Dark Orbit

Overview
Dark Orbit Reloaded, the follow up to Dark Orbit, is a 3D/2D spaceship shooter MMORPG developed by Bigpoint, with an ever-growing player base that already accumulated to a stunning 100+ million player accounts today. Dark Orbit has occasionally been labeled the ‘outer space version of Diablo’, fighting hordes of aliens and entering Galaxy Gates (dungeons, basically) looking for the best loot. The comparison with an iconic game like Diablo may be the very best thing for Dark Orbit and will likely be more helpful in pulling in potential players.

It is easy to see how Dark Orbit managed to create such a huge following: the outer space setting looks sick, the variety of weapons to choose from to kill both aliens and other players is amazing and makes your trigger finger itch, even when not playing! Laser cannons? Check! Rockets, including rocket launchers? Check! Talk about doing damage to your enemies. And while you start off flying a shabby spaceship, you can buy your way into the league of respectable spaceship owners by choosing from no less than 53 (!) optional ships, including some really coveted ones like the Goliath, the Aegis, the Citadel and the Vengeance.

Once established in the game, you can profile yourself and ultimately fight for the top spots in the galaxy – because obviously you want to compare yourself with other players and find the ones you need to beat to become the head honcho, the top player, the one everyone wants to beat. There’s a special ranking system for this purpose (Top User Points), and it’s a great challenge to try and reach the top spots in that ranking. Besides that, your goal as a player is – surprise surprise – to gain wealth and power, both for yourself and for the company that employs you.  

The purpose of the game is simple, but take the complexity of the game’s setup into consideration when you start. There are so many different aspects to discover that your first focus should really be on exploring all the options. It is obviously great fun to look for the coolest weapons to add to your spaceship, but keep in mind that you’ll be changing your ship for a cooler one as soon as you get the opportunity (or can afford to buy one)!

Key features

• Unleash your inner Han Solo: Dark Orbit Reloaded is a Sci-Fi MMORPG game that’s all about gaining wealth and power, flying your spaceship looking for aliens and other players to shoot and loot to take.
• Fly your own spaceship: you get one to start with, but it’s the crappiest one available (that’s why they give it to you). Still, it is exciting to shoot everything that moves from your pilot’s chair.
• Reach the Galaxy Gate: you can fly through the portal to a place where enemies can’t reach you if you collect all the parts necessary for a “Galaxy Gate”, giving you time to think your next steps.
• Compete in special events: You can compete in special Dark Orbit events/competitions for the opportunity to win special rewards and bonuses.
• Join a clan: joining a clan can help raise your level, gain you more credits, and also gives you the option to compete against rivals.
• Free to play: no credit card and no downloads required.

Deepdive

The game starts by choosing one of three potential corporations to work for. Regardless of the company they choose, players get to control their own, customizable, spaceship to fight other players as well as NPCs. After they choose their company, players are then teleported to the home map and instantly start receiving quests from Mission Control.

A player’s objective in Dark Orbit is all about gaining wealth and power, both on a personal and on a company level. Wealth is available in the form of two currencies: credits and uridium (uri), which is more valuable and harder to obtain. Credits can be used to buy equipment and ammo, but to purchase the most valuable, “elite”,

items you need uridium, which costs real money (payable with PayPal or cc). Again, we’re just mentioning the option, you don’t have to buy anything to progress!

We do hope your shooting skills are well-trained. If not, start practicing! Anyway, when you eliminate an enemy, your reward comes in the shape of a “cargo box” of ore, which can be processed and upgraded in the Skylab. If you shot another player, you can take his ship (repairs cost 500 uri) which is a reasonable option if you’re still stuck in the ship you received at the start of the game. You can repair your own ship for free, but only when you do it at your home base. Anywhere else will cost you a load of uris, or repair credits combined with (less) uris, and you may decide it’s not worth it, because your ship happens to be the weakest of all ships in the game. So the purpose is to buy (or take) a better ship as soon as the opportunity rises, because you don’t want to keep flying that turd any longer than you have to! When it happens, there is plenty of choice: more than 50 ships are available to choose from. You also need to protect your ship, for example with a shield generator, and equip it with weapons and other accessories. Yup, it will cost you!

Joining a clan is smart play, but damn, it is expensive to be smart! Joining costs 1,500 credits and most clans also charge a clan tax of up to 5%. Plenty of benefits make up for the investment though: help from clan mates, clan payouts (in credits), and joining a clan can help you level up, gain credits, and compete against other rivals. Prefer starting your own clan? You can, for free! Oh wait, it actually costs 300,000 credits. For that, you get access to a special game page showing you which clan players are online and if they are action-ready on your map.

Dark Orbit does not get boring at all – there are simply too many features to try out! By now, you’re already used that they come at a price. As long as you are not forced to pay from your own pocket, it doesn’t hurt you – right?

For 100 uris, you can spin a Galaxy Gate Generator, for ammunition, free repairs, or parts for a “galaxy gate”, which sends you through a portal into an enemy-free, but not NPC-free map. Only way out of there is by getting shot down, or by destroying all aliens on the map. Playing these gates can be quite lucrative: completing one without getting shot down more than twice will get you a substantial reward.

There are way more of these cool features, but you have to find out about those once you start playing!

Standout features

• Unlimited progression levels: Dark Orbit really is an infinite game, but it takes a lot of determination and stamina to keep moving forward. According to the developers, the highest level reached today by any player is level 27. But, that is definitely nowhere near the final level. Are you ready to break the record?
• Graphics: definitely a standout feature of Dark Orbit are its magnificent graphics. The nineties feel that the game is aiming for is not reflected in the quality of the graphics, which frankly are just, well, badass and very much in line with gamers’ expectations.
• Forum: sign up to join the official Dark Orbit player forum. Discuss ins & outs of the game with fellow players, ask questions, and receive updates about upcoming special events.
• Community: the Dark Orbit community consists of over 80 million players. Creating bonds with other players by showing your strength and skills, proving them that you are made of the right material, is one of the most important aspects and one that keeps you tied to the game and your allies.
• Premium accounts: Dark Orbit offers shortcuts to players with a bigger budget. You can get by and succeed without using any paid features, but with a premium account you can speed up the game and skip certain parts. New players do well to purchase the starter pack combined with a premium account, a damage shield, and xp boosters to enter the game well – and this comes straight from the horse’s mouth!

Overall rating
After this extensive review, we feel we can keep the overall rating short. Dark Orbit is a hell of a game! Fans of Sci-Fi should not doubt for a second to start playing. Great graphics, cool game scenarios, weapons, combat action,  – everything that makes gaming fun is available in large doses! Go check it out for yourself!