New contender to X3?

[skyb1ue]

I've only just started playing Parkan II and never played the original, but I'm already immensely impressed with the scope and depth.

The ability to take planets after you land on them is a winner as far as I'm concerned.

Dont get me wrong I still love X3, but I believe we have a real contender in the wings, what about those of you who've also played both?

[TSM]

looks nice but no no for me as I do not like download only games so I voted X3.

[NavyAICS]

Never heard of it until today but I will have to look into it. What about "SpaceForce: Rogue Universe"?
-NavyAICS

[skyb1ue]

Dont know that one, been happy in my ingorance for so long I havent looked around that much though. I'll have a look at that too.

[spaceweedaddict]

cant find any info on relese date...

[muppetts]

I thought this was in Russian only?? Link Please

[skyb1ue]

Apparently been available in Russia since '06.

For the description, press releases

http://uk.pc.ign.com/objects/679/679525.html

For the player reviews

stupidly-long link shortened by CBJ

[muppetts]

If this is available in English and is so good why have no game mags or game sites done a review on it?

It also does not seem to be available to buy (well I only checked Play.com and never heard of it)

I take it they are not concerned about selling the game much!!

[skyb1ue]

No idea why it's not that well known. I never heard of Parkan and found this whilst feeling curious.

I can only tell you as a X3 vet, it's definetely worth a look.

[Graaf]

Parkan 2

[mattstint]

For 20 squid, I'm aving it

[Mailo]

I just found some german webpages, is it possible it was released last summer? The german mag "PC Games" gave it 53% here ... the introducing comment was "A long time time ago, in an unbelievably boring galaxy far, far away ..."

Apparently it was also very prone to crashing at release.

[muppetts]

Hmm I think hmmm.

I do not like the idea of someone bolting on a FPS to a space game frame unless I am very confident about the product. Seeing as most people have never heard of this game, let alone reviewed it, I think I will miss this one I I missed Dark Star One and as I have decided to miss SpaceForce 2.

On the up side I have been playing Nexus 'The Jupiter Incident' and I think it is a great game (tatical along the lines of HW2 but differnt and with very good graphics and a steady AI).

[Obi0692]

Greetings X-gamers it's been sometime scense I've posted on the X-forum and if you can belive it, I bought X3 when it first came out and haven't really got started yet. I play part of X2 but didn't get to far with that one ether?!

Anyway I've just run into (not really sure how or where) but a Space-Sim called 'Parkan' II Looks like (as is said/shown on gamersgate) where one can download the full game for $29.99 can do most of what we all love/enjoy about our Space gena. And get this you can really (LAND ON PLANTES)!!!!!!!!! No not just a 'Cut-sceen or just talk. Supposedly on can (again so I've read) LAND and hack computer's **** some robot butt among other things. Tho I most say in all farness I've also read somewhere that that part or maybe others can be a bet repetitive. Repetitiveness in games I think can sometimes just be one of two things ether the player and or the game itself!? Will just a thought.

I'd like some feed-back from you guy's/gal's if you please. And thanks in advance for your kind replies!! BTW I've also bought (still trying to find that game for me that is) 'Spaceforce': Rogue Universe. It already looks/play's great! tho with some reget, with out (as with X-games) no station/empire building. God bless all and Happy gaming!!

[CBJ]

I've merged this with the most recent in a longish history of topics about Parkan II, which was only one page back. If you look further down this page you'll also see a topic about Spaceforce: Rogue Universe.

[Tycow]

Curse you all.... if I hadn't seen this thread I'd be £20 better off

[Helios01]

I played Parkan II for quite a long time, finished it and played it again for some time. It is a very nice game, SO MANY DETAILS and animated stuff everywhere, that is just amazing! The soundtrack is really beautiful and better than in X. There are many short tracks that are mixing together, not giving you the feeling of a same track being played again for many times. There are just fewer long tracks I think and the music is same for every system.

The gameplay is interesting, quite a lot different from X. There are (if I remember) 6 clans (not races) which you will be discovering one by one, from weaker to stronger, as the story passes. There are robots everywhere which is giving you the empty feeling sometimes. The universe is also very empty. Not stations everywhere, as you know from X, just orbital stations (at some planets). And there are randomly generated events of a ship suddenly disturbing your warp drive as you travel to a planet.

The story is longer than in X3 Reunion or X2 (I didn't play X3TC) and is about

Spoiler

Show

you loosing your main and a very special and powerful ship, in the early few minutes of gameplay. In the remaining parts of story you are searching for it and trying to find the thief and the ship. In the end you will find destroy a main enemy station I think

There aren't as many ships as in X at all. I could count them on my hands- 6 flyable ships and about 10 ships overall. You can fly only in one class- fighter and you can buy one fighter per clan. Stronger clan = stronger fighter. But you can trade with their's shields, engines, sensors and reactors, and while flying in space, you can do one interesting thing that X is missing- power control. You can give more energy to lasers and shields, but less to engines and sensors, or mix it somehow up and so. There is one thing that is giving this game kinda strange feel while flying in the universe- no 3rd person, no looking around. You just see a HUD which is projected into your eye and hear sounds which are simulated (that is giving this game more realistic feel in some aspects, because IRL there are too few particles in open space to transmit sound).

But the main thing why is Parkan II better in X are planets. You can land on them (also on theirs satellites- moons), you can actually see the robots of each clans passing by (fight them if they are emenies), deploy ground drones (robotic tanks, jeeps...). You can claim some planets, build buildings on them and protect them.

Gameplay - Parkan II isn't about trading, you can only buy drones and ship equipment, so it's mainly about fighting ships and traveling between planets
Graphics - X3 has nicer graphics, Parkan have nicer effects (really tons of them, everywhere you look). Parkan II have a little bit more finer feel
Universe - Empty, but much, much larger. Over 500 solar systems with planets, some with moons. No traveling by gates, only by opening your map, selecting the sector, solar system and pressing jump drive button
Sound - Parkan II has nicer soundtrack I think, but X have more tracks
Ships - Really few of them... No classes, just fighters. But you can actually walk in them and fight enemies inside, by boarding enemy ships in space.
Story - Longer in Parkan II and a more interesting I think

[T.S.Zatoichi]

Dammit! I got all the way to Spaceweedaddicts post before I realized this was necroed from 2007!

[Dank7430]

I played the original a long time ago. It was vastly repetitive and quite boring. The second sounds like the try'd to correct some of the problems with the firs, but it still seems they are way off. I don't think they will ever be a competitor to X3 or any of the X games.

[Helios01]

Of course,, X, is a space simulation while Parkan II is way more arcade. You just have more freedom feel in it, but it's too much empty and repetitive. If you want to play a space game just for like a week and don't want to spend hours of learning the controls, go for it