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JumpGate Review
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Can Jumpgate live up to its billing as Elite Online???
Jumpgate premise is promising, sounding somewhat like an online massively multi-player update of the space classic Elite, players must navigate through space, seeking and trading raw materials whilst completing missions and engaging in space combat.
The concept is hugely ambitious and initially daunting (like trying to review something as grand as this), so weāll start at the beginning.
It is the dawn of a new era. The old order of the universe has been completely destroyed. An almighty tremor of unknown origin shock the universe, destroying planets and dissolving them into light. Life and thousands of years of prosperity and technology disappeared in a fraction of a second. It was the most tragic event that the galaxy had ever seen.
After the dust had settled, all that was left was chaos and confusion. The planet Solrain, formerly the headquarters of the Council of the Five Planets had vanished. Although there was still communication with the central database, nobody could pinpoint its precise location.
Friendship between the five factions began to break down, as communication among the systems collapsed.
After downloading Jumpgate for free at www.mightygames.com, youāll have to create your character, choosing from one of the three different factions available. Each has certain features that will appeal to the full range of characters among players. The three different factions basically boil down to; the Quantar who monopolise the mining trade; the Solrain who are master traders; and the Octavians who like nothing better then a bit of combat. Each offers vastly varied approaches to the game, so choose wisely.
Having selected your faction, youāll find yourself at a spacestation where you can configure your lowly ship, buy and sell equipment, or take on the games many missions. The missions are the primary focus during your first hours with Jumpgate as completing them achieves two goals; firstly you earn credit to buy equipment, weapons, new craft; secondly youāll gain experience points which are used to rank players and open up new components and weapons to buy, that werenāt previously available as you level up.
Missions arenāt the only means to gaining credit, you can always trade with other players, making profits on rare items, mine asteroids, even become a space age loan shark. You make the decisions, which is why the comparisons to Elite have been made and justifiably so.
Spicing up the experience is The Conflux, a mysterious alien race that like nothing better then a bit of space combat; these aliens have no known agenda apart from that to kill all pilots.
Jumpgate prides itself on the āpersistent universeā and history that theyāve created, you belong to your faction and must work for them, monthly updates progress the storyline so you never know exactly whatās going to happen, an alien attack could occur at any moment, at times it feels like youāre playing your part in a massive space age soap opera. This non-linear approach to story telling has to be the main allure behind Jumpgate.
Because players need to stay in touch with recent developments and events, a dedicated web site is available www.jossh.com, providing you with the latest news and events in the Jumpgate universe, plus you can find all of your stats, such as kills, sales, rankings and other vital information. Itās all presented in a satirical manner, akin to a Paul Verhoeven flick.
Within the Jumpagte universe is a fully working economic system that is based on the fundamental law of supply and demand. If you take your cargo to a station that needs it the most you can expect a healthy pay packet, whilst supplying a nearer station will give you peanuts. Itās this type of evaluation and risk assessment that works so well in Jumpgate.
Jumpgateās developers, NetDevil, claim that the universe can theoretically handle an unlimited amount of players, which is essential as the actual game space is huge, without the player support space exploration could get a little... dull. Thankfully this claim seems to hold true, as youāll often find other players mining, exploring and engaging in space combat. The game portrays a real alterative to normal life admirably, escapism? Yeah, login and forget for a few hours, as the developers say, āWelcome to your new lifeā¦ Thereās nothing you canāt doā, slightly OTT but also true.
Jumpgate isnāt the best-looking space combat title around, however the scope of the project easily excuses this, and backs the timeless videogaming proverb, gameplay over graphics. By having lower system specs, NetDevil are opening the game to a larger user base, which is essential and works as Westwoods Command & Conquer series proved. Youāll not have to worry too much about your connection speed either; I managed to play the game fine on a 56k modem.
