500 Years Act 1

Felt like 500 years though it only took 3 hours. The graphics are bad. The BGM would have driven me over the edge if the game had been any longer. The sound effects are bad. The story is bad, and old, and so is the game concept, which looks inspired by [url=https://archive.org/details/msdos_EGATrek_1992]EGA Trek[/url], which, all things considered, is still the better game. The controls are extra bad: you need to move and rotate, and you do that with either mouse button, which makes good kiting all but impossible; and it only looks right when the ship is center screen, which it often isn't, but the game will still act as if it were. I also tried Xbox controller twin stick controls, couldn't get the hang of them: the ship still seemed to behave erratically. (I wonder what the mobile version controls are: tilt and point?) On every space journey there's what seems a 90% chance of having exactly *one* random encounter, except these get old fast, and you don't profit in any way from the fights: no loot, no XP in any of the game. The best part is that there's a load-out phase where you can change your ship configuration and trade points for speed, handling, shields, and weapon damage and range, so that when you misjudge, you can try another load-out which may work better on the present enemy encounter - except that from mid-game on, fast engines and long-range missiles pretty much dominate anything again and again and again and again and again, because it's the same few fights over and over, mostly. Mysteriously, the HUD lacks range indicators and cool-down indicators, and you can only fire on the one selected target and only when it is within your firing arc, even when you're using homing missiles -- on the long-range missiles and medium-range beams, this means weaving from side to side, wondering if you missed the heading or if the weapon hasn't cooled down yet. On top of that, damage is random, i.e. a big proportion of hits don't actually do any damage. Miss a missile hit two or three times in a row, and their shield is back up. Oh, and if you're unlucky, your ship spawns outside the screen, and if you're very unlucky you can't fly it back in and have to close the game externally because you can't leave fights. I've played free flash games that did this better. This game is a slog, not fun.

EDIT: If you look at all the negative reviews for this game, all of them are less than 50% helpful. Why is this? I suspect it is people involved with the game went through and voted down any negative review. So please keep that in mind when reading through the negative reviews for this game. It's not as though these reviews are fundamentally worse than the few positive reviews, it is more the case where a few people can skew the favorability of reviews they don't like. This game definitely reminds me of Star Control II. Is it as good? Uh, no. Is it worth $8. Uh, again no. Is it worth $1. Uh, maybe, if you are bored, and want to play a game very reminicent of a classic, though don't get your hopes too high. Unlike the original, the combat feels very clunky. It sort of has the same rules, where you fire in the direction you are facing. However, in this game, unlike the original, you can only fire if the enemy you are targetting is in front of you. This can be a pain, when you have several enemies zooming around you, and the one in front of you isn't the one you targeting. You can target the closest ship, but by the time you do, it may be too late to get in a shot. Enemy ships tend to like to zip around you and avoid getting in front of you, while hitting you from behind. At least in the first few battles I played, you spend most of your time just trying to evade them (unti your shields regnerate) and then trying to properly face them and get in a shot, if you are using nuclear weapons the default weapon. The mini gun actually works better since you can get in lots of little shots that end up doing more damage overall given how few nukes you really get a chance to fire. In the first battle I won, it wasn't because I actually hit the ships much, it was because the first enemies, the Llaxons have a 2% chance of their ships blowing up when firing. I end up having to fight them not once, but three times in a row, since each time you talk with them, you have to repeat the battle. The game doesn't seem to remember you killing them, nor do the Llaxons themselves seem to remember meeting you, since it is always the same conversation. As for non-combat side of things, you are basically led through a story. All the choices were made for me, which is not how Star Control II worked, where you could make choices that had consequences. This game lacks strategic depth and seems to be a first effort in making a game. The game does have a few good points. The descriptions are colorful, and the story as it is, is cute for the time it lasts. So final verdict. Only get this game if it's part of a bundle, or on sale, where you pay a $1 at most. I'm not sure it's really worth even that. Overall, while the game has a few good elements in terms of story to the point it goes, the other factors, such as the clunky combat, really detract from being able to really enjoy this game.

When I was young lad I was introduced to the modern age version of "Gravity Wars" called "Star Control", it was great, the 'campaign' (as limited as it was) was a cross between chess and 1v1 Ateroids (where the ateroid is an unrelenting alien ship firing a full load of plasma torpedoes at your head) It had may ships to choose from, each unique in play style and was generally a very enjoyable game. Flash forward several years "Star Control 2" was released, Bigger, Brighter, higher resolution, and a fully fledged campaign that had one of the best stories - ever. I bought "500 Years, Act 1" because it looked eerily similar to such a classic franchise (and I like collecting games) and to some extant it did bring give me a certain feeling of nostalgia, the artwork certainly has the '80's / '90's retro look, the gameplay / story is basic yet interesting(ish), as were the sound effects. Did this game live up my StarCon (1 & 2) inspired hopes, no, not really, no. In fact definitely not. Unfortunately the story, which is kind of intersting, is far too short. And then just like my previous sentence, it just ends with the promise of a continued story in the form of DLC to come. Much like the games of the '80's (and even some modern ones) there is no real decision making in upgrades, nothing to spend your non existant monies on you simly get to upgrade your energy levels and place power in systems to improve them - a simple system that works, but is nothing exceptional. It would be great if the dev's could rub some funk of this game and include resources / money and a larger playing field, in fact there is a lot that *could* be put into this game which would add to the experience . If you have read down to here (congratulations) you might be thinking I would give this game a terrible review, oddly enough the opposite is true, for all its shortfalls it was an enjoyable game with some good potential, and maybe, just maybe, with some support (and sales) that potential might just be realised. P.S. As this game stands I have no idea how Valve has put a ~$8 price tag on it, buy it on special $2 - $3 is chump change and almost certainly worth it to try to entice the dev's to add more content.

so i loaded up the next few games on my list and gave their store pages a quick once over to kind of give myself an idea of what i was in for and i was like oh cool a game with mostly negative reviews on steam. the thing about steam is that in my experience, the users are some of the most permissive ♥♥♥♥♥ on the planet and they'll forgive just about any sin a game could make. Consider, for example, that my previous entry of 3DRPG had a mostly positive rating when it was not so much a game as it was a completely null experience which affected me so little that I can barely remember it from yesterday. So we can imagine that in order for something to have unanimous derision from the steam community, it must have either jilted their little nerd hearts like an indifferent lover or it must be some sort of perfect storm of exceptionally chunky torrential puke. I'll give you one guess as to which category 500 Years: Act 1 falls under. STUMPED? I started the game up about fifteen minutes ago, tried to read some really ♥♥♥♥♥♥ writing in an even ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ font, fought some absolutely incomprehensible space battle that I won through no particular effort of my own since I had no idea what was even happening, talked to a space slug that wanted to eat my goat or something, and now I am engaged in another space battle in which neither me or my enemies are even on screen. My health bar is there, the drunken-infant-slamming-its-tiny-hate-filled-fists-on-a-casio-keyboard music is blaring away happily, but nothing is actually on the screen for me to interact with. Interestingly enough, I heard a strange noise while I was typing this and alt-tabbed back to that window to see what was going on AND MY SHIP WAS THERE AND I WAS FIGHTING THE THINGS AND WINNING WITHOUT EVEN PLAYING THE GAME AGAIN. And it's fine. It's good. It's probably some 12 year old's fun time project that he'll improve upon and maybe he'll turn this game design thing into a career some day and i'm just a bitter old ♥♥♥♥ who tears apart the dreams of the young with my rotting crooked teeth but maaaaaaan this is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ eight dollars on steam. just to put things into perspective, that's more than the original release of the binding of isaac, which was an infinitely better game that had at least a bit of a pedigree behind it. this wasn't even a greenlight title. this was approved directly by valve and not voted in by the community. (i didn't pay eight dollars for this.)

+ Interesting storyline + Fun space battles - VERY short - Poor graphics and audio - The game needs more work 4/10

The game is near impossible without the engine upgrades, so try to get them as soon as possible. Make sure you get the weapons upgrades before you return to your planet for the final time. At first, the game appears very clunky if using mouse and keyboard. I would recommend using a controller instead, because it's somewhat difficult to control using keyboard and mouse. Once you get a handle of the controls, the game isn't that bad. It's a decent asteroids-like RPG space explorer. It was pretty fun, but there were a ton of unnecessary fights near the end of the game. It got pretty obnoxious and it took up a majority of the time. Other than the unnecessary fights, it was a decent game. It wasn't that great, but it was quite enjoyable. Also, don't skip through the dialogue, as it sometimes includes important points. I wouldn't even consider picking this game up for $8. I got it for about 50 cents and it was worth that. If this game goes on sale for 80%+, then I would give it a chance. Otherwise, don't bother.

It has very poor graphics, all the coloring contrasted with the black background will just give you a headache. I played this for the cards and achievements, though it was a pretty tough ride. Not because of the difficulty, but because of not being able to play it for long because of all the coloring getting to me...

不知所以然的破游戏 莫名其妙的在几个行星之间飞来飞去，和一群丑不拉几的NPC对话，然后又莫名其妙的打了起来 更加莫名其妙的是，都不知道怎么攻击，就看到被一群小飞机biubiubiu的射，狂点鼠标左键右键空格都没什么用，但按着按着对面的飞机又突然爆了 黑人问号.jpg 无语的是这游戏根本不能退出，alt+f4一点用都没有 只要触发了战斗，如果你不赢，你就退不到主界面，就算你输了，那也只是回到触发战斗前，有个back按钮点了也没有任何作用 只能想其他方法退出游戏

Generic trash game.

[i][h1] Халтурщина[/h1] Это просто что то с чем то реализация нуууу очень плохая и не качественная, где то эдак в 90х это бы возможно зашло но не сейчас. Из плюсов разве что немного сюжетной состовляющей, различные диалоги в том числе и с членами своего корабля, и капелька прокачки своего корыта. Из минусов же, это само существование данной игры в том виде в котором она находится сейчас. Звуковые эфекты включая фоновую музыку просто отвратительны Графика посредственная. Управление это просто что то ужасное и неиграбельное, джойстик не поможет. Итог: игра не стоит не запрашиваемой стоимости, не времени потраченого на нее. [spoiler]Достижения и карточки также не добавляют ей вес к приобретению.[/i][/spoiler]