OK, OK, I'll say what you've already heard by now:  Colony Wars is one of the
most graphically impressive video games you will ever see. Now, what about the
other aspects of great gaming?  Does it control well?  How's the presentation?
What about the audio?  Does the gameplay live up to the wonderful graphics? 
Read on..

The story is your basic we against the world fare.  You're a rookie space pilot
fighting on the side of the rebel League of Free Worlds against the oppressive
Navy forces from Earth.  Your oath: "We shall rise from bondage. We shall
shatter chains of slavery.  And though the shadow of tyranny cloaks us in the
twilight of sorrow and suffering we shall fear not.  Let the rivers run red with
our blood.  We shall be resolute.  We shall overcome this I swear."  Snazzy, no?

Graphics:  As said earlier, they are jaw-dropping gorgeous.  This is not an
exaggeration.  And there's no slowdown at all, even though everything is high
res.  I hear that the game runs at 30 fps, and while I don't know how to confirm
that, I will say it's very smooth.  We finally have a game where the in-game
graphics match or even better the graphic quality of it's FMV sequences.  The
planets, suns, nebulae, asteroids, and stars are something to behold.  You have
to see for yourself how real it looks while flying towards a space frigate or
other large ship that is between you and a sun.  The sun is sooooo bright (how
do they do that?) and huge that the frigate is just a black shadow barely
visible in the intense light, just as it should be. As you scoot around
performing your mission, you'll notice how the light from any nearby source
(sun, planet, fired weapon, etc.) realistically lights up your craft and any
others within view.  Light sourcing is evident everywhere to realistically
depict what a space battle would look like.  The explosions are like nothing
you've seen before, from the smaller ones when you take out an enemy fighter, to
the epic booming ones when a larger ship is destroyed.  Also, the various space
fighters, frigates, dreadnoughts, destroyers, tankers, starports, etc. look just
as impressive, even up close.  Graphically, this game scores a 10...100%...5
stars...

Audio.  Outstanding orchestra style musical scores are played for each mission.
They match the space battles perfectly.  Think of Star Wars and you get the
picture.  The James Earl Jones type narrator during the FMV sequences is pretty
good too.  Dolby Surround is supported so make sure your Playstation is
connected to a surround system (if it isn't, it should be).  The sound of large
ships exploding through your system, namely your subwoofer, is like nothing
you've ever heard before in a video game, trust me.  Friends watching you play
will be dumbstruck by the sound this game puts out.  I especially like the
cracking noise that precedes the BOOM of the ship exploding.  Very well done.
There's also plenty of useful chatter during missions from other League fighters
and ships, as well as from Headquarters.  All this noise provides a unique
battle atmosphere that constantly frays your nerves and keeps you on edge.

Presentation.  The in-game menu system is done very well.  It simulates you
logged onto a computer database.  There's access to audio files describing all
craft available to fly, all craft you will interact with during your battles,
and data regarding the locations your missions will take place at.  I was
impressed with the amount of audio describing all of this, and some of it was
actually quite entertaining.  The load times were acceptable.  Moving displays
of your craft are shown while the missions load.  The cut scene sequences are
pretty good, with the James Earl Jones impressionist doing a good job of
narrating each piece.  The graphical quality of the FMVs aren't the best I've
seen, though.  For example, the cut scenes in G-Police are much better.  The
memory card management needs some improvement.  Again, G-Police is a great
example of how this should be done.

Gameplay.  Here's where some may find fault with the game.  On the up side,
there's training missions (recommended highly) and then some 18 "acts" and 70
real missions to experience.  Also, you're next mission provided is based on
your performance in the previous one.  So, your path through the game will be
determined by your performance in each mission, and thus the replayability
factor is very high.  This mission tree structure is a new and welcomed way to
play the game.  On the down side, some may feel the missions are repetitive.  I
must say that they are, but I don't mind, because the graphical and audio
experience is unparalleled right now on any console system.

Control is good with the digital pad, but much better with the analog pad.  Even
so, lining up your targets can be a pain sometimes.  After awhile, though, it
all becomes 2nd nature.  Personally, I enjoy the controller setup that utilizes
the left stick for turns and up and down movement, the right stick for
accelerating, decelerating, and rolling your craft, and the shoulder buttons for
weapon management.  Question though:  Should your craft actually slow down after
you let off the gas?  I thought that in space there was zero friction?

Some gripes:
Memory card management isn't great.
Missions do get repetitive.
Occasional switching back and forth between the two discs is needed.
Wish I could fly towards a planet, enter it's atmosphere, maybe even land on
it's surface!
Only three view modes.  A "drop camera" view, like in Warhawk, would have been
cool.
Difficulty level may be a bit on the hard side.

That's it.  All I can end with is you must buy this game.  It is arguably the
best shooter ever made.

--
Derrick.

--
Email: ddavila@med.osd.mil