Right off the bat, you are confronted with choices in
Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators that affect your entire game. There are five races and five trades to choose from. Each race and trade has its own affects on your relations inside of the game from the get go. Once you choose your path, don't worry, there is a well-done tutorial to get you moving. This game has a rich trade commerce. Trade from planet to planet or ship to ship. Like any trade game, you buy low and sell high. You can also mine asteroids for minerals and collect things in space to take back to market.
When you are on a colonized planet, it has a simple and intuitive menu system that allows you to trade goods and services. You can seek out those in charge for missions. You can repair, upgrade, and fuel your ship. If you are on an uninhabited planet and you are properly equipped, you can mine for minerals to trade.
When you venture from the planet into space, you are then transported to a 2D space map that feels more like 3D with all of the rich detail. You then move through space to your destination. Along the way, you are going to meet people you like and those who don't like you. You can automate your space battles or you can go turn for turn and apply different tactics on how you will overcome this obstacle. Of course, it doesn't hurt that you can salvage the remains when you are done.
Now, how about those pesky "dominators" we heard so much about in the title of the game. When you do battle with the Dominators on a planet, you are moved to the planet's surface and the game becomes a real time strategy game. This is my favorite part of the game. You do battle with robots of you own configuration. You design your robots with a chassis, a method of movement, several weapons and a head. While in this mode, you have the opportunity to control one of the units from a first person prospective. Awesome! You actually get to be on the battlefield laying waste to some dominator robo-trash.
