I-War: Deluxe
Score: 90% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Ocean Developer: Particle Systems Media: CD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Simulation
Graphics & Sound: I-War totes some very impressive graphics, similar to those seen in Wing Commander: Prophecy and Descent Freespace (all of which for some strange reason gave space this velvety purple look and feel to it). In I-War, you have the pleasure of flying an 8,500 ton, 160 meter Corvette Class spacecraft. Real-time lighting effects are well executed. From the outside view, you can see the cannons reflect light off of your ship, as well as reflections caused by the increased throttle output of the ships rear thrusters. Ship fragmentations and explosions are on par, yet nothing extremely extraordinary. The ship models are quite innovative with very smooth and rounded polygons, and are less maneuverable than many fighters in the aforementioned games. The score is quite immersive, yet joystick-forced feedback truly is what makes the sound effects believable.
Gameplay: So what does I-War: Deluxe add to the original? I-War: Deluxe contains the original 42 mission campaign of I-War, yet adds a new 18 mission add-on campaign. This new campaign allows you to fly for the other side (the Indies). Other hot new features include new weapons, new ships, new space stations, a zoom mode, and the ability to give orders to wingmen. You can now even save your game within the missions. And last, but not least -- a really cool, new cinematic intro which sets the stage for what’s to come.
Difficulty: Some degree of difficulty is present with I-War: Deluxe, due to the large number of keys involved in the game. You should try to spend some time in training before going off into battle. However, you must remember that this is a space flight simulation game, and most of which all have several keystrokes necessary to avoid floating away into the void. Learning to maneuver and evasive maneuvering are a must with this game. Entering battle without a game plan or a full understanding of your ship’s shields, weapons, and armor capacity, will certainly lead to you seeing how long you can hold your breath in a vacuum.
Game Mechanics: This game excels greatly in this department. Once you fly through the training courses, which consist of navigation through a field of space pylons, you’ll greatly appreciate the smoothness at which the ship handles. There are a large number of keys used in I-War, and there is a slight learning curve. But with a good programmable joystick (really cool with one with force feedback) and a little keyboard practice, you can become an ace in no time; very little breakup, slowdown, or pixelation, even at the highest graphical settings.
-Sabumnim, GameVortex Communications AKA Larry Callier
Minimum System Requirements: Win 95, P166 (200 w/o 3Dfx support), 160MB HD space (80 for swapfile), 32MB RAM   Test System: AMD K6II 400, 128mb ram, 44X CD, TNT2 graphics accelerator
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