Microsoft is my wingman. Review

Microsoft is my wingman.

Gamers know that, in the future, mega corporations will be Bad with a capital

B. Recoil, Tachyon: The Fringe,

Syndicate Wars, G-Police, the Resident

Evil series, the Descent games, and Shogo:

Mobile Armor Division (to name a few) have featured the now-ubiquitous nasty

corporation as the bad guy in the epic struggle of good vs. evil. It’s one of

the most oft-used clichés out there and, as we are all well aware, oft-used clichés

are prophecies from heaven to which we should give much credence.

So it is with some trepidation that you have to approach Allegiance,

the online-only space combat/strategy game from that most despicable of mega

corporations, Microsoft. However, once you get past the fact that the propaganda

quotient is high and mighty, there is a fairly remarkable game to be found.

The basic premise is that in the future, after the destruction of Earth at the

hands of a large Asteroid (Bruce Willis failed us!), mankind has been fractured

into factions that are fighting for dominance in the Galaxy and control of the

valuable Helium3, the ‘tiberium’ of Allegiance.

The game plays out entirely online. There are two sides to every fight, two teams that vie for control of the map, which is broken down into sectors connected to each other by wormhole like “Alephs.”

Although the game takes place in space, and although starship combat is a

good portion of the game, not everyone is a pilot. Players can choose turret

gunning, commanding the entire team, or dolling out the cash…though space

jockeys can take out a variety of purpose-based craft and try to make Mark Hamill

proud.

The Commander, who also handles resource mining and construction, assigns tasks

to pilots. Since everyone is a human (and not merely AI), acceptance of an order

is not guaranteed, nor is completing an assigned mission. So, money is made

the incentive.

Although a pilot can use basic, standard types of craft without needing money, purchasing more exotic ships requires cash, which is handed out to you at the whim of your superiors. So if you are the type who never follows your commands, you aren’t likely to get anywhere.

You also aren’t likely to get anywhere if you approach Allegiance selfishly.

One craft alone cannot do very much. Even the devastating capital ships need

escorts if they are to reach their targets, destroy them, and survive. Larger

ships need players to man the all-important defense turrets. Attacking enemy

targets requires coordination, skill, and numbers.

Like all real-time strategy games, losing a building that produces a special

type of ship means you can’t have that ship anymore. Therefore, attacking stations

is not just a simple matter of taking control of a sector; it is both a financial

and technological blow to your opponent, which is also a reason to pick objectives

carefully. Allow your opponent to retain the ability to produce capital ships

and you very well may have a crisis on your hands.

The gameplay complexity in Allegiance is tremendous. There are more

keyboard commands and options than in any other space-combat game out there.

Even the flight model involves more depth than most other games. Loadout affects

the handling and stealth (very important for reconnaissance and surprise) characteristics

of a ship. Turning and maneuvering is a more involved affair due to angle of

attack and momentum effects.

The depth

of the flight model does lead to one of the main problems with Allegiance:

the combat itself it pretty underwhelming. Your guns fire too fast and shield

hit and damage effects are hard to see, making it difficult to tell if you are

hitting your target. Due to low turn rates, most maneuvering in combat is done

through quad-directional strafing, which removes much of the Top Gun feel

from combat. This leaves the action feeling esoteric, unpredictable, and generally

watered down.

Graphically, Allegiance is decent. The visuals, which resemble a simplified,

sterilized version of StarLancer, are consistent

enough to suspend your disbelief and carry the game. They are especially good,

however, when you consider the online nature of Allegiance.

This is helped by the consistently good connection rates on all the servers.

Connection to servers is handled through Microsoft’s The Zone, which

is hidden nicely by the Allegiance shell. Although Allegiance

really isn’t a ‘massively’ multiplayer game, Microsoft makes you pay $10 per

month (the first being free) to access anything but the free servers. That $10

per month gains you access to ranking, squads, better players, and more intense

games, but considering that Allegiance is not going to cost Microsoft

much to maintain, it’s morally questionable. You might even call it a rip-off.

There are a few other concerns. After being shot to pieces, you eject into

a life-pod. Although you can call for rescue, it’s more likely that you will

have to fly to the nearest station and get a new craft. While realistic, this

can take a very long time and is very boring. The manual could also have been

better in explaining the important minutia of gameplay instead of leaving it

to an in-game tutorial that isn’t quite up to snuff.

But still, there is quite a bit to like about Allegiance. It’s complex,

involving, and rewarding. It offers a wealth of different play styles to fit

the tastes of space jockeys and strategy grognards alike. More than anything,

it’s just very cool to play a part in a massive, real time strategy epic in

which everything, save for the miners and constructors, is piloted by real people.

If you’ve got the money for the indefensible monthly charge, and if you have

a passion for propaganda, then propel yourself to the place of purchasing and

purchase this product.