Drox Operative 2 review

 

Galaxy out there is a dangerous place: not only for the enemy of our species, but for traps, anomalies, pirates, hunters and strange monsters.

But you are a Drox Operative, with a really powerful ship, capable of more than anyone else.

So you start exploring a star system, fight some monsters, explore anomalies and then you find a strange, alien species, doing exploration at first.. then colonization.

Humans.

They don't attack you, so you decided to help them in destroy some monsters, get credits and technology in return and start to understand their needs.

Colonize planets, send convoys, escort a ship, find a valuable set of ancient technology in another star system.

After a while you get the whole picture: galaxy is filled with other species, colonizing planets, attacking each other. You complete tasks for them and get credits, weapons, more capable engines.

 

You don't like to take a stand for one part or another, but these hive mind insects try to attack you.

 As a member of Utopian, brutal machine defined by their efficiency, you don't think.

Act.

Attack the first hive ship is easy, then you move to clean the first colony, annihilate their defense, then surface of the planet.

No survivor, like always.

But this is not illogical, you must protect the Utopian network, this was the first order, right? In the end what matters is how much  power as Drox Operative do you have.

Nothing can stop you.. to continue. Eradicate the Hive is a long process, but convince humans to help in your war spreading rumors is easy at start. Hive are powerful, right? And other races are envious...

You speed up your effort, and destroy them.

Then, the other races continue to fight each other over planets and resources in the galaxy.

But they forget about a Drox Operative... you.

This review is not about Drox Operative 2, it's about what a player can do with such a game.

What I've done.

This is a report of a play session on Drox Operative 2 where nothing is scripted, player is at the center of a balance of power in the galaxy, where in a "classic" 4x formula races compete for planets and resources in a galaxy.

This is not a new concept, because was already explored in Drox Operative 1, but sequel enhance everything on visual, musics, variety and possibilities.

So what's wrong here ?

A sequel it's always hard and sometimes is not what as player you want.

I'm a fan of Soldak's formula for years. For me Depths of Peril formula is great ( a lone hero in a mix of diablo-like action rpg and fight between clans in an evolving world and Drox Operative is more than "dephts of Peril in space". It's a new way to design, think and create games. It's like a new genre.. damn, over the years I've "forced" (asked, lol ) friends to play these games because they are great. We made also Lan parties based on both these games.

But the design of the experience don't change too much.

What I see on Drox 2 (not mentioning other Soldak's games) is the same formula, with the same menus, same progression, same interactions. I think it's the same and even if Drox 2 looks and play great ( no bugs, no problems, anything... something you don't take for granted these days), the basic formula don't evolve.

What I see is a game for fans, made by a fan.

As a fan, what I need from Soldak is not the same formula, but something new, with fresh ideas, maybe more ambitious, following his way to mix genres and make all dynamic and alive.

With a bigger budget, bigger studios, flashy graphics these games can be more, but is NOT good graphics  what you should look for in Soldak's games, even in Drox 2 ( but it's look okay for me), it's the evolving world, shifting of power and how the player can change this.

I'd like to see a much shorter game session, like 2/3 hour max where every player's decision can make a difference.

Maybe I'm getting old ( this is true ), maybe it's because I lack focus ( kids helps in that!), but Drox Operative 2 feels like "a repeat" for Drox Operative 1.

In conclusion, if you never played a game from Soldak, take a seat, launch and explore the galaxy as Drox Operative. Be ready to be surprised how much dynamic and generative could be a videogame. It's like a book, but you are on the command.. of a small part! The other part is chaos.. with rules and you can exploit them.

But if you already played and loved Drox Operative, wait a little bit, inform yourself a little ( watch some videos or play demo ) and try to understand if changes worth the time you need to invest in this game.

Disclaimer: the copy of the game came from Soldak directly ( thanks Steven! I hope this review can help you! )

As side note, like in Relic Space review I want to underline how much important is writing and setting for this kind of games. Graphics helps too, but what keep me in this kind of games are how much they can catch my imagination in interesting settings and universes.