The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: November 9, 2008

Inside Scoop page 2


JEZZ'S PLANET-HOPPING REVIEW

Rogue in the Wilderness System
by Jezz

This week, instead of exploring the vagaries of the planetary exchange, I donned my hiking boots and survival pack and went off to explore the Galaxy, or at least a tiny little bit of it. Trilleth and I agreed to embark on a one-week job swap, so with my trusty map and compass in hand I headed out into space in search of adventure.

Adventure proved a little harder to find than I thought it would be, but after brief stopovers at a couple of planets that were obviously still under construction, I found myself in the Wilderness system. It was in a rather out of the way corner of the Wilderness System that I discovered the Planet Rogue. Ah yes! A planet worthy of exploration from the look of it. Gathering all my equipment and emergency supplies, I headed for the shuttle.

I couldn't have been more pleased when I landed by the ring of stones. Strange runic markings, ancient stone artifacts, lots and lots of forest... This was just what I'd been looking for. I hit the map button on my digi-compass and headed into the forest.

After a couple of steps, I threw away my useless old compass and the map. The planet makes no directional sense whatsoever! However, if you're not in a hurry to trade on Rogue it's really worth a visit. There's a tree house, a secluded beach, a river gorge, a native village with a very helpful shaman and his pet. The locations are quite lovely in places and dangerous in others, as I found out immediately before I met the village shaman. You really have to watch where you put your feet on Rogue. But if you can leave behind the thought of logical directional progression, it can be an enjoyable place to explore.

There are some parts of the planet which leave you with more questions than answers, and the uneasy feeling that you are being watched. I managed to stumble into the exchange after only a few moments on Rogue and found its incongruity with the rest of the planet intriguing. I don't want to spoil it for all you explorers out there so I will simply say that even when you think you are hopelessly lost, there are plenty of vantage points from which you can see your shuttle and gauge the direction of the landing pad if you look carefully

This is not a planet for the efficient haulers amongst us but I hope one or two people will don a pith helmet, walking boots, a parachute and perhaps water wings and have a go at exploring it.

Overall, Rogue is a well written and imaginative planet, frustrating if you are only looking for the exchange and trading opportunities, but enjoyable none the less.


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