Colony Wars

Developer: Studio Liverpool	Graphics:
Publisher: Psygnosis	Sound:
Year: 1997	Difficulty:
Genre: Shoot'em up	Replay value:
Number of players: 1	My overall rating:	8/10

Colony Wars is, to my knowledge, the first game that I would describe as a "space opera" with, of course, epic battles of spaceships, laser bursts everywhere and a grandiloquent music in the background, but above all, a scenario with multiple branches articulated around a number of scenes in computer-generated images, commented by the narrator. French dubbing is of very high quality, especially in the first episode.

The story takes place in the future, you can imagine. Man has colonized different solar systems and a huge empire was formed, headed by a tyrant: the Tsar. The Tsar's fleet plunders shamelessly the colonies' resources to meet the needs of its primary decadent system (our solar system). It's a bit reminicent of Dune and Foundation. A resistance movement organized: the League of Free Worlds, led by "the father".

In Colony Wars, first of the name, the main character is a League pilot. He participates in major battles that lead to the liberation of different systems and the fall of the empire.

In its first sequel, Colony Wars: Vengeance (1998), the player is still a member of the oppressed faction, but this time, it is the Imperial fleet! The last survivors of the powerful army of the Tsar found themselves locked up in their own system by the League. After years of civil war, the fleet was finaly unified by a charismatic leader: Kron. And the reconquest of the colonies begins. . . .

In its third installment, Colony Wars: Red Sun (2000), the two factions are still in war and you're in the shoes of an independent mercenary. I didn't like this game as much because the hero has too much personality for my taste (he thinks he's Bruce Willis), so not much immersion here.

Immersion, this is the strong point of this series. The player has the impression of being only an element of a vast fresco. During missions, you often meet other pilots fighting alongside you against enemy vessels, and you constantly receive radio messages from your partners or orders from your headquarters.
Finally, if you fail during a mission, you do not lose a life, you are not prompted to start over. The story goes on and your next mission will be influenced by previous results, until you reach one of the many game ending. The worse one is obviously the fastest to unlock: just lose!

The screenshots are taken from Colony Wars: Vengeance.

Places to download:
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