Space Forces Rogue universe is a Space Trading Combat game which has two modes: a story mode and a free trading mode.
Free Trading allows you to pick you starting race and allows you to pick an occupation. The different sTarting race all have different relations to the other which means that you will have to aware of the whilst travelling. You can buy access cards which will allow you to trade enemy factions. Other wise it is you standard sandbox space game. You can take missions for the different factions and trade items. There a number of different trade items which can be traded, but no clear trade routes. It can be frustrating trying to work out the best routes. Missions offer more opportunity to make money even if the majority of missions are the same.
Story mode see's you play as Jim Anderson, an Earth Military Directorate pilot, who after the death of his father vows to look after his sister, Jax. Whne Jax disappears you start to investigate what happened to her. This eventully leads you into a larger consipiracy.
Story mode allows you to take a variety of side missions as well as the story missions. This is neccesary to get money to allow you to buy weapons, repairs and upgrades as well as new ships.
Graphically the game looks good. The jump effects, star gates and the anomalies are particuarly well handled. Weapons fire and shield hits are good but can be repeative. Ships are different and well designed, there is some repetation between the two humand factions but it makes sense in context.
Sound wise the musice is good and suits the action on screen, when it doesn't randomly cut out and then start again. Voice acting is poor and detracts from the game.
The actual flight model of the game is you standard Wing Commander styly flight model though the inertia is quite high. Dog fighting is quite good, though the weapon energy for you fighter is quite small mening that you have to make every shot count. The game has a variety of different weapons which all have different damage values depending on enemeies sheild type. This can be very frustraitng as it means that you can end up fighting enemies whose shield regenerate faster then you can damage them. Given the enemies speed and manverability this can amke some dogfights incrediable difficult.
The plot is poor. The game uses a variety of cutscenes to tell the story but these feel disjointed and as if they where suposed to be spaced out more. There is no hint as to what one bad guy is supposed to by doing until you've already thwated his plans and whats worse is where is dealt with not cone but twice completly in line of dislogue. There are also a race of aliens how serve as the enemy how have no real motivation and no connection the other plot you've uncovered.
Overall the game is poor. Dogfighting is poor, and given that you are going to be doing a lot of it, unacceptable. The poorly explained gun/shield interactions make it harder then it should be. The poor plot doesn't make up for it.
