS1. All areas of design of these vehicles is included so as to allow the player maximum flexibility in creating the HERC or vehicle of his desire.

We've covered the interface, now let's examine gameplay. While the first CS game was completely turn-based, Dynamix decided at the players behest after CS1 to add real-time play as well as turn-based. While noble and proper in its reasoning (it's a good show when a company listens to player feedback) it's seriously lacking in employment. It's almost as if the real-time and turn based modes fought for control through the entire design process.

A game developed to be as in depth as this one is in the prep and management phases should not be overshadowed with poor gameplay, whether RT or TB. But I think the reason behind this is that Dynamix was trying to please both groups and in doing so, did a halfway job of each. From poor pathfinding to HERC pilots that won't follow your orders to having to manage the entire battle at times, to the actual individual fire orders, this one can be downright frustrating.

Upon choosing a mission I am sent out into the mission area I chose and the first thing I notice is the very sparse graphics. This is unfortunately the one area where Dynamix pretty much stayed the course of CS1, no real change in graphics.

In todays gaming environment where players have come to expect top notch graphics, CS2 falls short. Not to be kept down by lack of eye candy, I went about my mission to see how well it played. I ordered my team of 3 HERCs (I was playing as CUC the most economically bountiful Corp to start with) to move out and attempt to patrol for a Mining area. About a minute or two into the mission I received a message that enemy contact was made. I then ordered my 3 HERCs to engage the anti-grav vehicle only to find them not so willing to follow orders.

One HERC moved ahead of the contact until he just sat there and I had to manually point and click on the enemy until he engaged. I had my preferences set to auto-fire at best target and he STILL needed me to fire for him. The other two seemed a bit more obedient and fired on the enemy only to miss a majority of their shots. After I had him down to about 75% strength I was fired upon by the rest of the advancing HERC patrol, 5 in all! Needless to say it was only a matter of another minute or two before I was seeing my 3 HERC squad reduced to scrap.

Ok, I guess I have to try this one again. Again I tried and again and again only to see similar results each time. I've found that you are continually facing a superior enemy force whose tonnage and firepower is far more greater than your own. I like a challenge but this is a serious play balance issue when after 2, 3 or even 4 missions you are getting wiped out. Even CUC's starting funds of 300k will dwindle quickly from building new vehicles, derms and keeping base defenses up.

What Does It All Mean?

After trying numerous times in RT mode I decided to move over to TB and see what the game held there. Again I was treated to similar results, much to my dismay. After spending time building HERCs, defenses and derms you can lose interest quickly through sheer frustration. Meeting a superior force on the battlefield is one thing if you didn't bring along enough firepower of your own. But being limited to 2 or 3 HERCs of your own and having to face not only a numerically superior enemy but a far higher tonnage than your own is too much.

This game should have followed the route of CS1 and been TB only. Adding to the frustration, the manual is packed with armor and weapons tables but severely lacking in gameplay tactics and tips. At a mere 70 pages this manual is missing a lot of important information. For example, there is no mention anywhere of a way to check what your movement points would be to move from one point to another. (I've checked into it and found you can find this out by pressing the F4 key and clicking on the point you wish to travel to).

Neither is shield facing covered in the manual, but again I've found that it's accomplished by pressing F8 and then the area of the HERC you wish to boost shields up. Pathfinding, as I've mentioned before, is poor, as is firing as a team where you'll see slow response and mostly inaccurate firing.

One way around being outnumbered is to turn off the Forced Combat option in preferences, where you shouldn't be attacked right off the get-go. Unfortunately as good as this idea is it is not implemented properly and even with enemy aggressiveness turned all the way down you will find yourself decimated rather quickly. While some people may find this a complete and utter challenge I find it a grand annoyance. I love a challenge as does everyone else, but I feel the gamer should be brought into the game a bit more slowly so he can acclimate himself to the combat style and be able to build resources.

For the more hard-core grognards this may be a game to beat around until you get it right, but for your average gamer as well as the hard core crowd its dissatisfying. Couple the poor play balancing with the fact that this game is going head to head with Microprose's newest mecha release Mech Commander and I think fear this game won't fare so well.

COMBATSIM RATING:

Core Rating :90
Gameplay : 60
Graphics : 50
Sound : 50
Intelligence/Ai : 50
User Interface/Mission Planner : 90
Fun Factor : 50
Learning Curve : 8-10 hours
Overall Rating : 63